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.
Since the late 90s when Nyc rebounded, NJ has pretty much been going down the tubes.
There are no middle class areas for the working man in any commutable are to NYC anymore. Its gotten so bad that people are driving 2 hours a day from PA to NYC... Taxes are aggravating the situation
Long story short, When NYC started to revitilize itself, it made NJ into a place where only the wealthy and welfare folk can afford to live.... There is no area for the average joe. not unless he bought a place here at least 10 years ago.
Real estate boom has made living in NJ completely unaffordable to the average man. once the folks who bought before the boom move out of their house, and out of the area, NJ is gonna suffer a complete meltdown imo.
I am mid 20s and so many people I know have left the state. So many people i know went to college out of state, then stayed there cause NJ was too expensive. If not out of state college, they went out of state on their own. Its just not reasonable to most people.
Agreed Northern New Jersey is a problem. You have ghetto, middle class areas that are either becoming bad or have raised there taxes to protect themselves but have become very expensive as a result. Then you have super rich areas.
Agreed Northern New Jersey is a problem. You have ghetto, middle class areas that are either becoming bad or have raised there taxes to protect themselves but have become very expensive as a result. Then you have super rich areas.
yep.
middle class areas have basically become areas where you need to be rich in order to afford
Since the late 90s when Nyc rebounded, NJ has pretty much been going down the tubes.
There are no middle class areas for the working man in any commutable are to NYC anymore. Its gotten so bad that people are driving 2 hours a day from PA to NYC... Taxes are aggravating the situation
Long story short, When NYC started to revitilize itself, it made NJ into a place where only the wealthy and welfare folk can afford to live.... There is no area for the average joe. not unless he bought a place here at least 10 years ago.
Real estate boom has made living in NJ completely unaffordable to the average man. once the folks who bought before the boom move out of their house, and out of the area, NJ is gonna suffer a complete meltdown imo.
I am mid 20s and so many people I know have left the state. So many people i know went to college out of state, then stayed there cause NJ was too expensive. If not out of state college, they went out of state on their own. Its just not reasonable to most people.
Wrong on all counts. NJ, compared to NYC, IS affordable, and much more affordable for the average man.
As usual, I will say that I find it hard to believe all the doom & gloom coming from people who, despite claiming doom & gloom and meltdown, still choose to live in NJ.
It's like someone trying to convince me that ice cream is made with poison and anyone who eats it will be killed, but while telling me this the person is digging in to a huge bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
It's just the usual mentality of "I wanna complain for no real reason so I just will even though of course I don't believe what I'm saying and I will continue to stay in NJ because everything I say I don't TRULY believe."
I admire your loyalty to your home state and I definitely appreciate your passion to your cause. I read a bit of the other thread and chuckled reading all points.
However-
The reality is that NJ is becoming an area that is pushing out the average income earner....
You say that people should "put up and put out". Well, I agree but I can also see that many people are choosing to migrate to other areas that offer "easier" lives than what you find here. In its place, even more wealth is migrating here and while that may sustain the local economy it does make for a difficult dilemma for the average hardworking middle class person.
I have lived in 6 cities in the past 15 years (jobs) and here is my observation based strictly from my own anecdotal data points..... You cannot beat NYC for its vibrancy or opportunities to "hit it big". However, NYC is a lot less geographically or economically accessible than other cities are to its suburban centers. When I lived in Charlotte, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Seattle, Atlanta and Dallas, I had much more of an opportunity to get to see sporting events, concerts and theater and way better restaurants than I do, living here in NJ. It simply is a much bigger hassle to get into NYC than it was those other places and things cost more.
Those other cities have more opportunities to outdoor fun too. Given they are newer cities, you find more amenities such as new walking trails, parks and the weather is *some* of those places allowed for more time spent outdoors.
Having said that, I agree that NJ has some unique things to offer.... Certainly there is no greater place to earn a living. NJ has a great "spirited" culture....and the theater, museums etc that NYC offer are the best in this country. It's just too bad that the average joe cannot afford most of it!
So while I respect your zeal for the area you live in, please understand that truly there is another side to the coin. There is merit to the convesation of "is this worth it". I have relatives who were raised in this area and who have moved away for economic reasons and are thriving. Certainly those experiences cannot just be suppressed just because you like it here. Nor is it easy to say "move or shut up" for someone going through the process of analyzing what is/or is not working in their lives. Surely you know there is a lot more to relocating than just hiring the movers, right? ;-)
I am sure this will invite a typical BCJ response to which I offer now, I will not engage in..... I think all points have been made and remade. I simply wanted to chime in to the conversations and now, having said my piece, I retreat back into the woodowork of lurkers where I usually reside.
Since the late 90s when Nyc rebounded, NJ has pretty much been going down the tubes.
