Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Robustus, the only place I would live in, in Jersey City, is Downtown. This is where I live. It's 10x safer than the rest of the city. Look for apartments in Van Vorst park, Hamilton Park, Paulus Hook, Exchange Place, Harsimus Cove. These are all neighborhoods within Downtown Jersey City. All have excellent access to one of the 3 Path stations.
and my buddy lives in an apartment near exchange place, where he witnessed gang activity from his window near the exchange place PATH station - gun shots, police, helicopter....
there's parts that are fine and this example is a huge anomoly, but the riff-raff is there. just walk around newport mall (though it's gotten a lot nicer in the past 5-6 years).
Thats why apartments are reasonably cheap in the area. You state that there were 3 or 4 shootings and a random bullet busting through someones car window within 3 blocks of your house. It could have been outside of your apartment. Many people don't want to roll the dice on their safety. Glad u got out in one piece and safe to vegas.
Thats why apartments are reasonably cheap in the area. You state that there were 3 or 4 shootings and a random bullet busting through someones car window within 3 blocks of your house. It could have been outside of your apartment. Many people don't want to roll the dice on their safety. Glad u got out in one piece and safe to vegas.
Vegas isn't even better , the crime rate is higher and it has one of the worst economies in the the US....for a metro area.
Well, thought I'd provide some follow up. We *did* end up moving to that block of Pearsall Ave, and lived there happily for 2.5 years. We just moved out last month because we bought a house in Vegas.
To summarize, yes, the surrounding area is rough as several posters warned. That said, most of the stuff that went down in the area was not random. A number of gang-related shootings (three in March '09, if memory serves) and whatnot. I kept an eye on the crime reports, and it seemed like downtown was actually riskier in terms of odds of getting mugged or randomly beaten, etc.
Anyways, it was a great well-appointed apartment (1350sqft for $1500/mo) in a new building, 5min walk from the light-rail (under 30mins to downtown NYC), very convenient drive to the Turnpike, etc. Served our needs very well while we were there. Our neighbors were all very nice, and there was never any trouble on our particular street. But yeah, 3 or 4 shootings within a 3 block radius, stray bullet passed through some guy's car while he was driving down Danforth (which I drove down regularly). Meh.
I still contend that neighborhoods like that are very much street-by-street in terms of safety, and it's tough to know what's what without living there. Maybe I got lucky, but me, my girlfriend, and dozens of friends that came over regularly (walking several blocks from the light-rail) never had any issue.
A more tangible downside was that we always had to drive to do any shopping - not far, but still had to hop in the car. Shopped a lot in Bayonne. If I had the decision to do over, I'd probably look more seriously at apartments in Bayonne, though I doubt I would've been able to find as nice and as large an apartment for the price. So who knows - kind of a toss up. The living-space value was unbeatable, but the suitability of the area probably depends on personal comfort levels and preferences, etc.
In any event, my girlfriend and I are glad we lived there, but it was time to move on. We're currently enjoying the 60+deg December weather in Vegas. Definitely won't be missing Jersey City / NYC in the slush/sleet/snow.
Well I'm glad you did ok while living there. But I gotta say if saving a few bucks on rent but having a few stray bullets hitting cars around you is worth it, then you have pretty thick skin.
Thats why apartments are reasonably cheap in the area. You state that there were 3 or 4 shootings and a random bullet busting through someones car window within 3 blocks of your house. It could have been outside of your apartment. Many people don't want to roll the dice on their safety. Glad u got out in one piece and safe to vegas.
Yes, it could've been right outside my apt, and that would've been scary as hell, and would've freaked me out on an emotional level quite readily. But the fact remains that the odds of accidentally being impacted by something like that are phenomenally slim. The relative lack of muggings and other "random" crime in the area is actually more relevant (albeit, surprising).
And regarding the pensive smiley on your "safe to Vegas" comment: I'm really happy with my neighborhood (and quadrant of the city for that matter) in Vegas. It's beautiful, new, very little crime in this area, and my mortgage+taxes+insurance+HOA payment is less than 2/3 what my rent was in JC, for a 4bed 2100sqft house that's 4 years old with a nice yard. Booya. Hit up the Vegas thread here on CD if you're interested in getting more educated on the current situation in Vegas.
Vegas isn't even better , the crime rate is higher and it has one of the worst economies in the the US....for a metro area.
Yeah, there are bad areas, but there are tons of extremely nice yet cheap areas as well. Like night and day compared to JC, actually. As I suggested above, hit up the Vegas thread for more info.
Don't think so. Just try to maintain a more statistical approach. My odds of getting hurt in a car accident are orders of magnitude higher than being in the wrong place wrong time with respect to some gang incident in JC. Now if I decided to go sell drugs on the street corner, that equation probably reverses pretty dramatically.
I should also note that most of my neighbors in that neighborhood had been there for decades, and none had ever been involved in anything violent. Only issues they mentioned were a car break-in many years ago, and stolen trash cans. Go ask Wayne St. residents downtown the same questions.
Don't think so. Just try to maintain a more statistical approach. My odds of getting hurt in a car accident are orders of magnitude higher than being in the wrong place wrong time with respect to some gang incident in JC. Now if I decided to go sell drugs on the street corner, that equation probably reverses pretty dramatically.
I should also note that most of my neighbors in that neighborhood had been there for decades, and none had ever been involved in anything violent. Only issues they mentioned were a car break-in many years ago, and stolen trash cans. Go ask Wayne St. residents downtown the same questions.
Im not doubting your experience but I have lived and have family that live very close to that area and their stories are much different than an occasional car break in.
Don't think so. Just try to maintain a more statistical approach. My odds of getting hurt in a car accident are orders of magnitude higher than being in the wrong place wrong time with respect to some gang incident in JC. Now if I decided to go sell drugs on the street corner, that equation probably reverses pretty dramatically.
I should also note that most of my neighbors in that neighborhood had been there for decades, and none had ever been involved in anything violent. Only issues they mentioned were a car break-in many years ago, and stolen trash cans. Go ask Wayne St. residents downtown the same questions.
I don't want to burst your bubble about crime in that EXACT location. But I investigated one particular house that was shot up 3 times with the occupants in it within the last 5 years. For the record the owner was a law enforcement officer for an unamed agency that has since moved. So your statement about a car breakin many years ago is weak.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
