Lodi or Garfield (Newark, Union, Wayne: real estate, high school, income)

[Newarkbomb]

Im livin in Lodi, but i border garfield and i seen these guys in a pizzaria talkin about how Garfield and Lodi should be 1 city because there so convient to eachother and are simaler.

Whats your guys's perspective.

i know my Daugeter Loves the elemantary she goes to in lodi which i thought was suprising because shes new since last month. We moved from newark.

[Busch Boy]

For some reason, I think Lodi is a tiny bit nicer than Garfield. But they are very similiar.

[pbergen]

there are a lot of historical similarities between the two towns. i certainly wouldn't mind seeing them merged.

as a matter of fact, i'd like to see a lot more towns in the state merge or at least share services (police, fire, perhaps institute a regional high school) to cut down on taxes. economies of scale = more efficiency. there really isn't a need for so many little towns in nj, esp. in bergen and camden counties, where the "boroughitis" phenomenon is most pronounced. did you that know there are seventy municipalities in bergen county alone? that's way too much.

for starters, you could merge all of the meadowlands towns in southern bergen county (i.e. everything from north arlington up to hasbrouck heights) due to similar demographics, relatively similar income, etc. merging two municipalities with highly divergent demographics is a recipe for disaster, but the southern bergen meadowlands towns have a lot in common, so IMO they belong together.

the thing is, a lot of people in nj are strongly opposed to merging because they feel they're going to lose their small town character, which i think is the wrong way to look at it. if north arlington and lyndhurst were to merge tomorrow, i don't think they're going to turn into jersey city all of a sudden; in fact i think the "feel" of the towns would remain virtually unchanged post-merger. but people in nj love their little kingdoms and will go to great lengths to protect that, esp. those who directly benefit from this kind of arrangement (civil servants and others whose jobs wouldn't be needed in such great numbers in a merged municipality).

take for instance teterboro. there is NO reason for it to be its own municipality. its neighboring towns have tried on several occasions to annex it (and thus gain its tax ratables) but it has always managed to fend off these attempts. personally i would love to see the town absorbed by its neighbors so that they can derive some benefit to offset all of the noise and pollution from teterboro airport.

a similar example is tavistock down in camden county. again, no need for it to be its own municipality.

if some of these tiny towns in bergen and camden county were to merge, not only would they streamline services and potentially save on taxes, but more importantly the newer, larger municipality could create a more comprehensive land use master plan that makes sense for the entire region while preventing unwanted development. for instance, with the current patchwork of a zillion small independent towns, there really isn't anything a municipality can do to prevent its (equally small) neighbor from allowing an undesirable use (such as a go-go bar or factory or dense, traffic-producing retail complex) to be built near its border with the other town. but if the towns were to be merged, everyone would have input, and each little community wouldn't necessary feel the pressure to chase ratables that would harm the overall quality of life in their area. in a bigger, merged town, they don't have to accept all of these development proposals and, if they decide it's something they want, they have more land in which to steer the development rather than shoehorning it into a small town where it's completely out of place.

with the way things are at the moment, though, sometimes these small towns have no choice but to allow a traffic- or pollution-producing development to be built within their boundaries to alleviate the tax burden on residents.

IMO the ability to control the types of development within a larger, merged municipality is by far the biggest benefit of consolidating.

[KewlGuy]

Originally Posted by Newarkbomb

Im livin in Lodi, but i border garfield and i seen these guys in a pizzaria talkin about how Garfield and Lodi should be 1 city because there so convient to eachother and are simaler.

Whats your guys's perspective.

i know my Daugeter Loves the elemantary she goes to in lodi which i thought was suprising because shes new since last month. We moved from newark.

You can dream, but it will never happen. BTW, Garfield is a city while Lodi is a borough. And both communities really aren't that small population wise compared to other communities in the area such as Wallington or Rochelle Park. Towns may share services in the future but they will never merge.

[nj973jersey]

Well I live In Lodi right by Harrison Ave the border with Garfield. Garfield has a population of about 30,000 while Lodi is more like 24,000. The demographics of both are a bit different. In Garfield there is a heavy population of Polish and Italian and also a descent amount of hispanics. Lodi on the other hand, has a strong Italian and an up coming hispanic population but alot of Asian Indians and other variety of cultures.

[itznin]

I grew up in Garfield....

Garfield is mainly Italian/Polish/Macedonian and now as stated hispanic. It's basically the same demographic as Lodi but with less Polish population. In my opinion Garfield is a better town (city whatever you want to call it)....

The towns are very similar in cost of real estate, school systems, etc.

Here are the main differences:

1. Garfield doesn't flood and Lodi is a disater with flooding on Main Ave.(if there is a monsoon MAYBE Garfield will flood by River Rd but it's safe to say it doesn't flood)

2. It has two NJ Transit rail stations (Plauderville & Garfield station) as well as service on the 160 bus to NYC, so there are plenty of options to commute. You can argue it until you are blue in the face, taking the train is 100x better than the miserable bus and the delays - I've been doing it for years.

3. The schools are pretty much the same but Garfield has better sports programs. For example 3 NFL players: Luis Castillo (1st round pick San Diego Chargers), Miles Austin (Cowboys), and Wayne Chrebet (retired NY Jet)

4. Garfield has 20th century field (5-6 baseball fields, football field, basketball, etc), Babe Ruth field, Little League field (2 baseball fields recently redone, Danherts Lake Park (completely redone last year) with a hockey rink, jungle gym, etc., Belmont Park (huge park). I don't know much about the parks in Lodi aside from the one near the Police station so if someone else knows about them please chime in to help out.

[KewlGuy]

Originally Posted by itznin

I grew up in Garfield....

Garfield is mainly Italian/Polish/Macedonian and now as stated hispanic. It's basically the same demographic as Lodi but with less Polish population. In my opinion Garfield is a better town (city whatever you want to call it)....

The towns are very similar in cost of real estate, school systems, etc.

Here are the main differences:

1. Garfield doesn't flood and Lodi is a disater with flooding on Main Ave.(if there is a monsoon MAYBE Garfield will flood by River Rd but it's safe to say it doesn't flood)

2. It has two NJ Transit rail stations (Plauderville & Garfield station) as well as service on the 160 bus to NYC, so there are plenty of options to commute. You can argue it until you are blue in the face, taking the train is 100x better than the miserable bus and the delays - I've been doing it for years.

3. The schools are pretty much the same but Garfield has better sports programs. For example 3 NFL players: Luis Castillo (1st round pick San Diego Chargers), Miles Austin (Cowboys), and Wayne Chrebet (retired NY Jet)

4. Garfield has 20th century field (5-6 baseball fields, football field, basketball, etc), Babe Ruth field, Little League field (2 baseball fields recently redone, Danherts Lake Park (completely redone last year) with a hockey rink, jungle gym, etc., Belmont Park (huge park). I don't know much about the parks in Lodi aside from the one near the Police station so if someone else knows about them please chime in to help out.

One BIG difference you're leaving out. Garfield is an Abbott district while Lodi is not.

[Spincycle]

Interesting thread. So many people in New Jersey confuse Garfield and Rochelle Park (Bergen County towns) with Garwood and Roselle Park (Union County towns). Whenever I am speaking to someone and have to mention Garfield or Rochelle Park I simply refer to both as "LODI". I am tired of having to explain, correct and educate others. You'd think because of Wayne Chrebet and the other two NFL guys Garfield would be more clear and in front of people's mind than say Garwood. Go figure?

[STrapani1105]

Originally Posted by Newarkbomb

i seen these guys in a pizzaria talkin about how Garfield and Lodi should be 1 city

what would you call it? Garlodi or Lodfield?