I’ll be the first to admit that some of the laws suck in NJ. For one,
the gun laws.
There are a lot of arrogant people in NJ (I think more-so than any other state)
Also, if you don’t have a reasonably good job, you will live in the worst part of NJ, and still need a roommate…
We all know that every place has its not so nice areas, but what is it about NJ that urks people?
Have you ever been here, and if so, what part?
What made you have “jerseyphobia”?
There are so many beautiful towns to live in. upper saddle river, ringwood, franklin lakes, paramus, westwood, closter, alpine, kinnelon, wayne…many many more…(these are just the towns I am close to)
No, Paterson is not nice, but who needs to go to Paterson anyway.
So many beautiful forests, trees and parks. I have sooo much fun at the Jersey shore. No, it’s not the Florida keys by no means, but it’s a blast.
So many unbelievable shopping centers.
With most major highways, you can be in NYC within 20 to 30 minutes.
You can be in NYS in about 30 minutes too. So many farms to go horseback riding and apple picking.
I am so sad that I am going to be moving away! I am sure I will like NM, but it is so different. I feel like I have it all, here in NJ…
I cannot speak for others. I like NJ and have friends in the Elizabeth areas. I think that might be Union County? I like Liberty Park where I can take a water taxi to NYC. I thought NJ was so beautiful when I visited it one autumn.
NM will be very different for you. But it has wonderful areas, too. Good luck with your move!
jerseydiamond, I went to school in Arizona, and was glad I was able to get out of the rat race for awhile. Jersey’s nice, but so is the Southwest. All the wide open spaces. All the fresh air. All the friendly people.
I particularly like Arizona 'cause it doesn’t have all the assinine laws that Jersey does. You can openly carry a sidearm if you’re out in the wild (not like Jersey has wild, but I’d like one in some of the more remote parts of Kittatinny or Alamuchy), penal ‘camps’ instead of building whole prisons (a la Sheriff Joe Arpaio!), much cheaper car insurance, and a whole lotta other cool stuff. Someday, when I rule the world, I’m going to change it’s nickname to “Arizona: The Common Sense State”.
Tripler
Trust me. You’ll have a blast. Just come home occasionally.
Hey JerseyDiamond, if you’re moving to New Mexico, will you change your screen name?
I’ve never been to New Jersey. I’ve been to New Mexico a few times and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Hope you have a wonderful time moving – what part of the state are you all moving to?
Tripler, well, I’m in Arizona but would likely prefer New Jersey laws.
There’s nothing in particular in NJ that drove me away. I grew up there (Morris County) and just wanted to get off the east coast away from the crowd and experience some other places. It was definitely a good place to grow up but at a certain point I had to get out of there. A lot of the woods I tramped around in are gone now. I may end up working there in the next few years and I won’t mind terribly much since my concerns are different now.
Why are you moving to NM? Where are you moving to?
Yes, it’s very easy to pick on Newark. I might suggest that you spend a day in the Ironbound. There is a great deal of the Brick City that is undesirable, but the Down Neck section can be not only safe (I’ve walked down streets there after midnight with no worries) but a great deal of fun. The selection of Portugese food and Brazilian women there is second to none!
Well, as everyone knows, I just got married. Joe_Cool is from NM. He came to NJ about 4 years ago, to experience some place new. He is ready to go back. He told me it doesn’t have to be permenant if I don’t like it.
I absolutely love his family, so that will be a plus.
I guess I am excited, but every place I have been doesn’t seem to compare. I have been to a lot of states, but NJ is just so different from other places. I guess that’s because I have been here all my life.
I love New Jersey. I miss it very much (well, except the cold weather in winter.)
I was born in Fort Dix, and I spent my entire life in Central Jersey (Monroe Twp. Old Bridge, South River, with a short stay in Garfield.) What Exit? Exits 8A and 9 on the NJTPK.
In 1997 I moved to Central PA, to just get away from NJ for awhile, but I ended up visiting at least once a month. I missed it.
