I dislike New Jersey... Venting Thread? lol (Newark, Jersey City: insurance, neighborhood)
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I am unaware of your perception of Monmouth County, bolded above, but perhaps because I don't live in an area such as you describe. I'm in a town at which people with bucks would turn up their noses, and we are very mixed race and multi-cultural. I guess you are thinking of places like Rumson, Navesink, Deal, etc.
After reading her post I don't know if I would attribute her highlighted opinion to those towns.I can find "individuals" like that in any town but that is not the way those towns are.
I do plan on moving eventually. However, the nasty people who are saying I should just leave really are the pathetic ones. It's so easy to be nasty and rude on an anonymous, innocent thread about not liking where someone lives. And I always find it funny when people say just leave. Okay, sure! Just give me the 1500 deposit for an apartment in another state, pay for the 2500 moving van + movers and my plane ticket if need be to where I am going. Plus any other expense that comes with moving. If it were so easy, I'd be gone. Trust me. Which obviously because of expensive Nj is, it's not. It's why letting out frustrations and having conversations about them is a healthy thing. Unlike the typical jersey folk who can't stand it if people disagree with them. �� Boo boo, I don't like the state you love. You don't see me telling people they're stupid or wrong for liking NJ. It's great that they do. But for me, it's a no go for all reasons stated. If you don't agree, go find somewhere else to post. Or be like, "hey, I like it here it offers such and such. It's unfortunate you don't like it". Or something. Because for people who seem to think this thread is so stupid or wrong or wants needs so much attention, you're definitely proving my point that jersey people are nasty rude condescending and sarcastic as well making yourselves look stupid. If you hate what I'm saying so much, why not go to a different thread? Why keep this thread going if it's so wrong and terrible? I will never understand that. They tell me to leave which isn't so easy and yet all they gotta do is click on the next thread. lmao I just don't get people.
Not really. There's not one high quality large city in this state. Most other states have cities that people enjoy, visit on weekends, dine in, walk around in, play frisbee in the park, etc. Cities like Denver, SLC, Boston, Dallas, Portland, Seattle, SF, I could go on for a while. NJ has none.
How can you have a high quality state that every major city is a blight-ridden dump? Newark, Trenton, Atlantic City, Camden, Orange, Irvington, Jersey City, Elizabeth, are all work-a-day, avoid at all other times, especially at night, you are avoiding 90% of Newark and 100% of Camden. And you better be real careful in Atlantic City at night.
Totally agree about the lack of high quality, nationally recognizable cities in the state. There are none, and that is a big part of the state's lack of appeal.
NJ doesn't even have anything close to "second-tier" Northeastern cities like Albany NY, Providence RI, Scranton PA, Worcester MA, etc. that while definitely not major metropolises are overall safe and have interesting things to see and do.
Other than Princeton (which is more of a well-kept historic town than a city), NJ doesn't even have any destinations with positive national press. Maybe Hoboken, but a 1 sq mi town that is essentially an extension of Manhattan doesn't really cut it in my book as a major city.
Connecticut is like that, too. Tons of well-off suburbs surrounding blighted cities (Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, etc.) that are only populated during the "9-5" workday. Otherwise they are essentially ghost towns that you wouldn't want to be walking around (or even driving through, for that matter) at night.
Not really. There's not one high quality large city in this state. Most other states have cities that people enjoy, visit on weekends, dine in, walk around in, play frisbee in the park, etc. Cities like Denver, SLC, Boston, Dallas, Portland, Seattle, SF, I could go on for a while. NJ has none.
How can you have a high quality state that every major city is a blight-ridden dump? Newark, Trenton, Atlantic City, Camden, Orange, Irvington, Jersey City, Elizabeth, are all work-a-day, avoid at all other times, especially at night, you are avoiding 90% of Newark and 100% of Camden. And you better be real careful in Atlantic City at night.
I've lived in OH, SC, Atlanta, and Miami, and have also spent a lot of time in northern VA. Moved to NJ a few months ago, and we think it's great. There is a lot more to this state than the Newark airport!
Here are a few things we've come to enjoy:
-Varied topography
-Varied housing stock, from 1700s historic homes to Toll Brothers new builds
-Traffic is orders of magnitude better than Atlanta and NOVA. Not even close
-Ken Lockwood Gorge and Delaware Water Gap
-Trout fishing and hiking
-Edison museum
-Small neighborhood elementary school to which my boys can walk
-Easy access to NYC and Philly
-45 minute drive from anything you want to do
-Soccer, hockey, archery, hunting, fishing, golf
-Good and varied restaurant scene
Yes the taxes are confiscatory. I can't begin to justify the property tax plus state income tax burden. The liquor laws are silly as well.
Unfriendly people? Nah. Unless you go into interaction with an expectation or chip on your shoulder, you'll realize that people from NJ, NY, New England, the Deep South, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, or wherever, are a whole lot more alike than we are different.
Very good post. I too left Jersey and have lived in 11 states. I came home a few years back and I have to say, I'm glad for the experiences that I have had and they taught me to appreciate what Jersey has to offer. Having lived in city centers I prefer waking to the sounds and smells of the ocean. Don't get me wrong, I loved city life but, ocean side is what fuels my soul.
