Jersey City,Elizabeth,Paterson,Linden,Irvington, and Union City. Are they really as bad as people say? (Camden: lease, credit)

[cf77]

How is it negative? I love JC and agree with you completley about keeping the rest ungentrified while giving the waterfront to the yupps, Im just simply stating what I see there. Alot of people (even yuppies) pretty much say they live there for the commute to NYC. I thought I was being realistic, my bad if I came off too negative. When on this board I just try to give an honest unbiased opinion. Since I am not a homeowner nor a real estate agent.

Originally Posted by openheads

Wow!!!! What a negative view of Downtown Jersey City. Could it use more nightlife? Yea, sure. Is it an urban bedroom community? Yea, for now.
Everything takes time & JC is well on its way.
Downtown is just a catalyst to the cities overall transformation.
I agree though, the rest of Jersey City is far more interesting than the yuppified Downtown section, But Downtown serves an important purpose.
Have you seen what they have proposed for the "new" Journal Square? What they are doing to the old Medical Center?
Yuppies = revenue & a solid tax base. Let them go to NYC all they want. Let their tax dollars fund more police patrols & improved infrastructure for the rest of JC.
If they are too scared to live in the rest of the city, good......... The rest of JC gets all the benefits without the gentrification. EVEN BETTER!!!!!
Life is a process & this is all a part of Jersey City's evolution.

[openheads]

Originally Posted by cf77

How is it negative? I love JC and agree with you completley about keeping the rest ungentrified while giving the waterfront to the yupps, Im just simply stating what I see there. Alot of people (even yuppies) pretty much say they live there for the commute to NYC. I thought I was being realistic, my bad if I came off too negative. When on this board I just try to give an honest unbiased opinion. Since I am not a homeowner nor a real estate agent.

I agree with you...... But people live in Fort Greene, Brooklyn for the quick commute to Manhattan too, what's the difference? Flatbush Ave is not exactly picturesque in its own right.
The difference is the perception.
I'm not a real estate agent either, but JC still needs to be "sold". You understand?
If Jersey City becomes "acceptable", then people start looking at Downtown Newark as the "new pioneer neighborhood". ISH, it's only 2 or so stops on the PATH train.
Then Newark gets that Yuppie tax money & all of NWK wins.
Perception is reality, no matter what anyone says. Regardless if it's true or not.
"Jersey City is the new Brooklyn" should be every urban NJ residents slogan.
Quiet is kept.......... Most of Brooklyn is not even the "new Brooklyn". But who cares. If Yuppies are looking at Redhook, why should Newark not get a bit of that action?
I'm a Jersey guy with high hopes for all our urban areas. Why not????

[rolemodel07111]

irvington, east orange ,orange,newark, stay away from!! beleive the hype they are bad with no nice areas!! i am not to familiar with patterson but i did alot of repo work up there and most of what i saw was bad areas. union city is not to bad but it has its parts. linden is pretty nice. they do have a small part of town that is pretty ruff though. elizabeth has nice areas and bad areas. the township of union is nice for the most part but white flight is goiing on there big time. especialy form the irvington line to vauxhall rd. in the past 5 years it has gone from this is my estimate for that part of town 90% white to 30% white and falling. now just because there are black people moving in doesnt mean they are there to start trrouble. the first wave are usualy good hard working people who just want to live in a nice area and raise there family. but what happens is all the white people start to panic and sell there houses cheaper cheaper and thats when you start getting the truly ghetto ass black white trash and bad hispanics moving in. so i wouldnt suggest union because its irvington in the making! linden is nice maplewood has alot of nice areas, summit, springfeild, is where i would suggest in this area of jersey. also bellville and bloomfield nutley are pretty nice

[Tapshoe]

Yes! I am in the process of relocating to PA and, within two weeks of leaving NJ, drove 100 miles back to North Bergen for my favorite hair cut person! I suspect I'll never try anyone else!

[What!]

