Quote:
Originally Posted by Turnerbro
Virginia as a state I feel just offers more. NOVA is just one of many regions of VA. New Jersey will always be in NYC's shadow for better or worse. NJ has some very quaint suburbs and some underrated towns. But I just prefer the numerous small towns and land scape of Virginia.
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Then you're not truly familiar with New Jersey.
The state has been split in two since its days as a colony. The divisions were known as East and West Jersey back then; today, we call them North and South Jersey. (The dividing line, btw, is still visible on a map of the state's 21 counties: it's the border between Burlington and Ocean counties, which emerges on the other side of Mercer County, which the line splits neatly in two, as part of the Somerset-Hunterdon county line.)
Benjamin Franklin, the most famous citizen of the city that dominates West/South Jersey, referred to the state as "a keg tapped at both ends," and that's still more or less true today.
South Jersey is noticeably more rural than North Jersey, thanks in part to the Pinelands National Reserve and in part to the farmlands of southern Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland and parts of Atlantic and Cape May counties. If you live in the Northeast, chances are that in season, your peaches, blueberries, and tomatoes were grown here — Jersey tomatoes have a reputation for flavor unmatched by those from any other state. (Unfortunately, it's a reputation they no longer deserve now that most Jersey tomato growers produce tomatoes that can survive shipping better than the gloriously misshapen original native varieties. These tomatoes look gorgeous but taste meh.)
All of the towns
rowhomecity (a fellow Philadelphian) listed are in South Jersey, though some put Princeton in this overlap zone people call "Central Jersey". (But when the local hospital is part of the Penn Medicine network, I think it's clear which side of the divide it falls on.) I also think that, even though the Jersey Shore as a whole is overbuilt, the southern Shore has more classic charm than the northern Shore. They tie on boardwalks (Asbury Park and Seaside Heights vs. Atlantic City and Ocean City).
Agreed that Virginia beats New Jersey on mountains, but there's a pocket in the state's northwesternmost county, Sussex, that contains a town that's a dead ringer for a New England town center. You can see it headed northbound on I-287 — this last stretch of the New York beltway to be completed hugs the side of a high bluff overlooking the valley containing the town. The Delaware Water Gap, furthermore, is a natural feature you won't find in Virginia.
I now realize that I should have read the OP before voting, for I think I let my opinion of Virginia's mountain scenery influence my vote. Here's where I stand on the criteria:
COL:
Virginia
QOL:
New Jersey, though only by a hair
Suburbs:
New Jersey has more of them, and they're more attractive both on average and overall
Geographic Proximity:
New Jersey, wedged between the biggest city in the country and the second-biggest city along the Northeast Corridor (one to which New Yorkers have been moving for the lower COL and enough high-quality amenities to satisfy them)
Transportation: Virginia has some of the country's best-maintained highways, but
New Jersey keeps up its primary highways just as well (its secondary ones are another story), and it has one of the best (and one of the few statewide) mass transit systems in the country
K-12:
New Jersey on the whole, though Virginia's and New Jersey's best school districts are peers
Higher Eds:
Tie. Virginia's public universities (William and Mary, the nation's second-oldest college, is one) overall outclass New Jersey's, and UVa definitely outclasses Rutgers. But New Jersey does have some surprisingly good second-tier public universities (especially Rowan and The College of New Jersey*, nee Trenton State Coilege), and there is no private university in Virginia that matches Princeton
Economy:
Tie, though it's probably easier to do business in Virginia
Arts/Culture:
Tie. Richmond's museums and cultural institutions punch above their weight
Things to do:
New Jersey
Shopping:
New Jersey,
pace Tysons
Sports:
New Jersey has major-league teams, Virginia doesn't
Food/Cuisine:
New Jersey has a greater variety of cuisines
Outdoors:
Virginia
Climate:
Tie — I'm not a winterphobe to begin with, but it's not like winters in the Mid-Atlantic are all that much harsher than those in the Tidewater. Biggest difference is that one gets snow while the other doesn't.
Crime:
# of Quaint Towns:
New Jersey — what have we been discussing here?
Scenery:
Tie — Virginia's mountains and New Jersey's beaches (and even the Pinelands) sort of cancel each other out
Most success in next decade:
Virginia — New Jersey is hobbled by high taxes
Jersey City v. Tysons:
Jersey City, which is an actual city
Favorite thing about Virginia: The mountains and Jefferson country (Charlottesville and environs)
Favorite thing about New Jersey: The Shore
Least favorite thing about Virginia: The residue of the Old South clinging to the Southside
Least favorite thing about New Jersey: The New Jersey Turnpike, which I will admit is one mean car-moving machine, however
*Princeton, which went by that name until 1896, sued Trenton State when it took that name to capitalize on its reputation as one of the best higher-education bargains in the nation; the two eventually settled amicably and Trenton State got to keep the name
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