There are no middle class areas for the working man in any commutable are to NYC anymore. Its gotten so bad that people are driving 2 hours a day from PA to NYC... Taxes are aggravating the situation
Long story short, When NYC started to revitilize itself, it made NJ into a place where only the wealthy and welfare folk can afford to live.... There is no area for the average joe. not unless he bought a place here at least 10 years ago.
Real estate boom has made living in NJ completely unaffordable to the average man. once the folks who bought before the boom move out of their house, and out of the area, NJ is gonna suffer a complete meltdown imo.
I am mid 20s and so many people I know have left the state. So many people i know went to college out of state, then stayed there cause NJ was too expensive. If not out of state college, they went out of state on their own. Its just not reasonable to most people.
For decades now, heavy immigration into the area, mostly from overseas but also a fair amount of it dosmetic, has lead to a housing shortage, which greatly drives up housing prices. But what is the alternative?
Think about it. Would you rather have it gone the other way so it would be more affordable? I mean places like East Saint Louis & Detroit are more affordable but would you want to live there?
I remember as a kid when large parts of the NYC area were "no go zones", including parts of NNJ. Not everything is better (traffic for instance) but in general the whole area is alot better now IMHO.
I've been away from this forum for awhile (no reason other than just busy) but I am always the loyal fan of NJ. Born & bred here (first 10 yrs. in Paterson, Ramsey my formative years, now Randolph in my married life) & can't imagine my children not having the same experiences I did. I LOVE all it has to offer. BUT, I think much of the negative comes from how disappointed many are at how hard it has become to maintain a sustainable lifestyle here. We can all complain about traffic, congestion blah, blah, blah but the root of it is...many don't WANT to leave our beloved NJ. The housing costs & taxes are choking us to the point of it not making any sense anymore.
If you are not one who works in NYC or owns a shore house.....I think many of us are FORCED to start weighing the importance of things....would my family benefit more from the savings I would have if I were not choked monthly trying to keep our heads above water in our current living arrangement. Could we possibly afford more family vaca's, more school choices etc. When people have more options for themselves & their family they of course have more control over their lives and more comfort & security, no? The government in this state has been considered one of the top 3 corrupt in the country for decades now. With corruption comes high taxes (could we be seeing a change? I don't know, one can only hope). I must agree, that as much as I adore this state & would hate to ever leave it, the taxes alone may force my family out of it if we'd like to maintain the standard of living I wish to keep for my children. So we may in the near future be forced to make the tough decision what means more to us... Because right now, I am right on the border of having to either give up the religious schooling I so strongly support or move to a substandard neighborhood to be able to continue to afford it. Neither option is acceptable to me. YET it's how we've been living (& I venture to guess others are as well) because deep down inside we really don't WANT to move...we're just not given many choices anymore. So we b-tch & moan alot.
If you can afford it...good for you, you're fortunate if you love the state. If not...you're pretty upset because the choices are being made for you. One starts to look over the border & say I can buy a reasonable home for less money & far less taxes. I can afford to send my kid to whatever school I choose, I'm still within driving distance of NYC for the few times a year when I want to get in & I can still get to the NJ shore....I dunno...this prospect is starting to sound better & better...hey look if I were ABLE to afford it I'd stay until they pryed my greasy fingers off my Kinchly's slice...but it may NOT remain a reality for at least this Jersey girl....& it makes me sad.
Wow...change the letters NJ to CT and you have the same issues.
No middle class, real estate out of control along with property taxes. Ghetto or (Mc)mansions.
I feel for the families who simply want dad home and not working 65 hours a week with a 1 hour commute each way just to pay the tax bill.
I moved back to CT about 11 years ago, and I've hung on, tried to be positive etc but now that I have children, house etc it's just not making sense. My wife and I make very good money and we are going backwards.
Wow...change the letters NJ to CT and you have the same issues.
No middle class, real estate out of control along with property taxes. Ghetto or (Mc)mansions.
I feel for the families who simply want dad home and not working 65 hours a week with a 1 hour commute each way just to pay the tax bill.
I moved back to CT about 11 years ago, and I've hung on, tried to be positive etc but now that I have children, house etc it's just not making sense. My wife and I make very good money and we are going backwards.
Yeah, NJ and CT really are more alike than different.
And while both states have some semi-affordable areas away from the metro areas, I think CT has more in the way of decent, nice, affordable towns away from the metro areas than NJ. Generally, if a town is affordable in NJ, it ain't so hot. The southern part of the state is certainly cheaper, but the same principle applies.
I just think it's insane how housing prices in Northern NJ, which were never cheap to begin with, have more than doubled over the past decade. Salaries have gone up maybe 25% over that same time.
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.
