North Jersey vs. South Jersey (Newark, Edison: transplants, work, suburbs)

[judithexit]

Originally Posted by lammius

The idea to create separate subforums for New Jersey was brought up about 6 months ago. There was a poll, and the majority of people voted against subforums. Despite the difference between North and South Jersey, it seemed people felt that:

1. People have very different definitions of what North and South Jersey each include.
2. Some people believe there's a Central Jersey, others do not.
3. Someone seeking to move to New Jersey could potentially relocate to any of the two or three regions. For example, someone posting saying "Need a place to live 1 hour from Manhattan" could post in North, Central or even South Jersey subforums seeking the same advice. Most people seemed to think it was simpler to keep up just one NJ forum.

Read through this thread to see the blow-by-blow: Should we add the NYC metropolitan area sub-forum?

your right ..... I do live in central.... I agree we should add NYC Metropolitan area.

[hollygolightly]

Originally Posted by Busch Boy

I am one of those that believes in a Central Jersey! Here is what NJ (IMO) should be broken up into:

North Jersey:
Sussex County
Warren County
Bergen County
Passaic County
Morris County
Essex County
Hudson County
Union County

Central Jersey:
Middlesex County
Somerset County
Hunterdon County
Mercer County
Monmouth County

South Jersey:
Ocean County
Atlantic County
Burlington County
Gloucester County
Camden County
Salem County
Cumberland County
Cape May County



And for those who insist that there is no Central Jersey, then just make Monmouth part of South Jersey and everything else on the Central Jersey list part of North Jersey.

I think this would work, though others will probably disagree.

[hollygolightly]

Originally Posted by judithexit

your right ..... I do live in central.... I agree we should add NYC Metropolitan area.

I think so too, although some say parts of South Jersey could be considered part of the NYC metro area. I'm thinking they are more like the Phila. area, but also stand on their own, esp. if you get as far south as Cape May County.

[JerzBoy]

Originally Posted by DITC

Alright calm down I'll get technical here. Most people I know from Toms River area (NJ natives) tend to align with NY, fly out of Newark etc. Burlington/Camden people usually only go to Ocean County for LBI, and rarely anything north. 9 of 10 people in the Philly metro have never even been to Seaside, Pt Pleasant, Belmar. Toms River has little connection with Cherry Hill area (exception: congressional district).

Case in point, NY-bound NJ transit is already in Point Pleasant and Bay Head (Ocean County) and they are proposing an extension through Jackson, Howell, and Lakehurst (again Ocean County). There are express buses running from Ocean County to Port Authority. Real South Jersey is suburban Philadelphia and AC area.

Southern Ocean County is the buffer zone I guess. Maybe route 72 is the divider, I have no idea.

That sounds like a reasonable divider line between Central and South Jersey in Ocean County.. Northern Ocean County is definitely NOT South Jersey.

[invertigo]

Originally Posted by hollygolightly

I think so too, although some say parts of South Jersey could be considered part of the NYC metro area. I'm thinking they are more like the Phila. area, but also stand on their own, esp. if you get as far south as Cape May County.

As someone who has lived in South Jersey for the last three years... don't ever say South Jersey is part of the NYC metro area!!...for your own good I'm a North Jersey guy myself who has relocated south. I knew that before I moved here, but now I see it first hand! SJ clearly does not want to be grouped with the northern part of the state....or NY for that matter.

[mike0421]

This is my definition of north vs central vs south:


When doing this, I struggled (as anyone might) with where the boundaries should lie. Ultimately, I attempted to make this map as to where newspaper and television outlets started and ended their circulations or coverage. For the central to south transition, I included the southern most municipalities of Ocean County in southern NJ. That's because you are very likely to see the Philadelphia Inquirer in a Wawa in Long Beach Island, in addition to the Star Ledger. Most of the southern municipalities have no Star Ledger access. Conversely, in the north, you are not going to be able to get a copy of the Trenton Times. (Is any of this making sense??) However, the same can't be said of the southern municipalities when it comes to being able to purchase the same paper. THe toughest areas were the Trenton area, in which I included Bordentown in Central Jersey, but the remainder of Burlington County in Southern NJ. I am sure as more ex-Northern New Jersey residents continue to re-locate in this complex area, the central Jersey region might be pushed further south to include such municipalities as Chesterfield, North Hanover, Florence, etc. The other dicey area to define is the central-northern NJ transition. For instance, although Old Bridge is only 15 minutes away from Staten Island (New York City) I put it in the Central NJ area, because as an ex-Northern NJ resident, for a long time, it was generally assumed that crossing over the Raritan River was a psychological transition into another area of NJ. One could make the argument that Middlesex County, in it's entirety, should be placed into Central NJ, but I put towns such as Woodbridge and Piscataway into the Northern section, because I still think the I-287 belt is very much in the northern NJ orbit. Finally, you will notice as the state goes further westward, the Northern-Central boundary encroaches further north. I did so because I think the I-78 corridor, going further west, transitions away further from NYC, and closer to Pennsylvania, thereby draining the NYC influence. In short, the Northern region, to me, indicates full domination of either NYC or New York state, where as the central region has more Pennsylvania influence. One might argue, then, why I made northern Warren County and Western Sussex County part of Northern NJ, and my rationale for that is because I-80 is such a magnet for commuting into the NYC orbit, and many residents from Wayne and Pike County PA have relocated from NY that it's influence overrides Pennsylvania.

Admittedly, this is a very unscientific demarcation, but it's the best I can come up with.

[JerzBoy]

I like your map mike. I think the boundaries are pretty reasonable. The only thing I noticed was that you included New Brunswick, Sayreville, and South River in North Jersey even though they are south of the Raritan River. Any particular rationale for this?

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by JerzBoy

I like your map mike. I think the boundaries are pretty reasonable. The only thing I noticed was that you included New Brunswick, Sayreville, and South River in North Jersey even though they are south of the Raritan River. Any particular rationale for this?

The only reason for this is because of access to US 1 and I-287 and thus Staten Island. Staten Island is really confounding to me, because it is NYC, but it so close to areas in NJ we consider central NJ. I've always considered proximity to NYC to constitute what is Northern NJ vs non-Northern NJ. If Staten Island was part of NJ, (and really it almost should be) making these boundaries would prove to be easier.

[tahiti]

and the discussion here is why we could never have a successful forum division . i think it boils down to what perspective you come from. IMHO, there is North Jersey, South Jersey, and a *very* small portion I'd call Central Jersey (and that encompasses ONLY northern Middlesex County - Piscataway, Middlesex, South Plainfield, etc). This is weird, but I think of Sayreville as South and East Brunswick as North - I think it has to do with the Driscoll Bridge - going over that bridge as a kid meant to me that we were "down the shore" and therefore in South Jersey (like Mike said).

everything north of 78 is North Jersey, period. everything south of 195 is south, period. everything in 609/856 is south (except that weird part of Somerset Cnty that has a 609 area code). Trenton is South. everything in 908/201/973 and whatever the hell that new North Jersey area code is north. 732 is a bugger.

will all due respect to Mike - in Tahiti's world, Toms River is SOUTH and ALL of Warren County is North. I can't quite tell, but it looks like Barnegat Light may be in Central in your map, but to me, no way, no how.

This is the perspective a true North Jersey girl, YMMV.

[DITC]

Mike, your Central/South Boundary is perfect. However, Middlesex, Somerset, and most if not all of Union county (908/732 and now 848) are all in the northern edge of central jersey. People up in Basking Ridge say central Jersey. North Jersey is Irvington/Newark/Bayonne and north (201/973 and now 551/862). Its actually pretty small.