Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
GSP is a traffic nightmare, but I really don't think the Sunday closing is the reason. It's just a congested area, maybe it's poorly designed and doesn't have enough parking either, I dunno. I don't go near GSP any day of the week but I respect that if Paramusites want a break from the traffic for a day, they should be able to do that.
The Garden State Plaza was hugely redesigned and expanded a few years ago (OK, maybe the 90's). The main difference that affects traffic between that and some of the other malls mentioned here, like Willowbrook and Short Hills, is that it's 20 minutes from the GWB! New York goes there to shop for the lower sales taxes and the fact that it's a giant mall, which they don't have in Manhattan.
Another problem is that the narrow road known as Route 17 built in the 1930's for truckers to bring their produce down from the farms to Newark and New York was never designed to handle today's Bergen County suburban sprawl. Even though Sanzari built the flyover to alleviate what was even worse traffic at the 4 and 17 junction, 17 and 4 are still too small for the area they run through.
I've witnessed northwest Bergen County's population explode in just the past 30 years. In 1979 and 1980, I used to sail down Route 208 to 4 to 17 at 7 a.m. to drive to the city. Hardly any traffic. Try that now. The 80's hit, people decided they wanted to move from Bayonne, Jersey City, and the NYC boroughs, and in just a few short years the little farms disappeared, the woods disappeared, lakes and creeks were filled in, and big boxy houses appeared everywhere. Then they expanded the mall. Then everybody who had moved there started complaining about the traffic.
I lived a few miles from Willowbrook and don't ever recall excess traffic on Sunday which is why I asked about evidence that traffic is bad in other counties on Sunday. In my 4+ years in Essex County, I didn't see it.
brady - you're closer to Livingston/Short Hills/Willowbrook than Paramus, no?
i'm about 6 miles from willowbrook and 6 miles from livingston mall....but i don't really get effected by the traffic for either.
a good example for me of traffic spillover is Ikea. Ikea is busy on the weekends, of course. But I dare you to go to the Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday (when the one in Bergen County is closed). Maybe i'm jumping to conclusions, and yes, correlation is not causation, but do not go near Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday, or plan to spend the entire day walking through the store and standing in line. Maybe it has nothing to do with the one in Paramus being closed...but i find that hard to believe.
The Garden State Plaza was hugely redesigned and expanded a few years ago (OK, maybe the 90's). The main difference that affects traffic between that and some of the other malls mentioned here, like Willowbrook and Short Hills, is that it's 20 minutes from the GWB! New York goes there to shop for the lower sales taxes and the fact that it's a giant mall, which they don't have in Manhattan.
Another problem is that the narrow road known as Route 17 built in the 1930's for truckers to bring their produce down from the farms to Newark and New York was never designed to handle today's Bergen County suburban sprawl. Even though Sanzari built the flyover to alleviate what was even worse traffic at the 4 and 17 junction, 17 and 4 are still too small for the area they run through.
I've witnessed northwest Bergen County's population explode in just the past 30 years. In 1979 and 1980, I used to sail down Route 208 to 4 to 17 at 7 a.m. to drive to the city. Hardly any traffic. Try that now. The 80's hit, people decided they wanted to move from Bayonne, Jersey City, and the NYC boroughs, and in just a few short years the little farms disappeared, the woods disappeared, lakes and creeks were filled in, and big boxy houses appeared everywhere. Then they expanded the mall. Then everybody who had moved there started complaining about the traffic.
hahaha. "progress"!
expanding roads doesn't alleviate traffic though either. alternative transportation options. but that's another thread as well. civil engineers love this topic!
i will look next time, i know a lot of new yorkers come over, as they do in elizabeth as well (not as nice of a mall), but honestly, I find it hard to believe that a substantial number of cars in that parking lot are coming that far and then paying an $8 toll to save 1.75% in sales tax (nyc doesn't tax clothes up to $115 per item either).
i'm about 6 miles from willowbrook and 6 miles from livingston mall....but i don't really get effected by the traffic for either.
a good example for me of traffic spillover is Ikea. Ikea is busy on the weekends, of course. But I dare you to go to the Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday (when the one in Bergen County is closed). Maybe i'm jumping to conclusions, and yes, correlation is not causation, but do not go near Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday, or plan to spend the entire day walking through the store and standing in line. Maybe it has nothing to do with the one in Paramus being closed...but i find that hard to believe.
So Paramus should drop their Blue Laws so the Ikea in Elizabeth isn't too crowded on Sunday?
i'm about 6 miles from willowbrook and 6 miles from livingston mall....but i don't really get effected by the traffic for either.
a good example for me of traffic spillover is Ikea. Ikea is busy on the weekends, of course. But I dare you to go to the Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday (when the one in Bergen County is closed). Maybe i'm jumping to conclusions, and yes, correlation is not causation, but do not go near Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday, or plan to spend the entire day walking through the store and standing in line. Maybe it has nothing to do with the one in Paramus being closed...but i find that hard to believe.
how often do you:
1) go to IKEA
2) have to go on a SUNDAY?
LOL - I mean really - how often are you buying knick knacks and furniture that this is worthy of posting!?! You sound like a chick! LOLOLOL
expanding roads doesn't alleviate traffic though either. alternative transportation options. but that's another thread as well. civil engineers love this topic!
i will look next time, i know a lot of new yorkers come over, as they do in elizabeth as well (not as nice of a mall), but honestly, I find it hard to believe that a substantial number of cars in that parking lot are coming that far and then paying an $8 toll to save 1.75% in sales tax (nyc doesn't tax clothes up to $115 per item either).
They don't necessarily have to be buying clothes, and the toll doesn't come to much if you have nine people in the car.
You have Passaic, Essex, Hudson, Rockland, and Manhattan to go shopping on Sunday. You don't have that many options in most areas of the country anyway. BC is the shopping mecca for all these surrounding counties. Hence the reason BC shuts it all down on Sunday (Route 17 is bumper to bumper on the regi). Paramus grosses more annual retail sales than any other zip code in the nation.
Religion has almost nothing to do with it anymore.
i'm about 6 miles from willowbrook and 6 miles from livingston mall....but i don't really get effected by the traffic for either.
a good example for me of traffic spillover is Ikea. Ikea is busy on the weekends, of course. But I dare you to go to the Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday (when the one in Bergen County is closed). Maybe i'm jumping to conclusions, and yes, correlation is not causation, but do not go near Ikea in Elizabeth on Sunday, or plan to spend the entire day walking through the store and standing in line. Maybe it has nothing to do with the one in Paramus being closed...but i find that hard to believe.
It was crazy crowded at the Elizabeth IKEA on Sunday's long before the one in Paramus was even a thought.
Doesn't surprise that it still is - it is much more convenient for NYCer's than the one in Paramus any day of the week and particularly on the weekend, what with the free shuttle and all.
And, isn't the tax rate at the one in Elizabeth still lower than in Paramus?
LOL - I mean really - how often are you buying knick knacks and furniture that this is worthy of posting!?! You sound like a chick! LOLOLOL
well, there are something like 8 million people in the state right? so i'm sure i'm not the only one that gets their errands done on saturday and sunday. just sayin...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
