Will all of JC eventually see some gentrification? (Newark, Jersey City: 2014, home)

[Midwesterns45]

JC is a tale of two cities...massive amounts of wealth and prosperity in downtown JC & Van Vorst. Meanwhile other neighborhoods like Journal square, Greenville and even the heights have a lot of poverty and misery.

Do you think other areas of JC outside the i78 boundary will eventually see the typical symptoms of gentrification? Thoughts, opinions please. I'm curious to know what others think.

[MiamiLIFE]

Originally Posted by Midwesterns45

JC is a tale of two cities...massive amounts of wealth and prosperity in downtown JC & Van Vorst. Meanwhile other neighborhoods like Journal square, Greenville and even the heights have a lot of poverty and misery.

Do you think other areas of JC outside the i78 boundary will eventually see the typical symptoms of gentrification? Thoughts, opinions please. I'm curious to know what others think.

Journal Square just broke ground on a MASSIVE project at the Journal Square PATH. It will result in major gentrification of JS. New development projects could change the face of Jersey City's Journal Square | NJ.com

[openheads]

If it's near public transportation, near NYC, the investment will eventually follow. You even see it (at a much slower pace) in Downtown Newark & Harrison.

[gottaq]

yes all of jersey city and surrounding areas will be gentrified. the entire NYC area will be like one gigantic, wealthy, expensive city. the poor population will probably be pushed to south jersey, reading PA, and places like this.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

In another thread, I saw what some developers are trying to do to Newark. I wonder why go out there, when you have Jersey City.

[openheads]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

In another thread, I saw what some developers are trying to do to Newark. I wonder why go out there, when you have Jersey City.

Downtown Newark has PATH access.

[millerm277]

Eventually is a long time, so I won't say never.

And to a limited extent, I think the gentrification where it's happening forces the rest of the city to improve. You're slowly pushing people out. The people who could afford the waterfront before move out to the next neighborhood, and so on.

That said, I do not see Greenville seeing major gentrification anytime soon, there's too many more appealing and closer locations to improve first.

[Rare727]

I would say Jersey City Heights and Journal Square are aready making strides. Greenville will probably always be "the bad area" though.

[NJhighlands87]

Most American cities (and small towns for that matter) have a less-desirable area. Philadelphia has a fantastic Center City and some excellent adjacent neighborhoods, but it also has North Philadelphia, Mantua, and Point Breeze. Baltimore's Inner Harbor contrasts with some of the rougher neighborhoods further in from the waterfront. NYC is home to one of the poorest congressional districts in the US. DC has the southeast, Boston has Roxbury and parts of Dorchester. It's not like having an area like Greenville somehow invalidates the nice parts of Jersey City. If we look at all of Hudson County, there's affluent urban centers in downtown JC and Hoboken, decent residential towns such as Weehawken, improving blue-collar towns like Bayonne, immigrant havens like Union City, and depressed areas like Greenville. Just like you'd find in any decent American city. I'd presume that most stops on the HBLR will see some gentrification after the PATH stops are built out. This should cover a good chunk of the city eventually.

I'm much more pessimistic about Newark. I think the downtown (roughly bound by MLK, McCarter, Broad Street Station, and Lincoln Park) will gentrify fairly quickly once it gets going. However, that's only a 1.5 square-mile area in 24 square-mile city (closer to 17 when you strip out the airport, port, and rail sprawl). That leaves most of the city, including Vailsburg, the West Side, and Weequahic, with no proximity to mass transit and terrible housing stock, as a long-shot for any revitalization.

[millerm277]

Originally Posted by NJhighlands87

I'm much more pessimistic about Newark. I think the downtown (roughly bound by MLK, McCarter, Broad Street Station, and Lincoln Park) will gentrify fairly quickly once it gets going. However, that's only a 1.5 square-mile area in 24 square-mile city (closer to 17 when you strip out the airport, port, and rail sprawl). That leaves most of the city, including Vailsburg, the West Side, and Weequahic, with no proximity to mass transit and terrible housing stock, as a long-shot for any revitalization.

Weequhaic has potential. Assuming someone builds some parking or has the common sense to run a local bus to the future Newark Airport PATH, it's very close and an easy access. It's also not in terrible shape, and the Hillside portion of the area is in pretty acceptable condition.

Going west towards the GSP? Agreed, I have zero expectation of that (or Irvington) improving.