I was able to purchase a house in an area for less than I paid in a few other states. My taxes are lower too. Not all areas of NJ break the bank. In about an hour I can be in Philly (prefer the quaint town of New Hope though) and in 2 or so I can be in NY city and in about 3 I can be in Baltimore and skip down to DC if I want.
If you hate NJ move around. It really isn't hard to find other places that would be a better fit. Some places aren't right for everyone. And the people? Yeah some are crass and rude and they really suck at driving. I found that everywhere I went. At least in Jersey drivers know how to navigate a traffic circle.
Yes! The first weekend of every May is Old Monmouth Weekend, when all the county's historical sites are open, and since I love history and wanted to know more about my new area, I started visiting two or three new places every year. A couple of years ago I went out to Upper Walnford, which is an old pre-Revolutionary Quaker estate owned by a family that ran a gristmill for grinding local crops right up into the early 20th century. It took me almost an hour to get out there, but I was still in Monmouth County! Lovely farmland and open areas. And the actual historical place is very cool.
That's a lovely area. Many years ago in the spring, I walked through Clayton Park just Northeast of there. It was blanketed in thousands of Spring Beauty.
Not really. There's not one high quality large city in this state. Most other states have cities that people enjoy, visit on weekends, dine in, walk around in, play frisbee in the park, etc. Cities like Denver, SLC, Boston, Dallas, Portland, Seattle, SF, I could go on for a while. NJ has none.
How can you have a high quality state that every major city is a blight-ridden dump? Newark, Trenton, Atlantic City, Camden, Orange, Irvington, Jersey City, Elizabeth, are all work-a-day, avoid at all other times, especially at night, you are avoiding 90% of Newark and 100% of Camden. And you better be real careful in Atlantic City at night.
I grew up in a city, and I never want to live in one again. I liked it well enough at the time, but I didn't know any better when I was a little kid. I discovered camping, fires, hiking, and enough dirt to have a decent vegetable garden. I don't want to go to a city park; I want to go to a nature preserve.
Camden's OK on the waterfront and on the Rutgers campus. I've been there a few times in the evening for concerts and ball games. Too many witnesses to get away with anything. Three years ago, I walked a block on the Atlantic City boardwalk at night by myself. It was only a block, and I wasn't really by myself because there were other people.
I've been to a few nice major cities, and I found something to like in each of them--I'll always love New York--but I wouldn't want to live there.
After reading her post I don't know if I would attribute her highlighted opinion to those towns.I can find "individuals" like that in any town but that is not the way those towns are.
Because as I stated the TOWNS are not that way This is what MightyQueen801 was responding to from another poster ..."I still believe though that Monmouth County has a great deal of territoriality and ignorance tied to it. And it's annoying because what it consists of is really just firing off of empty claims that are based on nothing, other than a biased, ignorant, ethnocentric and somewhat snobbish opinion.".....where do you get "really white and really rich from???
OK, I'll bite. I moved to the Research Triangle area of North Carolina last year after spending my entire life in New Jersey. I'm not going to say the entire state is better than New Jersey; the legislature is full of wingnut yahoos (HB2, anyone?) and there's the Triangle, Asheville, and Out Where They Marry Their Sisters. That said, I do have to say that at least for me, NC has been a much better place to live so far. Yes, housing is somewhat cheaper. You can get a NICE rental apartment for $1000/month or a decent 1500 square foot house in a good neighborhood for the low to mid $200Ks. My property taxes on a 1900 square foot house are under $3500, and my area is high for where I am. There are parts of the area where they would be less than $2000/year. On the other hand, we have a 2% sales tax on groceries in addition to a 7.5% sales tax on everything else, and an annual property tax on cars, which for my 2015 econobox is about $180. Car insurance is a bit less expensive (about $300/year less), my utilities are MUCH less (though Duke Energy is a pretty lousy enviornmental citizen). Groceries, especially produce, are more expensive here. Restaurant prices are, aside from the BBQ joints, pretty comparable to their NJ counterparts.
Yes, the bagels are Brueggers and pizza is questionable, and there is no such thing as "New York style deli" here (not that there are so many in NJ either) but other than that, there is every kind of food you can imagine here.
I found living in NJ that NYC sucked up much of the cultural life of the area. Yes, there are concerts and museums and such in NJ but the major museums and shows are in the city. Here, I can drive with no traffic to Raleigh to see Patton Oswalt, or in September to see Green Day. I can do a concert and dinner for well less than $100. There is tons of free live music everywhere (everything from Afropop to bluegrass to blues to folk to bar bands), lectures, art exhibits, drum circles -- anything you might want to do.
The biggest difference is with the people. Now I am a bleeding heart liberal, and this is like Old Hippie Heaven. But more than that, people here are highly educated (as befits an area with two major universities) and they just seem HAPPIER here. I think that the slower pace, somewhat less congestion, and less focus on appearances and prestige compared to Bergen County where I used to live, agrees with people. Here I don't have to spend thousands of dollars on turning my yard into a perfect green carpet. I go to stores and businesses and people smile and say hello. These little kindnesses may be superficial, but they do make for better quality of life.
I lived in northern NJ for 57 years. But the increasingly relentless atmosphere of anger became toxic.
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