Worst towns in NJ (Newark, Jersey City: apartment complex, homes, private school)

[meameame12]

i live in passaic, and its not that bad. just dont raise your white kids here if you have any. other than that, if you r a person of color, you will fit right in.

you know the racism on this board, and this thread, is almost to the point of sickening. its easy to tell who the white people are when they ask if the area is safe. and its obvious which demographic group they are targeting or referring to. its code talk.

stop being so scared people. every area has its rough parts and every area has its good parts. ive lived in passaic for the longest, im white, and safe. just stay away from the gangs. they dont bother you if you dont bother them.

[exhdo1]

Originally Posted by meameame12

i live in passaic, and its not that bad. just dont raise your white kids here if you have any. other than that, if you r a person of color, you will fit right in.

you know the racism on this board, and this thread, is almost to the point of sickening. its easy to tell who the white people are when they ask if the area is safe. and its obvious which demographic group they are targeting or referring to. its code talk.

stop being so scared people. every area has its rough parts and every area has its good parts. ive lived in passaic for the longest, im white, and safe. just stay away from the gangs. they dont bother you if you dont bother them.

Good post, I've said the same thing numerous times in this forum and have called people out on it as well. By the way it's not almost to the point of sickening, many posters are sickening. Points to you!

[leomentlines]

I'm a senior in high school IN East Orange. I've lived in Newark, East Orange, and Irvington, and can agree with the earlier comments that those that critique my (I do claim them as mine) cities do not in fact live here. Although it is a rougher neighborhood than others to live in, I don't regret one bit growing up in these cities, and in fact wholeheartedly believe they contribute to my being a well-rounded, sensible young adult. I think growing up here taught me to not be gullible in various situations, and to not be careless with important things.

Back on focus, I also feel that segregation plays a big role in this debate over towns. In my high school (East Orange Campus), I think it is horrible how, out of a body of over 1,600 students (the 10-12th grade building), has no caucasian students, no middle-eastern students, and only 2 asians (who are of relation, at that). The lack of diversity in our town is appalling - which I feel is very much in part due to poor race relations. Even some of the earlier posters mentioned such unease to even want to walk around these cities. But if no pioneers ever dare to, how shall we ever come together as people? At the same time, I am not asking to assimilate into our lifestyle/culture. We need to keep our cultural ideals, and share them with one another - that is how I feel progress can be made. Sitting around on a computer complaining about how bad situations are does nothing. Getting out and working to better things does volumes. I plan on doing that for the rest of my life (working as a supporter of integration).

P.S. - Want proof of poor race relations, even in the high schools? Anyone remember the problems with Columbia High School last year? (I know I do.)

[berryjuice4life]

Originally Posted by Onizuka

I don't think there are that many people who hate the State of NJ; I get the feeling many people love living here. However, there are many people here who hate the inflated house prices, inflated property taxes and the inflated health and car insurance premiums.

Yes very well put...I love living here love my house and where I am, but at this point with the taxes being 10k and going up again in end of 07 well there is only so much one can pay....

[4thekids]

It's really very sad that all you NJ bashers don't do your homework.

Go to the following website to check out some crimes stats...
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004912.html

Let me give you an example...let's compare NJ and NC crime rates for 2004
(per 100,00 people)

Violent Crimes: NC 447.80 / NJ 355.70
Murders: NC 6.2 / NJ 4.5
Forcible Rape NC 27.4 / NJ 15.3
Robbery NC 137.9 / NJ 150.3
Property Crime NC 4160.20/ NJ 2429.20

The only area NJ ranked higher is robbery.
The are alot of other states that rank higher in crime than NJ as well.

The truth is that virtually every state in the US has both good and bad areas.

I've lived in NJ all my life, but have traveled literally all over the world. As great as experiencing other places is...I'm always happy to come home to NJ.

All of you talk about the cities..of course there's crime in them..there are many reasons..including a lot of transients who aren't even from NJ. Have any of you ever seen the beautiful areas of NJ? The places you're referring to are little dots in an otherwise beautiful place...we have farm lands & beaches too. We have some of the best schools in the country and cultural diversity.

We're not all rude or criminal. Most of us are good decent people who want to
provide good homes and futures for our children.

[NewHomeHappy]

Well Written 4thekids.
Could not agree with you more.
As a true born & raised Jersey Woman, I too have travelled all over the world & even lived in other States for some time. I feel, to each his own. Live & let live. New Jersey is a fine State. Every State does have it's own problems (just take a peek at those other forums). I love living here & to be perfectly honest, it's where the money is. That's how we afford to live here & raise our children to be decent, respectful, honest AMERICANS.

[meltyemi]

Living down the shore (in South Jersey) is expensive but the towns are nice. Around Ocean City is nice-Marmora, Oceanview, Sea Isle City, Cape May, all are nice-but you have to have alot of money to live there.

[paul76]

NJ in general is mainly compromised of very nice areas. I hate it when our state gets such bad remarks. Of course the big citys with the gettos will always have there fair share of crime, the only reason the small citys looks so good in comparison, is because it may have 1?8 the population of a major city. Take for instance Woodbridge NJ. It has several regions attached to this town, all made up and make up Woodbridge township, Colonia which is part of woodbrisge NJ is a safe crime free and just as secure as Clark NJ, Chatam, even Brick I would say, although since it is part of woodbridge township which has poor areas such as Avenel, Keasbey, even some sections of Woodbridge itself then colonia stands together with it's mother town and may get poor remarks or records as far as crime.. just an fyi, you don't know what you don't know.. some would say the good and best way to see how safe a community is, is simply to park outside it's LOcal HS and look at the quality of kids coming out of school.. that should help you out..

[kgrieb]

I'm for the most part a lifelong resident of NJ so I am forever defending the nicer aspects of the Garden State (parts of the Deleware River region, Skylands, much of the Shore) and dragging folks from out of state around to make my point. But anywhere worth living in NJ is customarily coupled with a helacious commute to work, and uber areas like Hoboken aren't $$$ doable for most (not to mention I have a car and need to park it in the town in which I live). Some like me can just about break even with taxes, gas, quality of life issues..etc, etc...blah, blh, blah...NJ is great to be from, but sometimes you just might have to question why you are staying.

[LovinTheMountains]

Worst cities? Wow, I agree with the ones named above.

Hamilton, NJ (mercer county) is where I grew up. It used to be beautiful, a perfect blend of farms, businesses, houses. For the past 10 years it's gotten to built up now it's awful. I visit my parent there once a week, and the traffic is a nightmare.

I live in Tabernacle now, and in May of 2007 my husband and I are moving to WV. NJ is too expensive to live here anymore. We don't wanna buy a house here, not with the taxes being sky high. You should check out the air and water quality here -- I was shocked! I knew it was bad, but not that bad!! Just type in your zip code and be ready!
http://www.scorecard.org/index.tcl

Yes, I am saying 'so long' to NJ next year -- I've had enough! (The only thing I'm gonna miss is the conveniences of having WaWa's everywhere, lol).