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Thread summary:

New Jersey: college, traffic, cost of living, bankrupts, taxes.

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Old 06-26-2007, 03:07 PM
 
2,881 posts, read 6,078,498 times
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I agree with tahiti about traveling about the US. I'm not saying you (the OP) hasn't seen anywhere else but try leaving for an extended time and then you'll know for sure. Not everyone who leaves this state misses it, but the flip-side is that a lot of people do miss it when they leave.
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Old 06-27-2007, 10:06 AM
 
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Originally Posted by cinnabon View Post
Never in a miliion years would I miss the traffic and overcrowdedness!!!

Here's another take from an old & wise person. I have spent most of my 45 years in NJ - Union county (Westfield & Union), and now Bergen county. I can't WAIT to leave!!! I am hopefully moving to northern CA soon. From what I've seen, for the most part the quality of life out West blows away anything in the Northeast. This includes weather, cost of living (!), outdoor recreation and beauty and friendliness of people (lets exclude LA from this).
Having lived in both northern and southern CA, I can tell you that you are in for a treat!! Life is certainly better there. I can't understand why anyone would choose to live in many towns in this state, other than being close to family. The lifestyle here is very high stress, there's lots of litter everywhere, and people are the rudest overall of any I've ever known (I've lived in 5 different states in various parts of the country).

There are pretty areas of Jersey, to be sure. Also, the close proximity to NYC is nice. However, for my money I'd rather be someplace that people enjoy life and have respect for the environment. Here the general vibe seems to be trying to make as much money as you can so that you can fix up your own house and add more vinyl fencing to your front yard. The quality of life is very low, as I think most folks from many other places would agree.
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Old 06-27-2007, 11:26 AM
 
2,881 posts, read 6,078,498 times
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Originally Posted by 2 cents View Post
Having lived in both northern and southern CA, I can tell you that you are in for a treat!! Life is certainly better there. I can't understand why anyone would choose to live in many towns in this state, other than being close to family. The lifestyle here is very high stress, there's lots of litter everywhere, and people are the rudest overall of any I've ever known (I've lived in 5 different states in various parts of the country).

There are pretty areas of Jersey, to be sure. Also, the close proximity to NYC is nice. However, for my money I'd rather be someplace that people enjoy life and have respect for the environment. Here the general vibe seems to be trying to make as much money as you can so that you can fix up your own house and add more vinyl fencing to your front yard. The quality of life is very low, as I think most folks from many other places would agree.
-New Jersey's quality of life is unquestionably related to what area you're living in.
-I don't know what part of NorCal or SoCal you're from but those areas are geographically enormous. Everything you named that you don't like about this state exist in California as well.
-(saying the quality of life is better in Cali doesn't make sense to me because that state is one of the largest in the US and has its share of bad spots)
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Old 06-27-2007, 03:54 PM
 
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
515 posts, read 2,320,568 times
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Originally Posted by 66nexus View Post
-New Jersey's quality of life is unquestionably related to what area you're living in.
-I don't know what part of NorCal or SoCal you're from but those areas are geographically enormous. Everything you named that you don't like about this state exist in California as well.
-(saying the quality of life is better in Cali doesn't make sense to me because that state is one of the largest in the US and has its share of bad spots)
ANY nice part of NJ is tremedously expensive compared to most of the country & that's a big part of quality of life. Because it's an "old" area, there are lots of older houses and apartments, shopping complexes, many which are run down. There are always lots of empty store fronts and places going out of business (in nice towns, too!). Most apartments in Bergen county don't even have dishwashers! Many other areas of the country are growing have more new construction, and are just nicer. The overpoulation here leads to crowds everywhere and horrible traffic. Rudeness abounds, especially the closer to manhatten you get. Drivers cut you off, give you the finger, etc. Store clerks don't smile or say thank you.

I have visited many parts of the contry and I am always amazed by the attitude differences (being better elsewhere!) than they are here. Yes, CA has it's bad parts, crime, traffic, smog, etc. but overall, I think the quality of life is much better there. Plus, there is the great weather...

I just don't "get" people who look at NJ with rose colored glasses - or maybe you just haven't experienced a lot of other areas. If you make tons of money and can afford an 800K - 1 million+ house, well then, yeah, it's a great area!
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Old 06-27-2007, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,613 posts, read 77,432,847 times
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You're all welcome to move to PA; we could use some more people with your sexy accents here.
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Old 06-27-2007, 04:20 PM
 
Location: Missouri
6,044 posts, read 24,055,066 times
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Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre View Post
You're all welcome to move to PA; we could use some more people with your sexy accents here.
I hope you are being sarcastic. Northern NJ accents sound awful to me, very uneducated. *ducks from incoming flames* Hey, I live here, have family that lives in Northern NJ, and I'm entitled to my opinion!

New Jersey has its good points and bad...I love it here (family, friends, the shore, the malls, the food) but we are picking up and moving too. I feel like I'm living in a dense suburban jungle of cookie cutter houses, where driving Audis and carrying Prada handbags is everything and friendliness and courtesy are meaningless. I know that's a gross generalization but there's truth to it. I'm half Italian and I can make my own darn pizza; I don't need to stay here for the food. If it doesn't work out where we move to, we will pick up and move again...but not back here. I carry no bitterness...I will always love it here but it's not the right place for me.
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Old 06-27-2007, 04:26 PM
 
2,881 posts, read 6,078,498 times
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Originally Posted by cinnabon View Post
ANY nice part of NJ is tremedously expensive compared to most of the country & that's a big part of quality of life. Because it's an "old" area, there are lots of older houses and apartments, shopping complexes, many which are run down. There are always lots of empty store fronts and places going out of business (in nice towns, too!). Most apartments in Bergen county don't even have dishwashers! Many other areas of the country are growing have more new construction, and are just nicer. The overpoulation here leads to crowds everywhere and horrible traffic. Rudeness abounds, especially the closer to manhatten you get. Drivers cut you off, give you the finger, etc. Store clerks don't smile or say thank you.

