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I don't look at it as comparing cities to states. I would prefer that we had a major city on this side of the bridge. From my travels and talking with people that is the biggest knock on Jersey. They say that we have to cross a bridge to get culture, basically i've been told that jersey is new york and phillies b@#4.
I feel you on this one. I've argued with people on this board about this issue too. For example, my MD friends (from the Baltimore area, not DC area) give me a hard time about what you just said - "we have Baltimore, you don't have any cities." So I try to explain to them that the entire northeastern part of NJ is essentially a city. I try to tell them that if JC was all of Hudson County, it would be very comparable to Baltimore. In fact, in terms of area and population, I think it would actually be similar to San Francisco. But of course, our excessive number of municipalities and random town borders prevent anyone out-of-state from actually realizing how interconnected the "Gold Coast," along with greater Newark, Paterson, Bergen, etc etc. is.
I feel you on this one. I've argued with people on this board about this issue too. For example, my MD friends (from the Baltimore area, not DC area) give me a hard time about what you just said - "we have Baltimore, you don't have any cities." So I try to explain to them that the entire northeastern part of NJ is essentially a city. I try to tell them that if JC was all of Hudson County, it would be very comparable to Baltimore. In fact, in terms of area and population, I think it would actually be similar to San Francisco. But of course, our excessive number of municipalities and random town borders prevent anyone out-of-state from actually realizing how interconnected the "Gold Coast," along with greater Newark, Paterson, Bergen, etc etc. is.
I look at the camden waterfront and just shake my head. Why can't we have something similar to the Baltimore Harbor. We definitely would have a way better skyline view. I love that view of philly from the aquarium.
It is what it is. NJ is a suburb state more than anything else. At least we have two major cities, the shore, woods, farms and mountains all within a reasonable drive. That is the way I look at it.
And to the person that said "maybe New Brunswick", it is my hometown and local hangout spot. And it is improving yes. The major thing it has going for it is Rutgers, J&J and Robert Wood. But still, I can never imagine it becoming a major city. It is WAYY too small for that.
I try to tell them that if JC was all of Hudson County, it would be very comparable to Baltimore. In fact, in terms of area and population, I think it would actually be similar to San Francisco.
Hudson County is smaller and more populous than Baltimore. SF has about the same land area as Hudson County, but has more people.
But if JC was all of Hudson County, it still wouldn't have any culture. And neither does Baltimore.
Like others, I think it's too very unfortunate that there is not one medium to large city in NJ that is truly desirable to visit. Newark is a hole for the most part, ditto Trenton, Camden is a ghetto, Jersey City is insanely polarized, and Atlantic City is, well Atlantic City. Although in recent times it seems that politicians have been really making a push to revitalize ACY even though it's in South Jersey. There's also the depressed smaller cities that were once great such as Asbury Park, Perth Amboy, Patterson, Plainfield, etc. And then you also have the rinky-dink hip "Jersey" towns that aren't really cities like Hoboken, Red Bank, Morristown, Montclair, Westfield, etc. So you really can't win in Jersey, at least as of right now. Although eventually (30-40 years) that could all change.
And for those who say that BALTIMORE is something to be proud of needs a reality check. Baltimore is a dump with tons of crime and gets lumped in as the bastard child of the DC metro area.
Hudson County is smaller and more populous than Baltimore. SF has about the same land area as Hudson County, but has more people.
But if JC was all of Hudson County, it still wouldn't have any culture. And neither does Baltimore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freshflakes757
And for those who say that BALTIMORE is something to be proud of needs a reality check. Baltimore is a dump with tons of crime and gets lumped in as the bastard child of the DC metro area.
Agreed. But this actually kind of supports my point that states are often strongly correlated with their cities. When people think of NJ, they don't really know what to think, because we have no cities with strong identities. I personally like Baltimore, but even though people think it's a dump (which a lot of it is), it without a doubt still has a very strong identity, and therefore Maryland doesn't get a bad rep for being a cultural leach, EVEN THOUGH large portions of MD have no relationship or cultural affinity with Baltimore at all and lean much more on DC (I've even heard people in Montgomery County call Bethesda "the city," I choked laughing). Meanwhile, NJ suffers from the "cultural leach" stereotype partially because Newark doesn't really have an identity. This is part of the reason why NJ's culture seems like a blank etch-a-sketch that people and the media like to fill in with stereotypes so easily.
I look at the camden waterfront and just shake my head. Why can't we have something similar to the Baltimore Harbor. We definitely would have a way better skyline view. I love that view of philly from the aquarium.
I actually like the Camden waterfront. Between Riversharks games at Campbell's Field, tailgating in those parking lots for shows at Tweeter/Susquehanna, going to the aquarium as a kid and later for my high school senior prom, and visiting the battleship, I've had a lot of fun times out there.
Maybe asbury park because nj is best known for its shoreline and asbury park encompasses a piece of all regions and cultures north and south, u cant call it part of nyc or philly.
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