Best downtowns of NJ (Paterson, Camden: counties, downtown, road)

[camaro69]

Madison.

[jobaba]

It's definitely not #1, but New Brunswick belongs up there somewhere considering a lot of the towns being listed. I know it gets a bad rep, but there's a lot of bars and restaurants. And Easton Ave and Highland Park make the walkable area even larger.

Jersey City and Hoboken have an unfair advantage being so close to NYC. So using them is cheating, and if you can use them, both/either win in a landslide.

Palisades Park, even if you're not into it is pretty unique.

I would like to include a strong Latino community, but not one jumps out at me.

Westfield and Cranford are decent, smaller and more generic than their ratings would suggest.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by zhelder

Denville

And a real under-the-radar one…

Hawthorne. Lots of great, reasonably priced places to eat, and less traffic than the hipper, wealthier towns.

And while it’s not a big section of the town, Hackettstown has an interesting downtown section along Route 46/Main Street, also with lots of great, reasonably priced restaurants.

Have not been to Hawthorne since I lived there for a few months in '09, but I agree.

Metuchen has a nice little downtown.

[Leps12]

Originally Posted by jobaba

It's definitely not #1, but New Brunswick belongs up there somewhere considering a lot of the towns being listed. I know it gets a bad rep, but there's a lot of bars and restaurants. And Easton Ave and Highland Park make the walkable area even larger.

Jersey City and Hoboken have an unfair advantage being so close to NYC. So using them is cheating, and if you can use them, both/either win in a landslide.

Palisades Park, even if you're not into it is pretty unique.

I would like to include a strong Latino community, but not one jumps out at me.

Westfield and Cranford are decent, smaller and more generic than their ratings would suggest.

Might as well mention the Ironbound in Newark as well in that case. For a Latino vibe, Dover. Does Bergenline Ave in Hudson County also not count?

Some others to consider:

Freehold
Long Branch
Point Pleasant Beach
Stone Harbor
Cliffside Park
Bergenfield
Westwood
South Orange
Maplewood
Clinton

[bbnetworking]

Wow, great list. I will definitely check them out...

[counter_inquisition]

in Burlington County you have Bordentown City, Burlington City, Mount Holly. Riverside also has a nice little downtown area with Portuguese and other nice restaurants. Willingboro has the Rancocas section with some cool shops. Pemberton also has a downtown.

Allentown in Monmouth County

Hightstown

Cranbury (one of the most gorgeous)

Jamesburg

Milltown

Hammonton

[Leps12]

Originally Posted by counter_inquisition

in Burlington County you have Bordentown City, Burlington City, Mount Holly. Riverside also has a nice little downtown area with Portuguese and other nice restaurants. Willingboro has the Rancocas section with some cool shops. Pemberton also has a downtown.

Allentown in Monmouth County

Hightstown

Cranbury (one of the most gorgeous)

Jamesburg

Milltown

Hammonton

Willingboro has no downtown. A lot of these others ones like Burlington, Mount Holly, Riverside, and Hammonton seem like they would be nice, but as I have been through them, they always seemed to lack foot traffic and/or appear rundown. Burlington has some homeless people. If you are going to include them, might as well include Millville, Vineland, Bridgetown, Pitman, Glassboro, and Woodbury. Collingswood is livelier than all of them.

Mullica Hill and Swedesboro have similar vibes to Cranbury.

I love Bordentown.

[hithere_imbored]

I'd add a few more, such as:

Matawan

Keyport

Dunellen

South River

Asbury Park

Flemington

[DannyHobkins]

Are we asking for best downtowns are listing all downtowns now

[Leps12]

Originally Posted by DannyHobkins

Are we asking for best downtowns are listing all downtowns now

You knew this shark would be jumped. I mean, you said Sparta (it’s decent because of the lake adding cool scenery, but in the grand scheme of things does not deserve to be lumped in with some of these other ones). One could instead just list out the best downtown for each county to do this in a way that hasn’t been done before. Some are easier than others, with some counties having several competitive ones, and likewise, some others being so weak that even the best downtown is nothing special.

Atlantic- Atlantic City
Bergen- Ridgewood
Burlington- Bordentown
Camden- Haddonfield
Cape May- Cape May
Cumberland- Millville
Essex- Montclair
Gloucester- Pitman
Hudson- Hoboken
Hunterdon- Lambertville
Mercer- Princeton
Middlesex- New Brunswick
Monmouth- Red Bank
Morris- Morristown
Ocean- Point Pleasant Beach
Passaic- Pompton Lakes
Salem- Woodstown
Somerset- Somerville
Sussex- Newton
Union- Summit
Warren- Hackettstown