Port Reading (Carteret, Woodbridge, Avenel: work, middle-class, community)

[jm2jm3jm4jm5]

I have been reading some threads on the site in which people have indicated that Port Reading was "sleazy." Not being fimilar with the area, I was just wondering why it has that reputation.

[BobKovacs]

I don't think I've ever seen Port Reading called "sleazy", but it's not exactly Short Hills either.

Port Reading is one of 9 (I think) sections of Woodbridge Township, and I'd probably place it just above Keasbey and Hopelawn in the rankings, with those two being the bottom two sections of the township. Part of the "problem" with Port Reading comes from how it is situated- its kind of isolated from the rest of Woodbridge Township because it's on the other side of the Turnpike, and it almost ends up being an extension of Carteret- the lines between the two are pretty blurry, with one side a residential street being in Woodbridge, and the other in Carteret(the next town over, which had become quite the dump, but is supposedly being positioned for some major redevelopment). Because of this location, it becomes the red-headed stepchild of sorts- all of the kids there get bussed to middle and high school in Woodbridge proper.

The fact that most of Port Reading stares right at the big Hess refinery probably doesn't help it much either. Overall, though, it's just another middle-class NJ community that probably gets more of a bad rap than it should.

Bob

[cyntmac]

Is this really a "middle class" town?

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by cyntmac

Is this really a "middle class" town?

I guess it depends on how you define "middle class", really. Maybe a more appropriate term would be a "blue collar" town- or would it be more of a "grey collar" town, since the sentiment lately seems to be that blue collar workers in NJ can't afford to live anywhere in the state????

I dunno- I grew up in Avenel, as one of four kids of a sheetmetal worker and a school clerk, and most of the folks there are still in about the same work/class category. I considered myself and my family to be "middle class" at the time, so that's the term I use.

Bob