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Except for Cape May, there's a lot of the South Jersey Shore that is acre after acre of grids of housing that look like so many variations on visuals from Coastal Living - which is more of a function of real estate development occurring in greater synchronicity and density than has been typical for much of Massachusetts. That's the other side to the vibrancy of boardwalk-backed beaches. On the other other hand, there are a lot of Philly folks who can be interesting.
New England is much better with natural preservation and quaint coastal villages. Everyone knows that. We all get it and see it. If super curated, reserved and cute is all I cared about, I'd also look only at New England coast as "superlative."
But the Jersey Shore is a whole other vibe that, to me, activates all of the senses in a truly stimulating way. It's just as iconic, but in a different model.
Are parts of it "tacky"? Sure, but that description is overblown. Many parts feel quite classy/upscale, especially these days. You don't get people shelling out multi-millions for beachfront homes in many parts without it feeling upscale.
There's so much more action packed into Jersey Shore beach towns, that they feel much more complete, vibrant and usable, if you will. That's the difference in a nutshell as someone with a lot of experience in both regions.
Please name a single place without multi million dollar beach houses? Quincy has those. And people have mostly bad things to say about Quincy (which is a trend of every single New England town not named Marblehead)
Except for Cape May, there's a lot of the South Jersey Shore that is acre after acre of grids of housing that look like so many variations on visuals from Coastal Living - which is more of a function of real estate development occurring in greater synchronicity and density than has been typical for much of Massachusetts. That's the other side to the vibrancy of boardwalk-backed beaches. On the other other hand, there are a lot of Philly folks who can be interesting.
Coastal living! I remember this place from the 1960s.
Even Hampton Beach NH is slightly worse than Seaside Heights.
I don't see Hampton as being that trashy, just honky tonk.
And whereas it doesn't have the amazing type of boardwalks you see on the Jersey shore (Point Pleasant being my absolute favorite), it still has a lot of fun things to do on the road across from the beach.
There's a bit of that in Salisbury, but not nearly at the same level as Hampton or the Jersey shore.
Edit: You just gave me an idea for a "city-vs city"! Link to come!
I would like to prefer Massachusetts simply because it's in New England, but New Jersey is further to the south. In addition to that, NJ is sandwich between two major cities: New York City and Philadelphia. Baltimore and Washington DC aren't too far either. As much as I don't want to, I'm leaning towards NJ.
Oh yes, all gas stations in NJ have workers that put the gas in your car for you. That means in those really cold days in the winter you don't have to freeze to death while pumping gas. Sorry Mass, I truly am sorry.
This is true of literally every town that has a seasonal tourist based economy, from Ibiza to Aspen. Because tourist based economies fill areas with relatively low wage workers. Some areas luck out a bit with for example the Whites being a winter and Summer destination but they’re usually different towns near different things cause different peak seasons.
I don’t know why it seems the bar for a nice place in New England seems to be “a place with literally 0 problems”
While everywhere else the line seems to be “not a complete sh***ole “ like three blocks from the beach in Atlantic City is a literal slum.
"The South Bronx by the Sea" is the statistical outlier at the Jersey Shore. First, it has the biggest year-round population of any Jersey Shore municipality, and second, it was the place all the railroads from Philadelphia to the Shore deposited you. Furthermore, because the casinos want to keep you and all your money to themselves, they don't do much to stimulate the areas around them.
Asbury Park is also somewhat rundown, but they've been working on fixing that.
And once you remove those two places from the mix, the towns of the Jersey Shore are generally problem-free. Wildwood may be honky-tonk, but it has no "urban" problems to speak of.
As for Massachusetts, keep in mind that there's a good bit of "interior" to Cape Cod — the Cape is big enough and has enough people to support a regional shopping mall in Hyannis. You will find one of those on the mainland about 12 miles from Atlantic City as well. Once you get away from the bayshore on the mainland, coastal New Jersey isn't all that charming either.
Ah, that's a tough one, and I haven't spent a ton of time in New Jersey, but. have lived most of my life in MA (until recently relocating to SC and missing MA terribly - except for the weather and high COL).
New Jersey has a lot going for it - great location, proximity to NYC, great education, but for me the beauty of the MA coastline, in particular Nantucket (although NJ has Cape May - I've never been so I don't know how it compares), the multitude of quaint towns and villages, the healthcare right in the state (with NJ, the best healthcare is in NYC), and the much lower property taxes make MA the win for me.
NJ does have better weather though. Pretty close call.
In addition to that, NJ is sandwich between two major cities: New York City and Philadelphia. Baltimore and Washington DC aren't too far either
Just sounds like traffic to me.
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Oh yes, all gas stations in NJ have workers that put the gas in your car for you. That means in those really cold days in the winter you don't have to freeze to death while pumping gas. Sorry Mass, I truly am sorry.
Believe it or not, MA has this too in some places despite it not being required by state law. In my city, it seems like every gas station is full service.
I personally find it a very awkward interaction. There are some things a person should be allowed to do without help. Not to mention, you need to turn off your car and open the window or door to interact with the pump person. It’s impossible to completely avoid exposing yourself to the elements.
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