Pros and Cons of New Jersey? (Newark, Jersey City: condos, houses, job market)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hey fugeddaboutit! If you make it to Joisey I'll buy ya some disco fries at Tick-Tock, we'll watch the gas jockeys pump our gas and then race our Chevys out on Highway 9 till the engines blow up.
Nice use of stereotypes, great example.
My favorite is "Joisey". I've seen it a lot here on CD lately. I just feel bad for whoever uses it now, more than I feel embarrassed or annoyed by it at this point.
And not fer nuthin, but that cast of knucklehead gavones almost all hopped over the gangplank from Stankin Island. Our guidos/guidettes are much more refined. They sometimes even use deodorant.
My favorite is "Joisey". I've seen it a lot here on CD lately. I just feel bad for whoever uses it now, more than I feel embarrassed or annoyed by it at this point.
For the benefit of out-of-staters who may be confused by the, "Joisey", reference, please allow me to explain.
Because no living people in this state actually pronounce, "Jersey", as, "Joisey", when we hear that grating pronunciation, we know that it was uttered by a crude person from another state who has likely never visited New Jersey.
I will grant you that the likes of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall did talk about, "Joisey", in their Dead End Kids/Gas House Kids/East Side Kids movies of the 1940s, but they are long dead--as is that pronunciation. There were also white trash types in Jersey City who talked like that (and who pronounced, "toilet", as, "terlet", and who pronounced, "oil", as, "earl"), but, like Messrs Gorcey and Hall, they have been dead and buried for decades.
The best way to identify yourself as a boob is to use that ridiculous pronunciation, even though some of us who live here do occasionally use it to mock the uninformed from out-of-state. The comic effect can be pleasing, even if only New Jersey residents actually get the joke.
I lived in NJ for two years when my spouse had a temporary job in the city.
+ Proximity to NYC and Philly, as well as other major Northeastern cities and Eastern Canada's major cities.
+ Generally great public schools (among the top in NJ)
+ Everything from the mountains, beaches, lakes, rivers, forest, urban, suburban, rural, parks, McMansions, shopping, skiing, casinos, etc.
+ Lots of shopping and tax-free purchase of shoes and clothing!
+ Good public transportation
+ Blue laws (hate long business hours in suburban place)
+ No trucks in G S Parkway
+ Paramus malls and shopping
- Very high property taxes
- High cost of living/housing/rents
- Higher crime in big cities (Newark, Jersey city, Trenton)
- Lack of large city (1+M) in the state itself
- Traffic during rush hour
- Too dense in some places
i liked this list, but willl add a few points.
+Diverse terrain
+Accessible to say many things to do along the Northeast corridor. The variety of long weekend trips one can take is great.
+things excluded from sales tax like clothing
+If you work in NJ, and are female, you get state-paid maternity leave. This is a huge perk to families, especially with so few employers offering paid maternity leave
+relatively low crime related to the size of the population, even in areas "known for crime"
+Despite the huge amount of traffic, our roads are in relatively good shape. Though, we have been neglecting them as of late
+AMAZING public transportation
+Access to so many employers.
+Some of the best public schools, and private schools, in the nation. Even our "average" schools top many neighboring states.
-No true mountains, but decent options for skiing is nearby in the Poconos or slightly upstate NY.
-high property taxes for a lot of local and county services, some of which we certainly do not need
-high legacy costs - lots of older teachers and cops and firefighters, being a mature state as far as "growth", this means we'll carry these costs for a long time
-Established political entities make it impossible to enact change (lots of corruption - party doesn't really matter)
-Traffic in the northeast (NYC metro area)
I've been to just about every state in this country. NJ is a great place to live. We may not have the best reputation, but that's just fine with us. We don't care what other people think. We know the truth and frankly we don't need anymore people living here. So forget what I just said, NJ sucks, go away.
Pros:
People (intelligent, diverse, not phony)
Diners
Location (NYC, Shore, Mountains)
Four Seasons
Low Crime (outside of cities)
Above Average Schools
High Salaries
Great Health Care
Cons:
Wish it wasn't so humid
Winter too long
Too many police/stupid laws
Taxes (yes they are high, but so are our salaries, so really it's a wash)
Governor (selfish, his career is more important than NJ people)
Yes, DINERS. I forgot about that one. One of NJ's finest perks.
