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I too lived in Mercer County. And my friendlines fits in MUCH better here in NoVa, everyone willing to wave or smile or strike up a conversation, polite (and this included CS people in stores, where in the Princeton area & 10 miles all around you could not get a serviceperson to acknowledge your existence, let alone say "hi" or "thank you").
Route 1 is a nightmare, and you take your life in your hands. If someone is not giving you the finger on Rt 1, they are cutting you off or laying on their horn. While traffic is bad here, I simply do not see all that.
Taxes are awful in NJ, some of the worst in the country. And the trash everywhere! There are so many nice areas of NJ but negative things are creeping in.
One prob I see both here and there is the financial problem illegals are bringing to the areas: "Having" to pay for education and other services for those who should not even be here. (and please don't tell me they do jobs Americans "won't do." Americans did those jobs for decades, centuries. And with this recession, Americans SHOULD have to do them or not get any kind of aid, in my opinion)
I know it's congested here as well, and according to pollution reports it's much worse here in the DC-Metro area, but the people-factor wins out to me.
I had an internship at Princeton and lived in Plainsboro. I agree with your assessment the traffic is worse along Rt 1 than in No. VA.
Plainsboro and Northern Virginia have a lot on Asian Indians. They and the Chinese pretty much dominate the town of Plainsboro but I don't think they are illegal.
My car ins. is about the same as it was in N.J., I do not own a house now but when I was in N.J. my property taxes on my waterfront home were only $3600. a year.
Gas is cheaper in Jersey and you don't have to pump your own.
My Comcast cable/internet bill was cheaper also.
And I haven't had an Italian hotdog since I left Jersey
I think the only thing cheaper down here are cigs which does me no good since I don't smoke anymore.
It's a Draw (No, I Don't Mean "Drawer" in Jersey Talk!) ;-)
As someone who grew up in a part of Pennsylvania with a heavily increasing New Jersey power-commuter influence, lived in Northern Virginia for a year-and-a-half, and now lives in Pittsburgh I can safely say that I would not be able to recommend one area over the other.
I'm going to give a bit of credence to that "freezing pot" phenomenon, though, and will also back up Fairfax Mom in her assertions that too many people in NoVA are WAY too "socially cautious". In NJ, my native Scranton, or my current Pittsburgh people speak freely about what's on their minds and don't hold back. I appreciate honesty and integrity---two values I didn't personally encounter much with most (not all) of the people I met in Fairfax County. People in NoVA are much more passive/aggressive socially. I made very few close friends after a year-and-a-half because people were always irked that I'd call a spade a spade and would call them out when I sensed they were putting on a "facade" trying to impress others, beating their chests while spouting falsehoods. I was too "cunning" for many of my peers in NoVA, believe it or not, and people grew to resent me because I wasn't the type who would buy into their "acts" or overlook anything that irritated me for the sake of being "pleasant" or "politically correct". I am who I am. I make no apologies for who I am, and I don't pretend to be someone I'm not to "compete". If I glean you're putting on airs to try to be someone you're not to boost your ego in the eyes of others (especially at my expense), then I'll point it out publicly on Facebook to knock you down a few pegs. The social scene (at least for 20-somethings in Fairfax County) was HORRIBLY competitive and "dog eat dog" for an otherwise sterile suburban area. I just got sick of dealing with such vain bull excrement from so many pompous people who felt "entitled" because they had a more prestigious degree or a checking account with more levity.
Different people have different experiences with NoVA's social scene. I'm a very kind person, even though most on this sub-forum think I'm the spawn of Satan because of my well-known verbosity and preachiness about urban sprawl. I always tried so hard to be considerate, amicable, and outgoing in NoVA, and I never found a "niche" after a year-and-a-half. I stopped attending church when I gleaned the sense that some were capitalizing upon my bout of depression as a means merely to feel better about themselves in comparison. How Christian. Eventually I just began to fully distance myself mentally from Reston and set my heart in Pittsburgh, and I've been blessed that this city has been everything I knew it would be (and then some) as I feel like I "belong" here already. The people here aren't "fake" (i.e. none of this "I'll hold back and act sterile until I glean whether this new person could benefit me or my family somehow"). The people here don't care that I have a high IQ and a college degree and now deliver fruit for a living while I KNOW I'd be judged "behind the scenes" in NoVA for voluntarily being underemployed. I have yet to hear one "Don't you know who I am?!!" rant after overhearing several in NoVA being spouted from self-important and pompous jerks.
