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.
Hoboken has the appeal of the city without being as expensive. Everything is within walking distance and I think the reason why a lot of young people, especially women are drawn to it is because it is almost like a college town but for young professionals (if that makes any sense).
What I mean by this is that everything is at your disposal, there is tons of nightlife, and plenty of people to mingle with.
Personally, I lived in Hoboken when I was in my early to mid 20s and then moved back to central jersey, now I am looking into Jersey City. I want the quick commute into the city for work without the craziness of Hoboken. But it does have a mixed crowd- recent grads, trust funders, and professionals (commuters and home business owners) so it's all about what environment you prefer to live in.
Hoboken is a very lively, fun, congested, expensive town to live in comprised of lots of younger 22 ish to late 30 ish folks. Seems to attract the post college singles crowd. I lived there for about 7 years after college and loved every minute of it. Everything you need is right there in walking distance - grocery store, gym, bars, restaurants, etc. Parking is a nightmare, but it was a small price to pay to live there.
"Does Hoboken have a sizeable populace of "trust fund types" and recent grad's whose rent is being subsidized in part (or whole) by their folks?"
Yes, it does.
"Why are young people, esp. women so drawn to Hoboken?"
Because Hoboken offers the opportunity to live near NYC and be in a "hip environment", while being surrounded by many 20-somethings/post-grads that are from the suburbs, and hence are usually white.
I call Hoboken "fake city living".
To people who know Hoboken now, versus the Hoboken of 10 years ago....Hoboken has been ruined. It's filled with spoiled, suburban, 20-somethings. Hoboken used to have an "edge" to it, and it used to be quite hip, in fact....it had a scene. Not so much anymore.
That being said, there are a lot of nice restaurants and some OK bars, and I do occasionally visit/work in Hoboken.
People on this board might chuckle at me for being a bit biased, but check out Historic Downtown Jersey City (Grove Street Area, Paulus Hook, and Hamilton Park). You'll find brownstone neighborhoods that are nicer than Hoboken's, and just as safe, only without all the fratboy nonsense.
I find Downtown JC to be more of a "30-something" scene, if that makes sense.
I agree, I'm actually looking at brownstones and condos in Jersey City, especially Liberty Harbor. It seems like a decently young community with some families and older professionals, and is very technologically advanced, near public transportation, has good security, a gym, and nightlife nearby. A lot of Jersey City living is like this now (downtown anyway). Hoboken has way too much of a frat party, college grads still stuck in college, feel to it.
"Does Hoboken have a sizeable populace of "trust fund types" and recent grad's whose rent is being subsidized in part (or whole) by their folks?"
Yes, it does.
"Why are young people, esp. women so drawn to Hoboken?"
Because Hoboken offers the opportunity to live near NYC and be in a "hip environment", while being surrounded by many 20-somethings/post-grads that are from the suburbs, and hence are usually white.
I call Hoboken "fake city living".
To people who know Hoboken now, versus the Hoboken of 10 years ago....Hoboken has been ruined. It's filled with spoiled, suburban, 20-somethings. Hoboken used to have an "edge" to it, and it used to be quite hip, in fact....it had a scene. Not so much anymore.
That being said, there are a lot of nice restaurants and some OK bars, and I do occasionally visit/work in Hoboken.
People on this board might chuckle at me for being a bit biased, but check out Historic Downtown Jersey City (Grove Street Area, Paulus Hook, and Hamilton Park). You'll find brownstone neighborhoods that are nicer than Hoboken's, and just as safe, only without all the fratboy nonsense.
I find Downtown JC to be more of a "30-something" scene, if that makes sense.
You are biased but that is ok everyone has their own viewpoint.
Paulous Hook was our second choice to Hoboken. Hoboken just has more restaurants and bars and nightlife.
I do not buy that attitude assesment of Hoboken people. It depends on where you go. If you go to the Uptown bars near the tea building then yes you will find some snobbish folks. The areas downtown near the PATH do not give off that vibe to me. Hoboken is a great place to live. Been there for 4 years now and love every minute Ive been there.
AJGiants....true, but the Downtown places near the Path is where the post-grad fratboys play.
So it's either Uptown Snobbery or Downtown 23-year-old scene. Don't get me wrong...Hoboken's OK, I even hang out there sometimes. It's just that Downtown JC seems to have more authenticity to it, if that makes any sense.
Downtown JC in my opinion resembles parts of Brooklyn, or LES. Hoboken is more like a fairy tale place where people want to live a Sex in the City lifestyle without the pitfalls of urban living.
I have relationships with some of the Downtown JC city planners and councilmen, and the general concensus is that they want Downtown JC to NOT become like Hoboken.
Hoboken still has a couple of cool places (where the locals hang out)...but the rest is suburban bubbleheads from Bergen County out for a night out. 10 years ago, Hoboken was actually quite hip. That being said, I do hang out there on occasion, but more because my friends have decided to meet there, so I go with the plan.
With all those expensive new buildings going up in JC, don't you think it's going to eventually fill up with frat boys and surburbanites? It isn't going to fill up with locals that's for sure.
It's going to end up with the same crowd that hoboken has now, post college kids looking to get out of their parents house and get a place near some bars, restaurants and easy access to the city.
jersey, that may happen, but I don't think it will. Jersey City is a medium-sized American city that has a population of nearly 300,000. Hoboken is a very small city of about 40,000 or so. I think Jersey City is large enough to retain it's urban character, despite intense gentrification.
I actually like Hoboken but it has succumbed to the same blandness that has made parts of Manhattan (Murray Hill I'm looking at you) into chain-store filled repositories for Wall Street d-bags originally from Bergen County or Central NJ who want to stay in NJ but want a "city-lite" experience It does have some pretty good restaurants, but too many of the bars are your typical nondescript Irish Pub or sports bar filled with an immediately post-college clientele still acting like they're freshmen and experiencing freedom for the first time.
That said, it really is s a nice town and I think the someone would reverse commute out of it is exactly what the OP mentioned - to be close to NYC or to friends who live in Hoboken but to have a reasonably decent commute to work in NJ. I assume this would be without kids, as like every school district in Hudson County most of Hoboken's public schools aren't great.
My biggest issue with Hoboken is transit to NYC. The PATH station is in the far SE corner of town, so it's not terribly well-located - it's only in easy walking distance to maybe 1/3 to 1/4 of the town. Living in the northern (or worse, NW) part of town means a LONG walk to the PATH, taking a bus, or using a shuttle that so many of the new condo buildings seem to have. Not a deal-breaker for most, but a pain nonetheless.
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.
