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Old 06-16-2009, 01:40 AM
 
593 posts, read 1,655,582 times
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And I'll keep it real with you. I'm originally from NY. I spent most of my life in Jersey. A lot of the things people are telling you with the taxes and blah blah blah, who cares. When it comes down to it, Jersey is okay when it comes a place to live if you're living in a GOOD area. Going to school too. It's okay when it comes to the living part but everything else... Jersey has nothing else. You want to have a good time, you're better off heading to New York. Jersey on the other hand, you gotta search hell and beyond for the right places to go to. The right clubs even. It's a waste of time.

 
Old 06-16-2009, 02:33 AM
 
1,014 posts, read 2,880,413 times
Reputation: 284
Quote:
Originally Posted by angerinthenation View Post
What are you talking about buddy? There's plenty of people from Jersey that act like hillbillies and are into Nascar too. Believe it or not. They have the country accent and everything and they're straight out of Jersey. Smh.

Jersey is okay but personally from me, there's NOTHING to do. You're better off living in New York or elsewhere because there's nothing here to do. It's boring. Almost all the people that say there's nothing wrong with Jersey are, of course, born and raised in New Jersey so they're going to show their Jersey pride and paint pictures that don't exist. I spend more time on my computer than going out because of that. It is limited out here.
I am constantly doing things and 5/7ths of the time I am in NJ.
 
Old 06-16-2009, 02:36 AM
 
1,014 posts, read 2,880,413 times
Reputation: 284
Quote:
Originally Posted by angerinthenation View Post
And I'll keep it real with you. I'm originally from NY. I spent most of my life in Jersey. A lot of the things people are telling you with the taxes and blah blah blah, who cares. When it comes down to it, Jersey is okay when it comes a place to live if you're living in a GOOD area. Going to school too. It's okay when it comes to the living part but everything else... Jersey has nothing else. You want to have a good time, you're better off heading to New York. Jersey on the other hand, you gotta search hell and beyond for the right places to go to. The right clubs even. It's a waste of time.

lol, you still go to clubs. You probably actually buy drinks in a place like that, too. Dude, you need to create "something to do"...it does not grow on trees. Get some girls, a friend with a pool and you'll have something to do.
 
Old 06-16-2009, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Home
1,482 posts, read 3,118,194 times
Reputation: 624
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Bear View Post
"What you are describing is Suburban."

Yes, by NYC metro area standards.
No, by the dictionary definition.

Urban means city. CITY city. Not small town urban (a qualifying descriptior attached to modify the definitive term "urban")...

Quote:
But these are the same people who think anywhere west of Morristown is the styx. They only seem suburban in thsi region due to teh proximity to one of largest urban centers on the planet. These places USED to be suburban. Now you can't even tell when you go from one to the other because the houses, condos, apartments, strip malls, gas stations, and convenience stores never stop. Sure, technically they are "suburbs" of NYC. But in terms of development, population density- they're mostly urban.
Again, you seem hung up on your definition of Urban. Riding along route 46 or 17 I can see what you are saying, but you realize that just one block behind the Garden State Plaza you have houses with yards?

That is not, by definition, "Urban". That is not Chicago, San Fran, LA, San Diego, Boston, Cambrige, Hartford, Albany, Buffalo, Atlanta, etc etc etc.

I really do not know why you feel the need to expand the definition of Urban to the extent that NJ is considered mostly Urban.

Quote:
25-30 years ago I would agree that most of Morris, Somerset, etc. were suburban, but not so much now. Then again, 25-30 years ago most of Warren and Sussex were rural...

As for roads, spend some time driving around anywhere north of Newburgh and not on the interstate in March or April, then go back again in July. Then you'll understand what I'm talking about. Roads get WRECKED, but they fix them. Often the "fix" is much more than just patching potholes. In NJ you see the same potholes month after month, year after year.
How many overpasses do they have? And as for NJ potholes, how many can you count? How many linear miles of roadway do you think NJ has?

Why are you turning this into a competition? You want another medal? I am running out you know!

Quote:
As for $ and snow removal, yes it's obviously about money. My point exactly. Instead of spending money to keep roads safe and passable, the money that should go to that is used for other "special projects".
Yeah, like those new fangled traffic lights, overpasses and the like. What a waste!!! Don't start with the straw man on that. The problem is typical with most community and civil development. the more you have, the more it costs to keep running.

Quote:
Also the comment about it being faster not to plow is totally false, optimal speed for spreading salt is 35 mph and there's no reason on main highways that you can't plow at that speed.
OK, I will tell the guy on the highway doing 45 with the salt spreader that next time I try to pass him on a snowy day, and the guy with the plow on 208 doing 20.

The big expensive trucks that run on 287 might have a bit higher speed (and they throw that snow around) but if you go too fast, the blade will skip and you will miss patches. So yeah.

Totally false. Lock me up.