With that being said while I'll NEVER forgive Fairfax County's deplorably cutthroat, spoiled, and vain social scene for "grounded" 20-somethings NoVA had MANY assets that shouldn't be taken for granted. The entire area is a gelatinous suburb, yet natural vegetation has largely been kept intact wherever possible, especially in Reston. One of the most depressing things about Pittsburgh is taking a drive along Business Route 22 to the east of town in the suburb of Monroeville where you see no trees and nothing but parking lots and neon signs for various chain restaurants and big-box stores for miles. The weather is much better in NoVA, too. The sun nearly never comes out here (and that's not an exaggeration). Pittsburgh is the "Seattle of the East". I don't mean to veer in a NoVA vs. Pittsburgh tangent, but there definitely are quite a few strengths NoVA has that I never fully gave it credit for before relocating. I'll never give it a "free pass" either, though, on its lack of walkable traditional downtown areas. The Town of Vienna? Seriously? No offense to michgc, but no Pennsylvanian or New Jerseyite accustomed to Princeton, New Hope, Honesdale, Bellefonte, Hoboken, or a slew of other communities with true mixed-use and walkable features would consider Vienna to be in the same league. Old Town Alexandria is the only thing NoVA has to offer like that, and that is reserved exclusively for the affluent while we peons who earned sub-$50k salaries had to live in a place like Reston, which still had no traditional center roughly 50 years after being founded.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RestonRunner86
I'll never give it a "free pass" either, though, on its lack of walkable traditional downtown areas. The Town of Vienna? Seriously? No offense to michgc, but no Pennsylvanian or New Jerseyite accustomed to Princeton, New Hope, Honesdale, Bellefonte, Hoboken, or a slew of other communities with true mixed-use and walkable features would consider Vienna to be in the same league. Old Town Alexandria is the only thing NoVA has to offer like that, and that is reserved exclusively for the affluent while we peons who earned sub-$50k salaries had to live in a place like Reston, which still had no traditional center roughly 50 years after being founded.
Hey, I never said Vienna was in the same league as New Hope or Doylestown or Media or Princeton. I'm a native Pennsylvanian, too! I totally and completely agree with you on the lack of walkable downtowns in NoVA. But Vienna is one of the few nice towns here with good schools that is walkable. But I agree other than Alexandria or Occoquan, none of them are quaint including Vienna and I've always maintained that. Even so, I do enjoy it here and there is a lot to walk to if you pick the right neighborhood.
And now to get back on topic:
Compared to New Jersey, however, it is a completely different ball game. Jersey is similar to PA in that most of it is run on a local township level rather than a county level. Also, maybe other than towns right outside NYC, you will find that most of the people who live there grew up there. It's a much different vibe than NoVA. There are some very beautiful, quaint, walkable towns in NJ. But the state has, as a whole, among the highest taxes in the country for car insurance and real estate. On the other hand, as someone else mentioned, gasoline is cheap and you don't have to pump. For that alone, plus access to Cape May and hearing lots of Bruce Springsteen music when you are out and about, I wouldn't hesitate to move to New Jersey. I think it gets an undeserved bad rap. I like the state.
The Reason why traffic better up here is due to the extensive Bus , Urban Rail and Regional Rail network , which is used by 1.8 million daily....that also includes private companies. Other then the High Property taxes theres nothing wrong with Jersey and with the cities coming back and New ones forming its really becoming a decent place to live.....unless you own a house. As for being more friendly up here , probably comes with the diversity and cultural mixing / respect...
