North Jersey vs. South Jersey (Camden, Passaic: home, school, living)

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by 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.

Adding to this, I once worked with a guy who lived in Frankinville, which is on the border of Salem and Atlantic Counties, and considered Medford (where I lived at the time) on the edge of Central Jersey. He thought anything north of Medford was "Northern NJ". Adding to that, he'd never been north of Trenton in his life. Isn't that strange!

Also, you are very astute in the Barnegat Light observation. Again, that is right on the transition line, at least to me. Why? Because if you polled any number of people who live in that area, it is my belief that at least half of them would say they take the GSP north, towards Monmouth County, to go to work, therefore, in the Central NJ orbit. Could I have put it in Southern? I suppose so. I guess another way to handle it would be to add two new zones, named 'transition'. But I agree with you Tahiti, different perceptions (in most cases, VASTLY different perceptions) is the reason why I don't think consensus could ever be reached in regard to sub-forums.

[JerzBoy]

Originally Posted by 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.

I never understood how people consider Union county central NJ. It seems very north to me. Older established towns with crazy congestion and very easy access to NYC. I could see the arguments for middlesex and somerset counties for central but I think I pretty much agree with Mike's north-central boundary in Middlesex Co with the exception of Sayreville and South River.

[Busch Boy]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Adding to this, I once worked with a guy who lived in Frankinville, which is on the border of Salem and Atlantic Counties, and considered Medford (where I lived at the time) on the edge of Central Jersey. He thought anything north of Medford was "Northern NJ". Adding to that, he'd never been north of Trenton in his life. Isn't that strange!

This really is funny. "Anything north of Medford is North Jersey", LOL. I guess you relate things to where you live. I live about 20-25 min south of upstate New York, so for me Toms River (and all of Ocean County) is definitely South Jersey. I consider Edison and Piscataway too far down to be part of North Jersey as well. If people look at it in a geographical sense, instead of the origins of the inhabitants (NY transplants for instance), the demarcation lines are alot easier to draw.

[DITC]

I can understand what seems North to a south Jersey native and vice versa. I have talked to people in pretty much every corner in NJ and asked "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" and that is where I get these boundaries from. Union County people have told me Central Jersey. Somerset County people have told me Central Jersey. Where you are from and the general "orbit" (a good word someone used earlier) dictates where you are from. The boundaries are NOT what someone on the other side of the state thinks (whether its Timmy in Vineland who thinks North Jersey is north of Glassboro or Tony who thinks everything south of Newark is south)

[Welcome]

If it's strictly North v. South, then clearly the dividing line is Route 195.

But if there's such a thing as Central Jersey, then it begins just south of Sayreville or at that Bridge on the Parkway.

And South Jersey is everything south of Route 70.

[fischfan13]

IMO, North Jersey is Woodbridge and all areas North.
South of Woodbridge down to Toms River is Central.
Berkerley Township (Ocean County) down is South Jersey.

Southwest Jersey, Cherry Hill and towns South are parts of Philly.

[DITC]

There is North South and Central. If NJ had to go North/South only, youd ask, what goes to Philly/PA and what goes to New York. Central and North would be clustered together into a bigger NORTH if the state had to be divided in two. Comparing Central and North Jersey is like comparing Long Island and Westchester. Similar lifestyle, accents, Manhattan suburbs, etc but the little things are different. Obviously LI and Westchester do not touch. In the case of North and Central, most of 908 pretty much says Central and 973 will say north, although the lines do get blurry around Route 78. Like Summit, I have always wondered what people of this town associate themselves with.

South Jersey is a whole different animal like Buffalo is - different accents, different metro area, etc. Draw a line from Trenton to Toms River or maybe even to Forked River. Everything south of that is South Jersey whether the state is divided into two or three.

[mike0421]

If you really wanted to split hairs, you could sub-divide the south. For instance, most of Burlington County has absolutely nothing in common with Cumberland or Cape May Counties. I've driven from Medford to Vineland, and it's like you morphed into another world. The look and feel of Cumberland County (and Eastern Salem) is completely unlike the rest of South Jersey.

[yCf]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Adding to this, I once worked with a guy who lived in Frankinville, which is on the border of Salem and Atlantic Counties, and considered Medford (where I lived at the time) on the edge of Central Jersey. He thought anything north of Medford was "Northern NJ". Adding to that, he'd never been north of Trenton in his life. Isn't that strange!

yes, south jersey folks are weird......

[b75]

Hmmm I think of Monmouth County as Central NJ too. I mean if you look at the map of NJ it is smack dab in the middle - how much more central can you get? Of course everyone from North NJ calls it South Jersey; everyone from South Jersey calls it North Jersey...