Quote:
Just for comaprison, NYSDOT has plows specifcally intended to plow at around 50 mph. That' s not too say -all- NYSDOT plows, or that they always plow that fast... just to say that yes, you can plow at the same speed you'd spread at.
Again, design is optimal. And not all plows are highway speed. Many other roads that are NOT the Turnpike or 287 do not get these plows and we are all stuck riding behind the other ones throwing up sparks and flinging salt on our hoods!

Quote:
NJDOT also has trucks outfitted with wings so they can clear a wider swath in one pass. The only time I've ever actually seen the wing mounted on an NJDOT truck, though, was one time benching back a high snowbank. They could use them every storm to plow more efficiently, but choose not to. Better to run more trucks and/or have it take longer, I guess? Meanwhile all that steel that the taxpayers bought (i.e., the wings and the wing hoists and hydrualics on the trucks) sits idle.
I will have to look for teh wings, but I have seen the curled chuckers that fling the snow up and out quite a bit. You still need a full row running, but this makes it so that you do not have a VERY heavy run on the slow lane when all things are said and done.....



BTW, aren't we supposed to be talking about how horrible NJ is and why so many people are not living here?
 
Old 06-16-2009, 08:44 AM
 
Location: Home
1,482 posts, read 3,118,194 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by angerinthenation View Post
And I'll keep it real with you. I'm originally from NY. I spent most of my life in Jersey. A lot of the things people are telling you with the taxes and blah blah blah, who cares. When it comes down to it, Jersey is okay when it comes a place to live if you're living in a GOOD area. Going to school too. It's okay when it comes to the living part but everything else... Jersey has nothing else. You want to have a good time, you're better off heading to New York. Jersey on the other hand, you gotta search hell and beyond for the right places to go to. The right clubs even. It's a waste of time.
Perfect for raising teens!!!
 
Old 06-16-2009, 08:48 AM
 
Location: Home
1,482 posts, read 3,118,194 times
Reputation: 624
Quote:
Originally Posted by gradstudent77 View Post
lol, you still go to clubs. You probably actually buy drinks in a place like that, too. Dude, you need to create "something to do"...it does not grow on trees. Get some girls, a friend with a pool and you'll have something to do.
NJ is not the anonymous "to do" place. You need to go to clubs, sports and other things.

I have to agree that NJ is not exactly the coolest place to be and that if we move from Hoboken I am REALLY going to miss all the places we can WALK to (food, beer, movies, shopping, NYC!!!!). But I also miss some things about the 'burbs.

I miss the sound of crickets in the summer combined with the sound of a light breeze on the leaves. I miss having the fields needed to play softball, soccer, or frisbee. I miss large parks like "The Duck Pond" in Ridgewood for rollerblading (which you ironically have to drive to!!). I miss having a yard, and a decent gas grill. I miss having storage space. I miss having a garage I do not have to pay for.

Lots of little things, but missing them does not make me want to give up what have now. And a small clue, it ain't for the "clubs"!!
 
Old 06-16-2009, 09:36 AM
 
81 posts, read 225,702 times
Reputation: 69
"Why are you turning this into a competition? You want another medal? I am running out you know!"

You're the one who's trying to challenge me on highway maintenance issues. Are you an engineer or work in highway maintenance? Some of us "might".

I only brought these up as examples of how NJ's tax money is wasted and frittered away. And when I said "special projects" I didn't mean bridges and traffic lights. I meant Camden and Newark and wherever the highway tax money that should patch potholes and plow roads actually goes. You know what I mean.

Ok, so there may be some stretches of "suburban" between some of the urban. There, are you happy now? BTW Urban means just that... it is not defiened by the presence of skyscrapers and high rises. Why is it so important to you that NJ, the most densely populated state in the nation, not be called largely urban? Not entirely, no, but largely. I'm just saying that the observation or categorization of "rural", "urban", and "suburban"is very different in the NYC area than most places. Anyone from a place that really is "rural" would say they're "in the city" pretty much anywhere east of Dover. Meanwhile, most people from east of Dover think they're in a rural area by the time they reach Budd Lake. Back to back commuter subdivisions with a few areas of trees or the occasional small farm are not rural, that's suburban.

"aren't we supposed to be talking about how horrible NJ is and why so many people are not living here?"

I was. Are you? It seems you want to talk about dictionary definitions of "urban" or discuss snow removal equipment without even knowing how it works or what it's called. I only brought that up as an example of how NJ fritters away its tax dollars. To me that's part of what makes it a subpar place to live, the fact that taxes and everything else are sky high and what you get in return is marginal and mediocre at best.
 
