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NJ on the northeast corridor. It surrounded by the wealthiest parts of the nation. So why are many of its cites ghetto?
1. Newark - This is city has a train station, served by the path, 2 universities, within commuting distance to NYC, on the northeast corridor, and a connection to an international airport. Why isn't this city exploding? Jersey is rapidly gentrifying. I do not so why Newark cannot be as successful as philadelphia even with its crime. With Deblasio as mayor of new york, I heard companies are heading to NJ again.
The gold coast should unite. They have rail system, ports, an international airport. They could be bigger than NYC.
2. trenton - This is our freaking state capital. Yet it is ghetto and has a high crime rate. its within an hour between NYC and philly and on the northeast cooridor. There is no excuse for it be in such a sad state. It has a transit hub for septa, njtransit, and amtrak. Ewing township, however, has seemed to have taken the revenue of the universities and airport. I think the R3 stop in west trenton should be connected to raritain valley line of nj transit to provide an alternative to the northeast cooridor. it would also make the West trenton station more useful and provide easier access to philly from north jersey.
3. Camden - I don't know what can be done about this. If philly doesn't blossom, camdem will not as well. It would be hard copy the gold coast in north NJ. It has Rutgers and the waterfront, the patco, and it served the atlantic city line.
4. Atlantic city - This is just total mismanagement. AC should be blowing away las vegas. i was walking on the Las vegas strip and i was not that impressed. it was a giant times square that doesn't look that great during the day. AC has a freaking beach. Vegas just has desert! They need clean up the beach and make a crapload of borgatas all on one, safe policed cooridor! I know its not PC, but they need to move the projects to poconos. Ac has a trainstation, its bus station is actually nicer than the port authority. it even has a departure board which the port authority in NYC does not. AC really missed the ball here. I don't know whether its the governor's, mayors, city counsel, or business owner's fault, but AC should be the destination for entertainment. Not Las vegas. its got an international airport. AC is closer to Europe, Middle East, and Russia. Those rich oligarchs, oil shiekhs, and aristocats should not be going to Vegas when AC is so much closer. How long does someone want to spend on a plane? Why is there no direct train to place in AC? bad management! Everyone should experience tony boloney's!
Also, why is there no direct rail connection from Bay head to AC? this boggles my mind. This would provide a more direct route to NYC and bypass philly which is another hour on train.
1. Newark's been in waiting for the closer stops on the PATH train to gentrify. Gentrification in Newark is slowly getting underway, there's been a number of new higher-end developments close to the stations. Companies are not heading to NJ because of DiBlasio, they are coming because of Manhattan costs.
2. It's over an hour from both, basically in no-man's land. It doesn't have a reason to exist or any compelling reason for any person or company to want to be there. Also, many state capitals are terrible. For example, look at our neighbors. Albany and Harrisburg are disasters as well. West Trenton -> RVL might be worthwhile for local reasons, but it is and always will be so much slower that it's never going to be an "alternate".
3. It's improving very slowly. That said, you're correct. It's fate is tied to Philly doing well as well as consistent support from NJ.
4. Vegas has vastly more going on. In theory you're right, in reality Vegas developed far earlier and more heavily. AC is unlikely to ever come close. As for the last part, if you can afford to fly here in the first place, the difference in cost/time from between AC and Vegas is irrelevant.
As for a rail connection between Bay Head and AC, it's impossible to route, that's why.
When other cities were annexing their suburbs our cities weren't allowed to grow. Imagine if Newark was all of Essex county or if Jersey city was all hudson county. They would be a force.
All of those cities have large areas of poverty and crime. That's the #1 factor holding back any "blossoming". What do you do with all the poor people?
To say NJ cities aren't blossoming ignores what's been taking place in Hudson County for the last two decades...I think some too often forget that, while HC is tied to NYC, it's still NJ.W
As for the cities the OP lists...
Yes, Newark has a number of potential positives: schools, medical institutions, downtown corporate offices, government offices, arts and entertainment venues, a stable ethnic neighborhood, phenomenal regional mass transit connectivity, and an airport. Still holding it back are the crime rate, the fact that other PATH stops are just beginning to revitalize (Journal Square) and the fact that it's a pretty long ride on the PATH to NYC (close enough for work sure, but not for quick nightlife trips). Additionally, Newark suffers from a deplorable built-environment; sure they're repurposing some of the downtown office buildings into apartments, but there are basically 0 old rowhouse neighborhoods to attract urban pioneers to potential fixer-uppers. Outside of 1.5 square-mile downtown, the rest of Newark feels very suburban, so there's little incentive for folks looking for an urban lifestyle to move to somewhat stable ares such as Forest Hill or Ivy Hill, not to mention more impoverished ares such as Weequahic.
Trenton: As stated above, I guess it falls into a no-man's land so it can't rely on commuter-based revitalization. It also lacks a university presence, something that won't change unless TCNJ, Rider, or Rutgers happen to open a "Capital Campus" or something like that. There are plans in the works to build a mixed-use development at the site of the Roebling Wire Works and market it to younger government employees. I think the state should also try to incentivize some of the high-tech firms in the greater Princeton area to relocate to Trenton, this would help revitalize the city and alleviate traffic along Rt. 1. Trenton has good rail connectivity, though getting there by road can be tricky from much of North Jersey.