Originally Posted by neekah18

All of these cities are where people are constantly trying to build "affordable and low income housing" so of course there is going to be alot of crime. What boggles my mind is when they tear down a project or vacant drug houses, they build these quick out of place looking townhomes with a million steps, and then they let the same element move back in with their vouchers. What the hell is the point, you got rid of one eyesore but yet you are allowing the same people to move back in hoping they'll take care of the property better this time.

That makes a lot of sense but it's not always easy to get new people to move to a crappy neighborhood. They probably had the idea of making the place better but then they couldn't find renters and then had to sell it back to the original owners. Either that or they were afraid that these people would move on to some other place in NJ and increase crime.

[E-TOWN-R.I.P.]

Originally Posted by rolemodel07111

irvington, east orange ,orange,newark, stay away from!! beleive the hype they are bad with no nice areas!! i am not to familiar with patterson but i did alot of repo work up there and most of what i saw was bad areas. union city is not to bad but it has its parts. linden is pretty nice. they do have a small part of town that is pretty ruff though. elizabeth has nice areas and bad areas. the township of union is nice for the most part but white flight is goiing on there big time. especialy form the irvington line to vauxhall rd. in the past 5 years it has gone from this is my estimate for that part of town 90% white to 30% white and falling. now just because there are black people moving in doesnt mean they are there to start trrouble. the first wave are usualy good hard working people who just want to live in a nice area and raise there family. but what happens is all the white people start to panic and sell there houses cheaper cheaper and thats when you start getting the truly ghetto ass black white trash and bad hispanics moving in. so i wouldnt suggest union because its irvington in the making! linden is nice maplewood has alot of nice areas, summit, springfeild, is where i would suggest in this area of jersey. also bellville and bloomfield nutley are pretty nice

Linden is FAR worse than Union. So how can it be considered nice?

[abcde-fam]

My family and I are looking to move around the Jersey city area, I need honesty about whats bad and not. I have read everyones post and not sure where to go. My husband is an ironworker and would be out of the local in Jersey City. We would like to rent first and I am wondering about Weehawken, Fairview, Edgewater, Cliffside park. I like the city but need to have a good place to raise my children. ANY ANY input would be appreciated.

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by abcde-fam

My family and I are looking to move around the Jersey city area, I need honesty about whats bad and not.

What's bad or not is subjective. "Bad" is necessarily subjective. What one person finds bad another might not, and there's not a correct answer.

However, there are facts about things like crime, and it's easy to find crime statistics online--including statistics for individual neighborhoods, which is important when you're looking at a city like Jersey City, as different neighborhoods are very different. On the other hand, you shouldn't take crime statistics to tell you how likely it is that you and your family will be safe, because that's not at all what the statistics tell you.

What you really need to do before moving somewhere is visit. A large part of whether a place is right for you is whether, subjectively, it feels right to you. Whether you like the "atmosphere" there, whether it appeals to you aesthetically. If you're just renting first, sure, you could pack it up and move again after a year (usually you're going to have a yearly lease), but why chance living a year someplace you and/or your family hate? The places you mention are all very close to each other. Visit for at least a week. And if you want to look me up when you're in Jersey City, I can show you around the different neighborhoods.

[Nauticadon]

Are they really as bad as people say? What "people" are you talking to that tell you these places are so bad, because I guarantee most of these "people" do NOT live in these cities.

I can't speak for JC, Linden, or Paterson but I can tell you that yes Irvington has rough areas, yes Elizabeth has rough areas. But they also have decent areas as well. The area in Irvington close to the border with Maplewood has some nice homes and is a fairly quiet area. Elizabeth close to Union has nice, quiet areas as well.

Don't believe the hype on everything you hear. The only way you'll know how "bad" a place might be is by seeing it for yourself.

[BOJANNA]

Linden gets a bad rap....it is not aesthetic and looks worse that it really is. They are actually cleaning it up, building apartment complexes and townhouses. They just started a strip mall already opening Friday's, Kohl's,and a Sam's Club. The old Ford Plant is still there and old hotels on Route 1. Slowly, I think you will see an improvement, but the crime factor is probably because it borders Elizabeth, but it is the better part of Elizabeth, the Elmora section.