Jersey City,Elizabeth,Paterson,Linden,Irvington, and Union City. Are they really as bad as people say? (Newark: middle-class, day care)

[EEEPNJ]

Everyone can live wherever they want to live. But when someone is moving to the area we should tell them what it is really about. Growing up in Jersey City, I have fond memories, but after a while the negatives got so bad we left. You couldn't pay me to go back. That doesn't mean people want to live there. Although if you did a poll of everyone in the state I doubt any of these cities would make the top 10 of places everyone would like to live if $ was not an issue.

It goes both ways - if someone asks about Chatham I tell them it is beautiful, landscaped, great schools, low crime and one of the snootiest, least diverse towns I know of. Your kids will get a great education, but if they don't carry $500 purses and get new B-mers in HS, chances are they will not fully fit in.

If you live in Jersey City, you are going to have to deal with crime. Some petty, some not so petty. You are going to have to deal with crowds & polution and lack of parking and crappy schools. You will have quick access to the city and diversity and better mass transit.

It's what you want. But we can't lie and say "No, they are great communities to live in."

[cf77]

Ah my friend Tommyc is back, The median household income for 07302 (downtown JC) is around 44,000. That isnt that much last I checked, not everyone living down there is rich. Most likley in some of the high rises but for the most part its just a whole lotta renters down there. It is a mixed income community Downtown, which is nice and hopefully stays that way.

[jstar41]

you guys are too funny.. you are comparing suburbs with less than 30,000 residents with CITIES which have over 100,000 residents.. the higher the population the higher the rate of crime.. get real.. Elizabeth alone have 130,000+ residents.. of course crime is going to be higher.. you really think that Manhattan is really that safe? there is lots of crime there too and the average income is high..

[tommyc_37]

Ah my friend cf77, I see that you are still having reading comprehension challenges.

Re-read my post...I said average price per square foot (as in, ya know, housing?) is higher than that of most nice suburbs. Last I checked people's incomes were NOT measured by square footage.

[tallguylehigh]

Originally Posted by jstar41

you guys are too funny.. you are comparing suburbs with less than 30,000 residents with CITIES which have over 100,000 residents.. the higher the population the higher the rate of crime.. get real.. Elizabeth alone have 130,000+ residents.. of course crime is going to be higher.. you really think that Manhattan is really that safe? there is lots of crime there too and the average income is high..

Wrong.

I have heard only personal accounts and opinions, but the numbers I gave for the city-data crime index is standardized per 100,000 residents.

So if you have a town of 1,000 people and 1 murder, the crime index raises it up to 100 murders. Same with large cities, except their numbers are downgraded. Case in point, Newark in 2007 had 105 murders, however, for the purposes of the index, it was only evaluated to have 37.5 murders. This is a way to "standardize" the crime data by holding an aritifical constant of 100,000 people.

EDIT: And for the record, the crime index for Manhattan is 256.3- less than ALL of the cities listed in this threads title.

[cf77]

So what Tommyc? just because the housing is more $ per square foot that means theres only rich people downtown? What else would you mean by that? Theres alot of areas in the outter boros that have insane $ per square footage yet the average household dosnt make more than 20,000 a year.

[LynnePatrice]

Originally Posted by EEEPNJ

Everyone can live wherever they want to live. But when someone is moving to the area we should tell them what it is really about. Growing up in Jersey City, I have fond memories, but after a while the negatives got so bad we left. You couldn't pay me to go back. That doesn't mean people want to live there. Although if you did a poll of everyone in the state I doubt any of these cities would make the top 10 of places everyone would like to live if $ was not an issue.

It goes both ways - if someone asks about Chatham I tell them it is beautiful, landscaped, great schools, low crime and one of the snootiest, least diverse towns I know of. Your kids will get a great education, but if they don't carry $500 purses and get new B-mers in HS, chances are they will not fully fit in.

If you live in Jersey City, you are going to have to deal with crime. Some petty, some not so petty. You are going to have to deal with crowds & polution and lack of parking and crappy schools. You will have quick access to the city and diversity and better mass transit.

It's what you want. But we can't lie and say "No, they are great communities to live in."

Well if this is how you say it, then I"m not talking about you. I'm talking about the people who paint a broad stroke and say things like "Jersey City/Elizabeth/Newark are hell holes and nobody would ever "WANT" to live there. They live there because they can't afford to live any place else.

That is who I was referring to.

[tommyc_37]

Originally Posted by cf77

So what Tommyc? just because the housing is more $ per square foot that means theres only rich people downtown? What else would you mean by that? Theres alot of areas in the outter boros that have insane $ per square footage yet the average household dosnt make more than 20,000 a year.

I'm not going to get into an argument. But the people who are paying $650 per square foot to purchase a home, are indeed considered to be "well off". cf77, I am not sure where you got that income data, but is not very indicative of the current population, as a lot of renters on the waterfront/downtown are actually quite transient. That means their income data is not reflected in the poll. I've had the pleasure of doing some work with folks in Downtown JC who earn well above 7 figures. The fun thing about city living is you are surrounded by people of extreme income levels - from very, very low to very, very high. So the poor family who lives down the block who earns $20,000 is walking distance away from the I-banker who earned a $3.5 Million Christmas bonus in 2007.

Regardless, 07302 is considered a very desirable market.

[cf77]

Uhh what do you think I said in my post before? I said thats the best part of Downtown JC, theres some wealthy people living side by side with some poor people. Which I personally think is a wonderful thing and hope it stays like that. Your post made it seem like Downtown is like the upper west side or something. Whatever im done. Also all the areas mentioned in this thread aside from maybe Irvington and Camden (unfortunatly) have some redeeming qualities such as Newarks Ironbound section, JC's Downtown section and Elizabeths Elmora section. Its just sad that alot of those areas are surrounded by warzones.

p.s. I got that info from Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

[Patersonian]

Originally Posted by LynnePatrice

I live in Jersey City because that is where I chose to live. Yes it has issues but there are some great things about it as well.

Why is it so difficult for some people on this forum to understand that there are some people who want to live in these areas and don't just live there because they can't afford to live anyplace else???

I had to rep you for that post. Sometimes I feel like many posters on this forum think everyone in New Jersey's cities are on Section 8, on welfare, on drugs, etc.

My wife and I can live almost anywhere in New Jersey, but we're comfortable in Paterson.