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My wife and I moved to the Philly burbs about 3 years ago from North Jersey. At first, our move seemed like the best move for us and we laughed and wondered why anyone in their right mind would still pay North Jersey prices! But three years later, the cons of our move are definitely starting to make us think about moving back. We find the area to be less congested, more friendly (on the surface...), easily navigated, access to Philly is so easy, and our home and neighborhood is what we've always wanted. However, we are noticing a deep rooted resentment for NY and all things north, find people turn on you when they find out you don't like their sports teams (and mind you...we keep to ourselves about it), find people less open-minded about different things (cultures, opinions, etc), and think the job market around here is a bit unhealthy.
I'm just wondering if there are any other people out there who have moved to South Jersey from the NY area and how they feel about it?
The dislike for the New York area isn't even tacit, it's overt. I've mentioned it when it comes to Philadelphia sports teams, and how the ugliness transforms itself to whenever a New York team is visiting. The resentment is palpable. Philadelphia residents have long have an inferiority complex when it comes to perception in comparsion to their northeast corridor companions, and IMO its modeled around economies. Philadelphia is a decidedly blue-collar city, and the wallets of the residents of the area, for the most part, are lighter as a result. There are exceptions, but the 'wealth belts' of Philadelphia pale in comparison to D.C., Boston, or New York. In a sense, Philadelphia comes off as a bigger version of Baltimore, another city that gets drowned out by the 100 watt light bulb of Washington D.C. Ask yourself why these relocations from the NYC to Philadelphia area are so frequent. The answer: disparity in housing costs. And why are the housing costs so disparate? Answer: the economy of NYC is mostly white collar (espcially financial) while the Philadelphia economy is based in part on the shipyards (blue collar). However, many of those who relocate to Philadelphia still wind up commuting north into the NYC orbit to work, and import their wages back to their new homes. The natives don't appreciate these newcomers by and large, who attempt this move. I know, because I was in the same exact boat. When you see the Philadelphia inferiority complex, what you are witnessing is a lesson in class envy 101.
I'm going to call you Dr. Philly.....because you always have the right diagnosis for this often puzzling city/area. You seem to be very well versed on it so I'll assume you lived around here at one time or another. I am seriously amazed at how many commute to NYC. It is really embarrassing to Philly. I'm hoping in the next 10 years or so, things will start to pick up though I'm not counting on it.
jy_2007,
Funny, I often mention to people that the landscape is nicer in North Jersey and they don't really know what I mean. I miss the hills and the more efficient elevated highways of up north. Everything is so flat around here....even the major roads! In all fairness, I've found pretty good pizza...and good restaurants in general in my area.
There's absolutely an inferiority complex, but the Philadelphia economy has not revolved around the shipyard for decades. Also, Pennsylvania's high corporate taxes have driven away so many of the manufacturing jobs. I've read that the city has like 35,000 manufacturing jobs left, down from several hundred thousand at its peak.
Philadelphia will always be overshadowed by the NYC financial prowess, and the fact that DC is the nation's capital. (However, Philadelphia is the only city that can say it was at one time both). The fact that NYC is bigger and DC is more powerful does not seem to affect Boston. While I acknowledge I have no support one way or the other, I believe the "wealth belt" disparity between Philly and Boston or Philly and DC is not nearly as great as you might expect.
I don't think, Invertigo, you should be embarassed for Philly re people commuting to NYC; the number of people who commute to NYC from Philly is miniscule. To look at it in a positive light, you might realize that Philly is one of the only cities that people from NYC seem to think is authentic and real.
I live on the PA side of suburban Philly, and I see very little anti-NYC sentiment. Most of the people I deal with love NYC. Honestly, I think that the anti-NYC sentiment stems from the fact that South Jersey is generally snubbed by North Jersey (i.e. suburban NYC).
I also believe that if you move to an area with preconceived notions (for example, everyone will hate my because I am from big, bad NYC), the notions will come true. Invertigo, are you as nice to people in South Jersey as you expect them to be to you? Honestly, though, I hope you don't leave the region just because some group of moronic Eagles fans.
I also wonder where you live. I'm in Burlington County and haven't found that at all. In fact, a lot of people down here are from North Jersey.
I lived in Burlington Cnty for a bit, and I also didn't notice it (but like you, I lived in an enclave of North Jersey residents). My husband grew up down there as well, and my in-laws have never shown any hostility to this North Jersey girl . But they are kind of obnoxious Eagles fans, lol.
Hubby likes the Dolphins while my son is a die hard Mets fan. While it's hard to find Dolphin stuff (so much Eagles stuff, how can they sell it all) I do manage.
This, I think, sums it up. If anyone listens to sports radio 610 Howard Eskin's show, if a caller identifies him or herself as a supporter of a New York sports team, his on air reaction invariably is "another scumbag New Yorker". In fact, when I lived in South Jersey, and I mentioned to someone that I was visiting family in Northern NJ for the weekend, they would say "Oh, you mean New York City". I was also called a "New York scumbag", though admitedly, in a playful way. Still, words mean things. And one final observation: when it comes to politics, Southern NJ people believe that Trenton bases its decision making process entirely to the whim of the Northern NJ citizenry. That much is fact. And they resent Northern NJ (in their minds, an extension of NYC) accordingly.
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. But they are kind of obnoxious Eagles fans, lol.