Old 06-16-2009, 09:37 AM
 
Location: Historic Downtown Jersey City
2,705 posts, read 8,243,519 times
Reputation: 1227
Quote:
Originally Posted by angerinthenation View Post
And I'll keep it real with you. I'm originally from NY. I spent most of my life in Jersey. A lot of the things people are telling you with the taxes and blah blah blah, who cares. When it comes down to it, Jersey is okay when it comes a place to live if you're living in a GOOD area. Going to school too. It's okay when it comes to the living part but everything else... Jersey has nothing else. You want to have a good time, you're better off heading to New York. Jersey on the other hand, you gotta search hell and beyond for the right places to go to. The right clubs even. It's a waste of time.
Of course you'll have to go into New York for the real "action"...it's the city. That city is the reason why all of these suburbs exist. NJ is the same as Long Island...they are suburbs of NYC. For that reason, you'll have to go into "the city" to find any real action. This is not unique to this area. It exists in every market across the country. You think people in Aurora, IL hang out in Aurora? LOL...no, they commute into Chicago for dining, clubs, bars, etc. This is not unique to NJ/NY.
 
Old 06-16-2009, 09:39 AM
 
Location: Historic Downtown Jersey City
2,705 posts, read 8,243,519 times
Reputation: 1227
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Bear View Post
"The areas in temperate zones, ones where you get multiple freeze-thaw cycles, THEY get the most damage. If you have 4 major snowstorms in the winter, but it melts after each one, you get 4 (or more) freeze cycles (especially when you get the melt/freeze day/night thing), and you get a lot more salt water pouring over our concrete and steel structures."


Tell me why it is then that in every state North of NJ one routinely encounters massive frost heaves every winter? As in, slow down to 5mp or less and hump your way over them? I have never once in my life seen a frost heave in a road in New Jersey that you would actually have to slow down for, other than -maybe- tap the brake a little just for personal comfort. Re: the comment about salt... every state DOT north of NJ uses way more salt per lane mile than NJ. The roads in NY state are usually white all winter... and it's not because they're snow covered. Another example- in Quebec, when they do highway repairs it means they literally are ripping out the whole road for a few miles all the way down to the subbase and building in back up. If you guess "frost damage" for the reason why, you'd be correct.

Other states also plow snow when there's at most 1" of snow on state higwhays. How often do we drive on the Interstate in Nj through 3-4 inches of slush and pass DOT trucks salting without the plows even mounted on the trucks? They could actually maintain the same (poor) level of service they do now and use LESS salt if they'd just mount the plows, and DROP them, about 2-6 hours before (i.e., 2-4 inches) before they do. NJ has the worst winter maintenance of any state in the northeast save maybe CT.


"Add that to the fact that NJ roads get TRAVELED on much more and you can see where they need more maintainance."

NJ roads also have far more taxpayers to pay for repairs/maintenance. ;-)



"Why do people always say that NJ is "urban" ??"

I laugh every time I hear people come out to Warren county and act like they're in the boonies. These people apparently don't know what "boonies" are and think they've gotten there just because they can go a couple miles between traffic lights or shopping malls. You'd think they were in Montana.
Anyone that doesn't agree that NJ is largely urban and that there is any significant rural area left hasn't travelled much outside of the eastern seaboard. Having seen what "rural" really is, I would say Morris, Union, Essex, Hudson, Bergen, Somerset, Middlsex, and good portions of several other counties are "urban". Add to that the Trenton area, Camden area, much of the shore, AC, etc. The only parts of the state that are truly rural, in the sense that "rural" is defined everywhere else more than an hoiur or two from NYC, are the northwestern half of Sussex, extreme NW Warren, the pine barrens, and some farming areas down south. And the rest of the state not described above is what most from places other than NJ would call "suburban".


"Ever see the cranberry bogs, peach orchards, blueberry farms, corn fields, tomato farms,++++so much more. Don't forget this is the garden state not just the burbs of NYC."

It is true that a few plces in extreme NW NJ and southern NJ can still legitimately be called farming areas, although even then these areas are in many cases largely bedroom communities that have managed to retain significant ag acreage.
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
You are so off base, that I'm not going to spend a significant amount of time arguing with this statement. The fact that you are calling Morris and Somerset Counties "urban" is beyond laughter. Way beyond.

You say that you've seen "what rural really is"...well I'll tell you this: I've seen what URBAN really is, and the fact that you are calling NJ urban is priceless, hilarious, and worthy of ridicule.

NJ is the definition of suburban life.

If you don't see it then I cannot help you.
 
Old 06-16-2009, 09:46 AM
 
Location: Home
1,482 posts, read 3,118,194 times
Reputation: 624
Tommy, I agree with you, but I would not be so insulting when saying so!

NJ is the definition of Suburban in many of its areas, with a few being Urban, a few being Industrial, and a good portion being Farm or Rural (but not a majority).

Having a strip mall out on the major highway or a condo development in one corner of a town does not make an area Urban. Not by a long shot. But I would not believe he is "worthy of ridicule".

You know that ain't gonna get him to agree, right?
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