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living in a sub - division, totally unwalkable, drive everywhere, with no night life is terrible for young people. Iam not advocating dorm life, thats just as bad but for different reasons. I just want a great Camden, Trenton, Woodbury, Westmont, Mt. Holly, Riverside, and AC. These places stink, with little to do and a big safety issue.
Having to live in another state just to get a social life is not good for SJ and makes me not want to live here even when i do have kids.
nightlife means little more than drinking, club hoppin and sex... I know people who do that in SJ and hardly go to philly. philly is depressing imo.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavenWood
This is off-base. Living in a dorm is akin to living in a 55+ community. Living in a neighborhood like Templetown or University City is akin to living in a retiree-dominated city like Deerfield Beach or St. Petersburg, and even Templetown/University City have a significant high number of non-students, especially the latter (just as Deerfield Beach/St. Petersburg have a significant number of families and even young professionals). NoLibs, Manayunk, and Grad Hospital, while younger-skewed, have plenty of families as well, while Center City is an eclectic mix of all ages.
People are often segregated by lifestyle. Hence, suburban cul de sac after suburban cul de sac of dominated by families, with some empty nester holdovers thrown in.
Nothing, and I'm not opposed to it, but as I will explain below...
...I have no interest in recreating college. But I do have every interest in being walking distance from both work and an eclectic variety of bars and restaurants. I have a car and I happen to love driving it, but because I live in a walkable city, it becomes an extension of my freedom, as opposed to a chain that's weighing me down. Driving to leave the greater Philadelphia area, visit friends and run errands in the suburbs, or to just aimlessly explore? Great. Dealing with rush hour traffic, having to scramble for parking in one of the densest downtowns in the country, having to limit myself to 1-2 drinks when going out on the town (lest risk getting pulled over for a DUI or getting killed)? Not so great. I live in a grad student-predominated building right now that I can't wait to get out of after I finish lawl skool. I'll probably move into a Center City high rise in which people of all ages will be my neighbors, and that's totally cool. I have friends of all ages. But I would feel like the odd man out somewhere like Merchantville, Barrington, or Haddon Heights. Collingswood and Westmont are cool towns I might consider if I were working in New Jersey and had to be more budget-conscious, but they're no substitute for a dynamic, in-city neighborhood. But that's why we all get to make choices, right?
City living isn't for everybody, and that certainly includes some among the other set. But it shouldn't be tough for you to grasp why many young people, such as myself, happen to prefer that kind of lifestyle.
Why in the world do you think that I think that young people should be living in cul-de-sacs, unless they want to? Do you think I'm stupid? Most of the towns in South Jersey have apartments. Many older houses are subdivided into apartments, just as you find in Powellton Village. Just like in Powellton Village, the neighborhoods are mixed with families mixed in.
If somebody is working or going to school in Philly it makes sense to live there. When people are working in South Jersey, paying 4% city wage tax & bridge tolls to live with lots of young people strikes me as odd, & I'm allowed to state my view. Do people think that older people are cleared off the streets in Philly? They are there, it's just a higher density of people.
I said that this is something that I've noticed on other boards as well. It's a foreign concept to me. I didn't like dorms & didn't know many others who liked them when I was in college. We preferred to be out in the neighborhoods with a mix of people.
Part of the problem with the apartments in Lindenwold was brought on prematurely by young people bailing ASAP to get out into a mixed population.
You can think that I'm off base, but, conversely, I can think that this concept is off-base, too. Kaminsky's has been a place that young people have gone to since Babyboomers were the young people. Right down the road is the Coastline. That's Cherry Hill, where according to some people on this board there is nothing. There are condos within walking distance of them both, apartments, too.
I'm pretty sure sex is what makes Philly so popular, its like one gigantic meat market... lol.
Im also sorry you find Philly depressing. Is it just the nightlife or something else?
Every theater in Philadelphia is in walking distance of the PATCO station. Collingswood puts on local shows and hosts shows at the Perkins Center for the Arts, Rutgers puts on shows on its Camden campus, even Haddonfield has a small theater company. Most national touring acts play Camden or Philadelphia. What are you looking for that you can't find in the area?
Lots of stuff. PATCO has long headways late at night... not so great. Maybe I want a unversity town in SJ, i want a place where 20 somethings dont have to drive everywhere.
New Brunswick has a nice mix of professionals in the downtown area along with Rutgers kids. Same for South Orange and Seton Hall. Even Madison with Drew/St. E's/FDU.
Glassboro is definitely not there yet. Camden Rutgers has a nice campus but its in a dangerous city with no retail/restaurants/bars. Don't get me started on the County college campuses.
Lots of stuff. PATCO has long headways late at night... not so great.
Yeah, that 20-30 minutes after midnight is just killer when it runs right on time.
Quote:
Maybe I want a unversity town in SJ, i want a place where 20 somethings dont have to drive everywhere.
Where did you grow up?
See, I find your arguments really amusing because I WAS the 20-something who lived and grew up in South Jersey. Not only that I know TONS of 20-somethings who did the same thing. None of us were upset that there wasn't a "university town" near us. We enjoyed our local "low key" hangouts and had no problem meeting people at them. We also went to some of the local clubs that were a little more exciting. When we really wanted to step it up, we headed to Philly and enjoyed that whole "scene" but were happy to retreat to our little corners of suburbia afterward. As for driving, it never bothered any of us to drive when we needed to or wanted to.
See, I find your arguments really amusing because I WAS the 20-something who lived and grew up in South Jersey. Not only that I know TONS of 20-somethings who did the same thing. None of us were upset that there wasn't a "university town" near us. We enjoyed our local "low key" hangouts and had no problem meeting people at them. We also went to some of the local clubs that were a little more exciting. When we really wanted to step it up, we headed to Philly and enjoyed that whole "scene" but were happy to retreat to our little corners of suburbia afterward. As for driving, it never bothered any of us to drive when we needed to or wanted to.
This also isn't unique to South Jersey. Here up North, there are a decent number of young people who find amusement in local theaters and bars, even the ones in chain restaurants (the horror!). Of course a night out in NYC or Hoboken is an option as well, but most of my friends make do with what's available in suburban locales. In my area we at least have Morristown which has turned into a 'Hoboken in the sticks' of sorts, but even that is a bit of a hike for some. I'm sure those under 35 living further out in Warren and Sussex find ways of surviving life away from the city. Honestly, most college grads of my vintage are lucky enough to afford a place of their own, much less a place of their own in Hoboken, Manhatten, or Center City.
Im just upset that the Voorhees town Center or Garden State is not nearly good enough. Garden State shows its back to pt and is just a glorified strip mall. Voorhees town center also turns its back to the street, the library, and even though PATCO runs right by the dead end of the mall there is not station. Both were poorly executed and could have been some much better for a live/work/play type environment that many young people want now a days.
PS PATCO has lousy headways on weekends and evening 20-25 min on SAT and SUN... constant track work.
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