As for West Trenton, there are long-term plans for NJTransit to reactivate a rail line running from the Bridgewater area down to West Trenton, though I'm not sure how many people this would really help (though it would be great for me personally, as it would open an easy rail connection from North Jersey down to Temple in Philly, where I work). West Trenton itself is a separate entity from Trenton, and not nearly as troubled. Ewing also has plans to build a massive mixed-use TOD near the train station, so that area should be fine in the long run.
Camden: First of all, the Atlantic City Line does not run through Camden, it runs through Pennsauken. Camden does have a number of waterfront attractions, Rutgers (and a Rowan Campus), as well as PATCO and Riverline access. The Camden PATCO stations are actually a shorter ride into Center City than many Philly subway stops, so there is theoretically potential. As others have mentioned, that fact that Philly is so cheap and attractive means there's very little incentive for anyone to live in Camden right now. There have been a few tax-incentive-driven corporate relocations to Camden, including the Subaru HQ. This doesn't really create many jobs for the city, but it's at least a step in the right direction.
Atlantic City: I really don't have much to say on this one. I personally love a weekend trip to AC, but I don't think it will ever really compete with Vegas, and with casinos opening up all over the region, there's little incentive to drive to hours to play slots when you can just stay in Philly, Bethlehem, or Connecticut (an soon, perhaps, Jersey City or the Meadowlands).
OP also neglected to mention Paterson and Elizabeth. Paterson has many of Newark's problems (loss of industry, high crime), with none of it's potential advantages. The new National Park is a nice idea, and has potential considering what heritage tourism has done for Lowell. And the historic district has a lot of adaptive reuse potential.
Elizabeth is safer than Newark, with a better school system, and only one stop further down the NEC, so I could see some potential there. I actually like some of the architecture downtown. It would have been nice if they'd actually built the light-rail connection to Newark.
Overall, why do NJ's cities seem to lag? Well, we've had decades of Federal and State policies that have subsidized suburbanization and auto-oriented development at the expense of the cities, and this damage takes a long time to undo. NJ in particular has a long tradition of municipal balkanization and a suburban outlook, so those in power have had little interest in fostering lasting change. South Jersey in particular has an anti-urban mindset, so much so that even their nicest old towns resist mass transit and TOD.
While NJ is lacking in thriving major cities, it boasts a great stock of dense railroad suburbs and small cities that can attract people seeking a somewhat urban lifestyles away from actually living in the city. Morristown, Ridgewood, Redbank, New Brunswick, Lambertville, Westfield, all come to mind. To build off of the previous poster's point, had NJ cities expanded to reasonable sizes, places such Harrison, South Orange, Maplewood, and Montclair would be neighborhoods of Newark.
Ultimately, the national mindset seems to be shifting towards urban living, and in NJ, the alternative of further suburban expansion is basically impossible at this point. Hopefully in coming elections, we can put people in charge with the vision and leadership to set our urban areas on the right trace.
Why would the Pocono be taking on Nj's scumbag problem?The poconos is. nicer than. Nj and doesnt have Nj 'S massive ghetto city problem, our citys in the poconos are nice.Why do you think I moved out of jersey?
What is your definition of "blossoming"? What expectation do you have of these cities? What makes you think they are not exactly what they are supposed to be, and why they ought to be "blossoming"
Well, AC I can understand, your reasonings. But Newark, Jersey City, Camden, are just cities. They are just places where people live really close together.
Why would the Pocono be taking on Nj's scumbag problem?The poconos is. nicer than. Nj and doesnt have Nj 'S massive ghetto city problem, our citys in the poconos are nice.Why do you think I moved out of jersey?
There are no cities in the Poconos. Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg is the biggest and is still tiny. 10k people is not a city. If you're using a broader definition, "nice" is not normally the word that comes to mind when I think of or visit Scranton.
Cities in this area would include Allentown, bethlehem, hazelton, ,wilkesbarre, scranton, and easton.They're smaller cities comparitive with the major citys mentioned for Nj but dont pretend any of them have the decay or crime rate of the cities mentioned.More than one of the cities mentioned for urban renewal had the highest murder rate in the country, and we in the poconos would want that dumped in our backyard?Are you really trying to compare Scranton to one of these hell holes?Your kidding,right?
Cities in this area would include Allentown, bethlehem, hazelton, ,wilkesbarre, scranton, and easton.They're smaller cities comparitive with the major citys mentioned for Nj but dont pretend any of them have the decay or crime rate of the cities mentioned.More than one of the cities mentioned for urban renewal had the highest murder rate in the country, and we in the poconos would want that dumped in our backyard?Are you really trying to compare Scranton to one of these hell holes?Your kidding,right?
C'mon man, other than the college (and Dunder Mifflin?) nothing is really coming out of Scranton. Scranton doesn't have the crime or decay of many cities even outside of NJ because it's too small to even make it a relevant comparison. And even then there are still plenty of less than attractive areas within it. I was stationed at Tobyhanna AD for several years and even the contractors and locals avoided Scranton (Allentown was the fav even though it was further out). I would compare to it a smaller NJ city like New Brunswick (which is setup similar to Scranton but is in much better shape).
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