just back from New Jersey (Newark, Edison: live in, shop, garden)

[Urban Peasant]

Hi all,

Well, my family and I just came back from a couple of days down at the Garden State as well as the neighboring NYC metro area and have to say it was fun and we all enjoyed it. We got to see the Newark Museum, a very underrated institution (such a big museum but hardly anyone was there on a Sunday afternoon), Branch Brook Park, and the Sacred Heart Cathedral Basilica in Newark. We also got to sample some delightful Asian Indian food down at Edison, rode the PATH train over to NYC, and looked over the Hudson from the Palisades Parkway. All in all, it was very good.

I can see that Newark is making great strides in improving its image. Many of the streets in downtown are quite clean compared to other cities. There is hardly any foot traffic though and the downtown is in serious need of shopping (the section that did offer some shopping looked very run down and unpleasant). A beggar accosted us at Washington Park and even though it was only one man, with hardly anyone else around made it feel kind of scary. I hope that the city downtown gets more pedestrian traffic soon. It will definitely make it feel safer.

[Ninjahedge]

That probably wasn't a beggar. It was probably a city official!

[mgt04]

Glad you had a good time save for the beggar! Newark is trying to improve its image but it has a long long ways to go and with the recession and everything, improvement has stalled. Most areas of Newark are still not safe places to go. I head into Newark for one thing only...Dickie Dee's Italian Hot Dogs...and I go there on weekday during my lunch hour with some coworkers....greatest Italian Hot Dogs you will ever have!

[Ninjahedge]

"With a name like Dickie Dee's Dogs, you can't stop giggling".

[twista6002]

I'm guessing you visited NWK on the weekend. It's usually very busy foot-traffic wise during the week. And thanks for actually taking notice of how NWK has improved. Some of this state's own residents in here still call it a hellhole, yet haven't been to NWK in years. There are a lot of beggers here still. Typically when the trains have someone who hasn't paid they throw them off in NWK and for years NJ dept of corrections dumped parolees here. It's better than it was in the past but there are still a lot of holdovers. Glad to see someone's taken notice of our improving city and we hope it's even better the next time you visit

[contachster]

Glad you enjoyed yourself in my beautiful hometown of NEWARK! Usually pan-handlers are the worst you will have to deal with in the downtown area. If you ever visit downtown on a weekday you will see that it is packed with people. Downtown Newark is one of my favorite places to visit and if you ever plan a weekday visit let us know because you will have many more options as opposed to a weekend visit.

[turboman808]

Newark is a long ways from being a nice place to go. Dated 2 girls from there. Seems crazy just runs in the water. Car got broken into one night there. Worst of all 2 friends got shot and one died while in Newark 2 years ago.

Won't see me investing any money or spending any time in Newark very soon.

I was watching the fireworks in Kearny and from the hill you had a really good view of some of the nicer building in Newark. That kind of surprised me. Really nice church and court house.

[contachster]

Originally Posted by turboman808

Newark is a long ways from being a nice place to go. Dated 2 girls from there. Seems crazy just runs in the water. Car got broken into one night there. Worst of all 2 friends got shot and one died while in Newark 2 years ago.

Won't see me investing any money or spending any time in Newark very soon.

I was watching the fireworks in Kearny and from the hill you had a really good view of some of the nicer building in Newark. That kind of surprised me. Really nice church and court house.

Just curious: Were your freinds Newark residents? And if they were just visiting what were they doing when they got shot, were they hit by a stray bullet or were they involved in some sort of illicit activity?

[dhanu86]

Originally Posted by turboman808

Newark is a long ways from being a nice place to go. Dated 2 girls from there. Seems crazy just runs in the water. Car got broken into one night there. Worst of all 2 friends got shot and one died while in Newark 2 years ago.

Won't see me investing any money or spending any time in Newark very soon.

I was watching the fireworks in Kearny and from the hill you had a really good view of some of the nicer building in Newark. That kind of surprised me. Really nice church and court house.

I'm always hearing of people's father or kid dieing from stupid things I can't even remember. In the central area not even residents come out at night.

[twista6002]

Originally Posted by dhanu86

I'm always hearing of people's father or kid dieing from stupid things I can't even remember. In the central area not even residents come out at night.

I live in the Central Ward and I'm out all the time