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It's almost heaven! Except for the whole cost of living thing. And if you're into the whole "wide open spaces" thing, this isn't the place for you. Even the "rural" areas of NJ aren't really all that rural. The glow of urban light pollution will follow you out to the state's borders.
Have you been to Cumberland county? Or parts of northwest NJ? There are rural areas that are, in fact, rural.
I moved here for the great schools, access to nyc(much more for your money than Westchester and much closer than CT), abundance of natural resources(meaning parks, beaches, lakes, and mountains, not coal, lumber and cotton). Add in great communities of people and it's probably one of the best places in the country to raise a family. Doubt I'll be leaving for a very long time. Once the kids are out of college I'll probably bolt to a more tax friendly state but that would be for financial reasons not personal happiness. I'm a very happy customer and would recommend the city-state of New Jersey as a good move for anyone looking for all the things I listed above.
I agree wholeheartedly with the great schools, access to NYC and Philadelphia, great natural setting - I love the Shore but also appreciate the farmland and mountains as well. I love the diversity, the access to music and food from cultures all around the world, the fact that my town alone has people from every corner of the Earth. Last, and certainly not least, Atlantic City and legal online gaming (in November) keeps me in a position where I can supplement my income easily. When the kids are out of college maybe I will move to another part of the country or world (yes, taxes suck!), but will probably still keep a place here.
I'm asking those who have moved to this city and not from it; I'm also not trying to offend nj residents, i'm just curious to know. It seems that a lot of outsiders move to this state and it ends it up bad for them whether they have lost their lives or they just had to pack up and move again because it wasnt all cracked up to be. I have no issue with new jersey, i just don't find it so great to move there and it just doesn't fit me.
Besides employment or whatever the case may be, what is so appealing about new jersey that made you want to live there?
what do you expect new jersey to provide for you if you are moving in from somewhere else? id imagine anyone moving here is doing it for either employment or family. once you are here, your happiness is almost totally dependent on you. if you are miserable and blaming the state, the issue is probably in you and not the state. my local area is more significant to me than the entire state since the state isn't uniform. im guessing there are lots of places outside of nj that are a lot like Holmdel nj. but i live in Holmdel nj and i like it very much.
Have you been to Cumberland county? Or parts of northwest NJ? There are rural areas that are, in fact, rural.
This is the most densely populated state in the union, so rural is pretty subjective. I live in Hunterdon, my in-laws live in Sussex, and I grew up in a "rural" part of Mercer County. That said, from my house, my in-laws, or my parents house, I can be in New York City in about an hour (by road or rail), a Starbucks in 15 minutes, and a world class hospital in 20 minutes. What lammius said about light pollution is true also-there is so much light pollution between Boston and Washington that you can barely see only the brightest stars at night no matter where you are. Even the rural counties in NJ have services out the wazoo, a handful of unpaved roads, and access to just about anything.
Contrast all of this to a state like Maine. 80% of the state is unincorporated, meaning there is no municipal government (because there aren't enough people to warrant it), they have tens of thousands of miles of unpaved roads, many of which are seasonal, and access to healthcare, or even a grocery store or an interstate highway, could be hours away. I love Hunterdon County and it's beautiful, as are Cumberland, Salem, Sussex, Warren, etc...but they aren't that rural. Some parts feel that way, but in reality, even if you are sitting alone on the Kittatinny Ridge, deep in the woods between Hemlock Pond and Crater Lake on the Appalachian Trail and there isn't a soul around, you're still sitting smack in the middle of this:
Il be moving to NJ soon and im very optimistic about the peoples, places there as found from various sources. I dont know if there is something that i need to worry about. Can cheethaprint provide specific points that we may consider to worry about so that it will help people like me to take care.
There isn't. The OP seems to be a troll IMO. Good luck with your move I'm sure you'll like it here!
NJ is a great place to live and work and raise your children.
If you have a well paying job.
If you don't mind the congestion of the Metropolitan area.
If you like living within a short drive to NYC and it's culture.
If you like living within a short drive to the mountains of PA.
If you like living within a short drive to go "down the shore".
If you enjoy some of the best restaurants in all of the country.
There are some negatives,
RE is expensive because of it's proximity to well paying jobs.
High RE taxes to pay for those good public schools.
Automobile insurance is high because of crowded roads.
Home rule which is every little town having it's own Govt. along with it's own school system, police dept.
Great place to grow up and earn some money so you can retire down South while you still have some money.
I didn't move here. I was born here and my family has been in New Jersey for five or six generations.
I did move within the state, however, from the area where I grew up and spent most of my life to another county sixty+ miles south.
The reasons for that were that the place I lived was too expensive for me and not really appropriate for my life at that point.
I moved to a place that still had a reasonable commuting distance to my job yet was more affordable, and even more important, had easy access to the ocean.
That's a little piece of your answer, but the bigger response is that wherever you are in NJ, chances are that you will have access to something you are looking for--whether that be some open land/woods, ocean, city, arts, education, etc. In other states, you likely have to travel further to find everything you might want.
Not having to pump your own gas is not an incentive. It's a mere service, and a lot of times they can't even get that right.
Although NJ is home to some of the most beautiful, secluded, and well off suburbs I have ever seen. The parks are generally fantastic. However, the beach in NJ I could really care less about.
Whenever someone my age says they want to raise kids in NJ I kind of have to laugh at them. Unless they plan on making over 150K (which they never will) NJ really isn't affordable at all. If you are middle class and scraping along in NJ, you would be much better off in other states - Regardless of the damn public schools (yes, believe it or not if you do your research you will find comparable public school districts in other states.)
Unfortunately for NJ it has more drawbacks than actual perks. If you are rich and love distinct seasons, go for it.
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