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I'm a young guy from New Jersey and I am a proud Italian-American. I have a deep interest in geography, culture, and history and I am looking to find strong Italian-American communities in my home state (New Jersey).
Many thanks and regards for fulfilling my own and other people's interest in their heritage/culture.
Here's a list of towns I have compiled that claim or are known to be a strong Italian-American community. I would love to hear from residents of these towns and have their input and also other people's opinions are appreciated as well. Thanks.
1. Belleville
2. Bloomfield
3. Nutley
4. Lyndhurst
5. Secaucus?
6. Cedar Grove/Verona
7. The Caldwells
8. Roseland (Essex County)
9. Fairfield (Essex County)
10. East Hanover (Morris County)
11. West Orange
12. Totowa/West Paterson/Little Falls
13. Clifton
14. Hawthorne (Passaic County)
15. North Brunswick?
Good list, STrapani1105. In addition, Garfield and Lodi in Bergen County have very large Italian populations. Just going into either one of these towns you'll see/feel the Italian influence. There are some incredible Italian shops/stores in both towns. Vitamia pasta/deli in Lodi is amazing (but a bit expensive)! Waldwick also has a pretty sizable Italian population, but not quite as "out and about" as in Garfield or Lodi. Check out Italian Riviera in that town for great food!
BTW, you're more likely to see/notice a strong Italian presence in the more working-class towns (Garfield, Lodi, Belleville, Bloomfield) than in the more affluent ones. I guess the people living in those towns are more reluctant to openly embrace their non-American heritage.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
it's a list of communities nationwide that have the highest concentrations of italian-americans. note that these places are ranked by percentage rather than raw total. this means that a small town like totowa, which has a very high percentage of italians, is one of the top places on the list. meanwhile, brooklyn didn't make the cut despite having a substantial italian presence because the community constitutes a small percentage of the borough's total population of 2.6 million.
brooklyn obviously has a much larger raw total of italians than totowa but that's not what this list is measuring.
per the link in the previous post, here is a list of all places in new jersey where italian-americans constitute at least 25% of the total population according to the 2000 census:
not surprisingly, new jersey has a ton of places in which a quarter or more of all residents are of italian heritage. bergen county leads the way with ten of the 49 places on this list (virtually all in the southern part of the county near the meadowlands). essex county has the second most representation with seven communities on the list, while passaic and gloucester counties follow with five each, monmouth, atlantic, and ocean counties have four each, morris and camden counties have three each, union county has two, and middlesex and somerset counties have one each. nine of new jersey's 21 counties do not have a community where at least 25% of the population is of italian descent.
when analyzed by region, 27 of the 49 places on this list are in north jersey (bergen, essex, passaic, morris, union), six are in central jersey (monmouth, middlesex, somerset), and 16 are in south jersey (gloucester, atlantic, ocean, camden).
when analyzed by metropolitan area, 37 of the places on this list are in the nyc metro (with ocean county included) while 12 are in the philly/delaware valley metro (with atlantic county included).
if you click on the link in the previous post and look at the map at the top of the page, you'll notice that the highest concentrations of italians are overwhelmingly located in the philly-nj-nyc-connecticut-rhode island-boston corridor. there are communities with plenty of italians in upstate ny and western pennsylvania as well, plus a few in suburban chicago and suburban cleveland, but for the most part italians are heavily concentrated in the urban/suburban northeast corridor, with nj right in the middle of everything.
in that same link, you'll also notice that the entire borough of staten island is 33.5% italian. that's insane, especially given the increasing amount of non-italian migration into the borough (russians, asians, latinos, african-americans) in recent years. back in the 1980s, the percentage of italians residing on the island was almost certainly over 40%, which would be an impressive number for a small town of 5,000, let alone an entire borough with hundreds of thousands of residents.
Like it was posted, Hammonton has the greatest Italians. I was there for a car show with my car 2 years ago and it was like being in Italy. Great area, beautiful houses. Another area in South Jersey that all the South Philly Italians retire is Turnersville and that area in Jersey. Pretty much all of south Jersey has a large Italian flair to it..
Scratch Lodi, Belleville, and Bloomfield off that list. The old timers are dying off and are being replaced with other ethnicity's.
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The List
Great area, beautiful houses. Another area in South Jersey that all the South Philly Italians retire is Turnersville and that area in Jersey. Pretty much all of south Jersey has a large Italian flair to it..