It was my birthday last week (see my sn, lol). I had plans for the weekend, and I'd been taken to lunch by coworkers that day, but I had no plans for the evening. It was a long workday and I was just exhausted and wanted to get whatever I wanted to eat and then get on my couch.
So, I thought about what I REALLY wanted to eat that night...and it was French toast with bacon. Sounds pathetic, I know, but I generally eat much more healthily than that these days and it's a rare treat when I eat all those carbs and sugar and fat in one meal. I wanted French toast with bacon, dammit, and it was my 55th birthday and I was gonna have some.
I went to the diner that's two minutes from my house. It was pouring rain, and I started with a hot cup of tea and had my French toast and bacon birthday dinner while I read the free local newspapers I found in the diner entryway. Then I stopped at the supermarket to pick up a couple of things, got myself some Vanilla Bean Haagen-Dasz and a chocolate bar, went home, ate them and passed out on the couch from the sugar overload while watching the Investigation Discovery (true crime) channel. Living wild at 55, and the availability of French toast at 7:30 p.m. because of our NJ diner culture was a big part of my day!
Yes, DINERS. I forgot about that one. One of NJ's finest perks.
It was my birthday last week (see my sn, lol). I had plans for the weekend, and I'd been taken to lunch by coworkers that day, but I had no plans for the evening. It was a long workday and I was just exhausted and wanted to get whatever I wanted to eat and then get on my couch.
So, I thought about what I REALLY wanted to eat that night...and it was French toast with bacon. Sounds pathetic, I know, but I generally eat much more healthily than that these days and it's a rare treat when I eat all those carbs and sugar and fat in one meal. I wanted French toast with bacon, dammit, and it was my 55th birthday and I was gonna have some.
I went to the diner that's two minutes from my house. It was pouring rain, and I started with a hot cup of tea and had my French toast and bacon birthday dinner while I read the free local newspapers I found in the diner entryway. Then I stopped at the supermarket to pick up a couple of things, got myself some Vanilla Bean Haagen-Dasz and a chocolate bar, went home, ate them and passed out on the couch from the sugar overload while watching the Investigation Discovery (true crime) channel. Living wild at 55, and the availability of French toast at 7:30 p.m. because of our NJ diner culture was a big part of my day!
+Diverse terrain
+Accessible to say many things to do along the Northeast corridor. The variety of long weekend trips one can take is great.
+things excluded from sales tax like clothing +If you work in NJ, and are female, you get state-paid maternity leave. This is a huge perk to families, especially with so few employers offering paid maternity leave
+relatively low crime related to the size of the population, even in areas "known for crime"
+Despite the huge amount of traffic, our roads are in relatively good shape. Though, we have been neglecting them as of late
+AMAZING public transportation
+Access to so many employers.
+Some of the best public schools, and private schools, in the nation. Even our "average" schools top many neighboring states.
-No true mountains, but decent options for skiing is nearby in the Poconos or slightly upstate NY.
-high property taxes for a lot of local and county services, some of which we certainly do not need
-high legacy costs - lots of older teachers and cops and firefighters, being a mature state as far as "growth", this means we'll carry these costs for a long time
-Established political entities make it impossible to enact change (lots of corruption - party doesn't really matter)
-Traffic in the northeast (NYC metro area)
you also get state paid disability (your salary is offset by this amount if your employer provides same).
you also get state paid disability (your salary is offset by this amount if your employer provides same).
like....short term disability? i wasn't aware of that. that's a nice perk too. when you start diving into the perks....and of course, it depends on whether you agree with them or not if this is a good or bad thing....you start realizing the reasons why our taxes are high. we get a lot of services.
like....short term disability? i wasn't aware of that. that's a nice perk too. when you start diving into the perks....and of course, it depends on whether you agree with them or not if this is a good or bad thing....you start realizing the reasons why our taxes are high. we get a lot of services.
anyways...
yes, it's that little deduction in your check called SDI (that's probably the same for maternity) I got it last year. While my employer provides disability, SDI trumps it and my work paycheck was offset by that amount. Bottom line I received my whole salary, but from 2 sources. It's wonderful for people who aren't offered it through their employer. I think 5 states provide payments.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.