I too lived in Mercer County. And my friendlines fits in MUCH better here in NoVa, everyone willing to wave or smile or strike up a conversation, polite (and this included CS people in stores, where in the Princeton area & 10 miles all around you could not get a serviceperson to acknowledge your existence, let alone say "hi" or "thank you").
Route 1 is a nightmare, and you take your life in your hands. If someone is not giving you the finger on Rt 1, they are cutting you off or laying on their horn. While traffic is bad here, I simply do not see all that.
Taxes are awful in NJ, some of the worst in the country. And the trash everywhere! There are so many nice areas of NJ but negative things are creeping in.
One prob I see both here and there is the financial problem illegals are bringing to the areas: "Having" to pay for education and other services for those who should not even be here. (and please don't tell me they do jobs Americans "won't do." Americans did those jobs for decades, centuries. And with this recession, Americans SHOULD have to do them or not get any kind of aid, in my opinion)
I know it's congested here as well, and according to pollution reports it's much worse here in the DC-Metro area, but the people-factor wins out to me.
I agree with the comments about Rt. 1. It was bad even 30 years ago now when I drove to my summer job at Princeton University's Rt. 1 campus from Ewing Township. Of course, it has gotten much worse in the 30 years since.
Property taxes are ridiculous. My parents' townhouse in a senior citizen community in Hamilton is valued at $300K but pay $8000/year in property taxes. The services they get for these high property taxes (paid to the township) are no better than services here.
And while Princeton may be walkable, you would pay through the nose to live there anywhere near the downtown walkable area - both property values and taxes are extremely high. It would be no cheaper than living in Alexandria, and possibly even more expensive.
I agree with the comments about Rt. 1. It was bad even 30 years ago now when I drove to my summer job at Princeton University's Rt. 1 campus from Ewing Township. Of course, it has gotten much worse in the 30 years since.
Property taxes are ridiculous. My parents' townhouse in a senior citizen community in Hamilton is valued at $300K but pay $8000/year in property taxes. The services they get for these high property taxes (paid to the township) are no better than services here.
And while Princeton may be walkable, you would pay through the nose to live there anywhere near the downtown walkable area - both property values and taxes are extremely high. It would be no cheaper than living in Alexandria, and possibly even more expensive.
I'm surprised no one has said anything about the round-abouts in NJ and how, if you miss an exit or aren't allowed by other drivers to get in the right lane, you may have to drive miles for the next one.
But again, good hoagies and lots of people who grew up in homes where everyone raised their voice and spoke their mind.
High taxes, good hoagies and people who speak their mind - it almost sounds like a political platform. Either that or "you're never too far from the next borough or township in Jersey."
I'm surprised no one has said anything about the round-abouts in NJ and how, if you miss an exit or aren't allowed by other drivers to get in the right lane, you may have to drive miles for the next one.
By round-abouts if you mean circles - there are very few left in NJ. You might mean "jug-handles" - only in NJ do you make a right to go left.
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It's a Draw (No, I Don't Mean "Drawer" in Jersey Talk!) ;-)
Eventually I just began to fully distance myself mentally from Reston and set my heart in Pittsburgh, and I've been blessed that this city has been everything I knew it would be (and then some) as I feel like I "belong" here already. The people here aren't "fake" (i.e. none of this "I'll hold back and act sterile until I glean whether this new person could benefit me or my family somehow"). The people here don't care that I have a high IQ and a college degree and now deliver fruit for a living while I KNOW I'd be judged "behind the scenes" in NoVA for voluntarily being underemployed. I have yet to hear one "Don't you know who I am?!!" rant after overhearing several in NoVA being spouted from self-important and pompous jerks. 
I totally and completely agree with you on the lack of walkable downtowns in NoVA. But Vienna is one of the few nice towns here with good schools that is walkable. But I agree other than Alexandria or Occoquan, none of them are quaint including Vienna and I've always maintained that. Even so, I do enjoy it here and there is a lot to walk to if you pick the right neighborhood.
