Your thoughts on nj (Trenton, Hopatcong: best cities, how much, new home)

[MySkreenName01]

hello everyone

I was wondering how many folks from jersey left the state to go to another state (to live) for whatever reason. Now, how many have, want to, or is going to move back? Or are glad they moved out of the state? We keep going back and fourth about to leave the state or stay. We want to buy a house the mortage is fine but once you add in the taxes...well its a different story. We were both born in the state have owned other homes before but with the economy its not the case any more. Just looking for others opions about the state.

[desertsun41]

I was born and raised in NJ. Stayed 37 years before escaping about 14 ago. No I will never go back to live but look forward to visiting family who is too stupid and stubborn to leave. When my eyes opened enough to see how much more I can have living outside NJ it took little brains to make a decision to leave. Since leaving NJ I have lived in one other country and 3 other states.

What I paid in property taxes in one year in NJ would be a sufficent down payment on a new home in many other states.

Make no mistake though. I will always have a place in my heart for all the people places and things that crossed my path during my time there. If I hit the lottery I still would not live in NJ but I would buy a nice summer home on my beloved Lake Hopatcong.

Even though home prices in NJ have come down to something closer to reality, so have home prices everywhere else, so that makes NJ still grossly over priced. And the corruption? The antiquated functionally obsolete roads? The crowds? Cost of living? Those are a few things that drove me nuts.

But it will always be my home.

[BrianH1970]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Make no mistake though. I will always have a place in my heart for all the people places and things that crossed my path during my time there. If I hit the lottery I still would not live in NJ but I would buy a nice summer home on my beloved Lake Hopatcong.

If I hit the lottery I'd buy a beautiful home here in Charlotte but I'd definitely split my time between here and New Jersey.

Once you leave New Jersey you become slave to a lifestyle that you can't afford there. Your bills are more easily paid, more house for your money, a whole different set of things to do and places to see. You slowly adapt to doing without the stuff you're used to and embracing what you now have.

Moving back to New Jersey is a difficult proposition being made much more difficult by the bozos in Trenton. I don't see things getting easier up there anytime soon. If anything I see things getting worse. And that's scary.

But it will always be my home.

Amen.

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by MySkreenName01

hello everyone

I was wondering how many folks from jersey left the state to go to another state (to live) for whatever reason. Now, how many have, want to, or is going to move back? Or are glad they moved out of the state? We keep going back and fourth about to leave the state or stay. We want to buy a house the mortage is fine but once you add in the taxes...well its a different story. We were both born in the state have owned other homes before but with the economy its not the case any more. Just looking for others opions about the state.

Having traveled around the nation and lived virtually in many parts of the nation, here is something I have learned - There is no one place that offers absolutely the best of everything. Period.

However, there are places that offer the best of some things and little else, and others that offer a lot of variety but not a lot of stand-outs. Then there are a few places that offer a lot of variety as well as some "bests". I have found NJ is one of those latter-mentioned places.

You have a little of everything in NJ, but you also have a couple of the best cities nearby, you have some of the best education and schools in the nation, we have some of the best opportunities for jobs and growth and life conveniences here as well. We have the best beaches on the east coast barring Florida, and we have mountains, fields, plains, farms, woods, creeks - virtually ever type of landscape except desert or tropical (and with global warming I expect the Jersey Shore to be lined with palm trees within 5 years! lol).

Everything is close by, we have great weather, we have great seasons, a little something for everyone here.

We pay a lot, we get a lot back for it, though.

All that being said, I'm considering a move to California or the Southwest, lol. Not because I "hate" NJ or even dislike it. I love NJ, it's home and always will be, and I have nothing bad to say about it. But the Southwest is different. The Southwest IS desert, it has a different history, a different lifestyle, different climate. So my reason for wanting to leave NJ is more that I want to live somewhere that's different, for a different experience. I may like it more and stay there all my life, or I may end up hating it and coming home to NJ. Most likely, I will love it there and stay for a while and at some point in my life make it back to NJ, or else I would just travel back to NJ a lot to visit. NJ will always be part of me and my life.

But making such a move there will be things I will miss. The people will be a big part of what I'll miss, but also driving 30 minutes in one direction and being in the middle of a forest with nobody around, and 30 minutes the other direction puts me in Manhattan. I will miss Rutgers football tailgates and games. I will miss the Jersey Shore, even if I were to move to South Florida I would miss the Jersey Shore. I will miss the mountains of Sussex County. I'll miss Jersey hot dogs. I'll miss so many things that are only in Jersey.

But in the Southwest there will be other benefits. Better cost of living, more money in my pocket, new places to explore, different people to meet and befriend.

Bottom line, going back to how I started this post - places are just DIFFERENT and there is no one place that will "do it all" for a person.

My advice is that if someone is having an itch to leave NJ it is best to scratch that itch and move to where the person thinks might be better for him or her. The key is to have an open mind, though. Move, see how you like it, and don't burn your bridges by convincing yourself that "NJ sucks" and cutting off that option from yourself. After you scratch that itch you learn more about yourself and about the other place and it puts NJ in context as to how it fits into you and your life.

Of all the people who leave NJ, some will turn right around and come home, some will never look back, but most will spend a little more time wherever they go and in a few years re-evaluate what they have there and what they have given up in NJ. And I know people who have done each of the three things above. I frankly don't care how each person reacts, whether they hate or love NJ or are indifferent. It DOES bother me, however, when people badmouth the state because of their own personal preference to not live here. Those people need a smack, lol.

Again, I would say if you have an itch to try somewhere new, do it. Get it over with. It will be a learning experience which will enable you to get on with life either in a new place that you like more or back in NJ. Have fun and keep an open mind and you can't go wrong!

[Newarkbomb]

It's a great investment when you buy and own a home in NJ and sell it when the housing market shoots up and you spent a great deal of your life in NJ.. I mean I love NJ and it's probably one of the best states to grow up in but when you get into your mid aged years and on and you are pretty much done growing your family, the NJ the lifestyle gets old (from what I've seen and heard) it becomes pointless to spend that great deal of money here.
So once you sell your home when the housing market is up you can get a home for almost half the price with better or similar standards.

I'm still young and my daughter is still in elementary so I'm not moving out of NJ anytime soon but I do think about what i'll do in 20 or 3o years; But i just can't move too far from home.. Maybe the Albany area would be nice for me when i get older.

So many southeners complain about the NJians/NYers flooding in, but we probably wouldn't because in all reality, NJ is expensive for a reason and it's one of, if not, THE best state to grow up in, but to grow old in is another story.

[johnfrisco]

Been in NJ all my life. Can't wait to move North to Maine or the surrounding area but not many jobs up there and if there were I probably wouldn't like the area.

Let's put it this way--if I were rich and didn't have to worry about employment NJ would be one of the last states I would choose to live.

[JG183]

Originally Posted by johnfrisco

Can't wait to move North to Maine or the surrounding area but not many jobs up there and if there were I probably wouldn't like the area.

BYE !

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by JG183

BYE !

Now do you think that was an appropriate answer to someone who was polite to us all?

Sheesh!

[JG183]

when someone says they can't wait to leave NJ, sorry, I get defensive

for all its faults, I love it here.

if I win Tuesday's mega-millions, I'll still have a residence in the Garden State

[openheads]

Moved to Cali in the late 90's - early 2000's. Moved back & have lived an enjoyable life in New Jersey ever since.