west paterson has changed its name to woodland park (condos, high school)

[jcjh20]

Originally Posted by VeradoDan

Yeah, the Toms River thing was a long time coming since NOBODY ever actually referred to it as Dover Twp. I grew up here and it's always been that way. The mailing address has always been Toms River, NJ and the school district has always been the Toms River Regional School District. The high schools have always been T.R. North, East and South. The only real reference to "Dover" was the "Dover Shores" section of Toms River.

I grew up in ocean county and I do remember it always being referred to as Toms River as far as I can remember. Even the signs on route 9, county roads, the parkway and such always referred to it as Toms River.

[Marc Paolella]

Paterson should fight back and rename itself East Woodland Park.

-Marc

[izannimda]

Originally Posted by pbergen

thoughts?

NorthJersey.com: West Paterson no more

they've tried to change the name of the town every 5-6 years or so, but the referendums always failed. i'm surprised that it actually got approved this time.

Here is an interesting quote from the article.

"Supporters of the shift to Woodland Park argued that it would improve the town’s image and boost property values. Opponents argued the change was unnecessary, and some called it veiled racism."

Why is it "veiled racism" if you wish to change the name of your town to boost its image and property values? Oh yes. I forgot. Paterson is a dump, and it's mostly nonwhite. Silly me. How insensative? What the hell was I thinking? Of course this is veiled racism!

[mtoneil]

Originally Posted by Marc Paolella

Paterson should fight back and rename itself East Woodland Park.

-Marc

LOL, nice.

And about the racism thing... yea I totally agree, what a bs claim. They want to disassociate themselves with Paterson because it's a dump with high crime, not because of the color of the skin of the people there. Maybe if the people shouting racism shut up for a minute and try to clean up their city then there would not be such a problem.

[mtoneil]

Also, people last year were saying it's crazy to think the change would help raise property values. But it sounds about right to me. I imagine there are a ton of people who wouldn't even think twice about looking at renting or buying in W. Paterson simply because it's got Paterson in the name. If more people start considering owning a home in the town after the name change, then yes it WILL raise property values. Supply and demand.

[Thosepeskyfacts]

West Paterson...err Woodland Park is a joke. Especially the cops there. Easily the most useless bunch of clowns you'll find anywhere.

[Spincycle]

Perhaps it may artificially yet positively inflate demand & property values by drawing in more naive homebuyers?

[PureNarcotic]

Originally Posted by Marc Paolella

Paterson should fight back and rename itself East Woodland Park.

-Marc

Shenanigans! I think West Elmwood Park would be far superior.

[FL Beaches]

Originally Posted by pbergen

agreed, but keep in mind that they wanted a new name that would have the same initials (w.p.) as west paterson. i know that they suggested "west park" back in the '90s, which isn't any better than "woodland park".

what's with all these towns in nj changing names over the past few years? south belmar became lake como, dover became toms river (that one made a lot of sense), washington township in mercer county became robbinsville (ditto), and now west paterson has become woodland park.

i guess even with town names, it's all about marketing and branding so that you seem more attractive to potential home buyers and businesses.

LOL! Thank you for saying that! I grew up in Pompton Plains and have been gone from the state for a long time. There are sooooooooooooooooooooooooo many towns in NJ I've never heard of! This explains it.

[FL Beaches]

Originally Posted by VeradoDan

Yeah, the Toms River thing was a long time coming since NOBODY ever actually referred to it as Dover Twp. I grew up here and it's always been that way. The mailing address has always been Toms River, NJ and the school district has always been the Toms River Regional School District. The high schools have always been T.R. North, East and South. The only real reference to "Dover" was the "Dover Shores" section of Toms River.

As far as South Belmar becoming Lake Como, it was partly to disassociate itself from Belmar and its wild summer party town status, but mostly it was really to allow the town to have its own identity rather than just sounding like it was part of another town. The disassociation with Belmar was really more of a side thing.

Dover Twsp. That's different than Dover which is West on Rt. 46. ??? Toms River has always been Toms River to me.