I have visited many parts of the contry and I am always amazed by the attitude differences (being better elsewhere!) than they are here. Yes, CA has it's bad parts, crime, traffic, smog, etc. but overall, I think the quality of life is much better there. Plus, there is the great weather...

I just don't "get" people who look at NJ with rose colored glasses - or maybe you just haven't experienced a lot of other areas. If you make tons of money and can afford an 800K - 1 million+ house, well then, yeah, it's a great area!
800k-to a million a year is a extreme. I think you probably just have high standards.
-I've been all over this country and it is because of that that I do actually appreciate this state more.
-You can't ride a Jersey experience on Bergen County which I think is in the top 3 expensive counties in the state and nation.
-You said people look at Jerze through rose-colored glasses but honestly, it seems that you don't want to view the things you hate about NJ in your beloved Cali.
-Doesn't LA still have the worst traffic in the nation? With more cars registered in its metro than all the cars in Russia? I'm pretty sure people are still going to cut you off...
NorCal has winters as bad as Jerze's so you must be talking about SoCal. And it is because of the smog problem that California has some of, if not the strictest, emission laws in the nation. The CARB (California Air Restriction Board) I believe
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Old 06-27-2007, 04:32 PM
 
2,881 posts, read 6,078,498 times
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Additionally, you must understand that because Jerze's Bergen County gave you a bad run, doesn't mean that there aren't people who like it here in NJ. (a lot would stay if they could afford it and leave for no other reason but). Earlier in my life I could have cared less about this place...that was until I started traveling around. Things closing at like 7pm, 24hr stores virtually non-existent were somewhat a culture-shock to me. Have to drive to get...well to anything.
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Old 06-27-2007, 04:35 PM
 
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Anyone who thinks the cost of living in California is much lower than NJ is in for a shock. All 3 major metro areas in the state are extremely expensive, especially for housing. Gas is more expensive than NJ by quite a bit ($4 a gallon in many places.) Car insurance is about as much. And CA taxes are overall about the same as NJ (lower property tax but higher income tax and very high car registration tax). And traffic in both LA and the Bay Area is pretty bad (with LA much worse than NJ and the Bay Area probably about the same or a little worse).

My family in CA constantly complains about the cost of living. Granted, CA has some beautiful scenery, but you'll pay for it. And if you find a place that is less expensive, it's probably because there isn't a great local economy that has enough good jobs.

People always seem to think the grass is greener elsewhere. Visit CA and see if it's a place you'd want to spend some time. It's great to live different places and experience different things when you're young, just don't be surprised if you end up back in NJ some day.
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Old 06-27-2007, 06:14 PM
 
Location: NJ
12,283 posts, read 35,633,913 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cinnabon View Post

I just don't "get" people who look at NJ with rose colored glasses - or maybe you just haven't experienced a lot of other areas. If you make tons of money and can afford an 800K - 1 million+ house, well then, yeah, it's a great area!
I don't look at NJ with rose colored glasses - this state has its problems, no doubt. However, it's NO WORSE than any other state in the US (I traveled the US for 6 years straight - 48 weeks a year - I think I have a clue about other areas) , even California. Just look around on C-D at other state boards and you'll very quickly notice everyone has their own ax to grind - whether it is abysmal schools, lack of or low paying jobs, high taxes, influx of yankees, complete and utter abject poverty (likes of which you will NOT see in this state - even in the worst areas), cost of housing, sprawl, cookie cutter subdivisions, poor mass-transit, bland scenery, too cold, too hot, real estate market plunge, too many immigrants, too red, too blue, corrupt politicians, the list goes on and on. I like to think I look at all places objectively, without emotion (which many NJ-haters cannot seem to do) and you know what? This is a pretty damn good place to live. Too bad 66nexus, downtownjc and I are the only ones who feel this way.

Also, I've also noticed that whenever anyone gives the old "I'M LEAVING!" speech, the reasons are because of the "traits" (for lack of a better word) of Northeastern NJ. I laugh, because everything that is listed is NOT my reality (well, except for high prop taxes, lol) - and I'm in Northern NJ too. The broad generalizations just crack me up.

You don't need 800K to get a nice house here - let's be REAL! I have a friend who just bought the cutest house in Red Bank - less than $300K (completed revamped) and taxes less than $3500 - but that doesn't count, right?

I won't get into a pissing match between socal and NJ, but IMHO (and yes, i've been there and have a friend in San Clemente), it's no better than here. Weather? Depends. Not having cold at Christmastime would depress the hell out of me. And I just learned there are no lightning bugs there!!! OmG! What's a summer without kids going out and catching lightning bugs!?!

Anyway, I digress. Bottom line, to love where you live now doesn't necessitate blasting where you came from and denying there's ANY good here (e.g. NJ SUCKS - all 7419 sq miles of it! lol) - it's ignorant.
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