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Out of control spending, taxation. It's not what you make, it's what you get to keep. Not a place for retirees.
Yup. 10 years from now both of my kids will have completed college and I am already planning my exit. I'll be just over 50 years old at that point. There is no way I will continue to throw away $15-20K per year in property taxes by that time.
I think there a few factors that would need to happen, but I definitely think it's possible for NJ to turn around. It already sorta is in a way. Look at the development in Hudson County and Newark. If Newark can become a larger job center, it could attract some of the business out of NYC.
Also, while North Jersey is far more expensive than South Jersey, the north always had NYC to rely on for jobs and economy. Philly was in the gutter for a long time, and South Jersey relies on it the same way the north relies on NYC. Now that Philly is improving drastically, I see a lot more opportunity for the southern part of the state. Also AC is building new hotels and many shore towns like Asbury Park are improving. The glory days of suburban living with a large family in the suburbs in NJ are over. But Philly's economy is recovering very well. Newark is on the come up with business moving in and new construction of residential units and commercial properties. Hudson County is reaping the benefits of Hoboken and JC redeveloping, and I know some young people are moving to Union City now too as they're priced out of even the Heights. I know people actually moving to Asbury Park that are not from the area. I know people in the city realizing Asbury Park is a real destination now. I know people from Philly, NYC and north Jersey who are more willing to vacation in AC now with the new hotels and growing nightlife scene there. I think the marijuana legalization plans will help a lot too.
No state with a diverse population, located near massive job centers, with good public education, an educated population, on the ocean, and all that make NJ a great place to live are abundantly affordable.
Really the worst thing NJ has going for it are property taxes. But even though COL is high here, jobs in NYC and Philly pay much better than jobs in more affordable states. Also you pay for what you get. Some people just enjoy and thrive off the culture of the region and the access to NYC and Philly and the shore. Someone mentioned Dallas and Atlanta. Philly and NYC have more culture and diversity in one neighborhood than nearly those entire cities. And both of them are not located an hour away from beaches. And both of them lack any proper public transit. NJT may be failing rn, but it still runs. Neither of them have anything that matches PATH or PATCO. So you really do pay for what you get. If you don't use NYC and Philly to their full advantages, then NJ doesn't seem like the best choice. But for many people, NJ is a good suburban place to live in order to take advantage of all the amenities NYC and Philly offer. That will never change. You can't replicate NYC and Philly in TX, GA, SC, NC, FL, etc.
No mention in this thread of how Home Rule impacts property taxes?
Take a look at the size of your municipality's payroll, then look at the size of the individual salaries.
I think the fear is that if you remove municipalities and merge them or whatever, then you'll be paying just as much but you won't have "My-Great-Town" schools anymore. In other words, if people are going to be paying these high taxes, they want to believe that they are getting these great schools for them.
(I don't subscribe to this line of thinking but it's just my theory)
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