In 2000 I moved to CA, where I seem to run into lots of Native NJers. I got to go back this Thanksgiving, and after the Dopefest this weekend we’ll spend a day with my family again.
To me NJ has everything. Proximity to NYC and Philly, the shore, the mountains, Atlantic City, lots of ethnic diversity, great tomatoes, four seasons, I could go on and on. It’ll always be home.
It’s always easy for people to dawg it, but I think those people don’t get a chance to see the good parts.
Good Luck in NM. I’ve never been there, but my fiance’s children live there, and they seem to like it well enough.
I agree with everything everyone said about the good things in New Jersey. I’ve lived all over this state since I was 12. I went to High School at the shore, college in New Brunswick (RU RAH RU RAH…), and now I work in Newark and live in Northern Morris County. So I know this state pretty well. There’s every kind of diversity you could imagine - geographic, ethnic, political, meteorological, the list goes on and on. I’ve grown up here, and I’m a better person for it.
But I have. To get. The hell. Out. Of. Here.
The nice things may be really nice, but I just can’t appreciate them anymore. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of the temperate climate (I prefer tropical). I’m sick of the traffic. I’m sick of the attitude, the pace, the cost of living, the everything about this state. I’m especially sick of the population density. Number one in the country. Ever notice that wherever you go there are people from New Jersey? It should be obvious why that is. People can’t stand it here anymore. The Exodus has begun. We won’t stop until we’ve infested the world like fire ants! BWAHAHAHAHAHAAH!
My desire to leave here is primal. My brain is wired in such a way that I won’t be able to settle down and make a home for myself until I’ve left this place far behind. I’m very happy for you, JerseyDiamond, and JoeCool too. New Mexico seems like a nice place. Nice and warm, and dry, and beautiful. You go.
I love Jersey, really, I do, but I have this theory about how it came to be populated: travellers lost on the interstate. Hear me out: have you guys ever tried to navigate NJ from north to south? It’s like the Labyrinth of the Minotaur. So eventually, all these road-weary folk just gave up and settled in New Jersey. They were forced to live where they got lost, making their encampments on the banks of the GSP, developing a primitive culture, and looking with sorrowful yet hopeful eyes towards the lands of their birth.
As you can see,it’s not a sun & fun capital by any stretch.Higher elevation means drier sunnier days on average,but cut thru you cold at night with low moisture in the air.Don’t throw away the winter clothes
I know whereof I speak.As a transplanted NYer to the desert the dry cold * feels * colder at comparable temps.Try for steam heat,if they have it,in Albuquerque.
When I was a high-school senior, at Redondo High in Southern California, there were two girls, whom I’ll call Martie and Andrea, who were from New Jersey. Martie had lived in CA for a long time and went out for school sports; Andrea only transferred to Redondo just before the senior year started. She spoke with a strong New York accent; Martie did not. Martie was tall and statuesque; Andrea was small and slight. Martie was of German-Polish ancestry; I think Andrea was Puerto Rican. They only had one thing in common, to my knowledge: Both were in the first-period government class I was in. Most of the year Andrea and I got anlong like oil and water; I rarely had contact with Martie.
Jersey Diamond what an interesting coincidence with relocation we have – part of my family in Northern NJ (Boonton) relocated to New Mexico in the mid 1980s so my uncle could work at the bomb lab in Los Alamos. We’ve visited NM many, many times and you’re doing the right thing. NJ definitely has it’s quirks and things that are SO completely unique to itself, but the cost of living, population and sprawl are not worth it. It’s part of the reason why Mr. Winnie and I are thinking of relocating from the DC area to the southwest sometime in the near future.
Definitely agree here, Lure. Most times when I call my family in Alb and Santa Fe during this time of year they’ve got more snow than we do. When hubby and I visited my cousins in Alb last summer (in late August) we went up to the Sandia mountains and it was 43 degrees at the summit. Nights get very, very cool on the hottest of days, and areas like Taos that are mountainous have odd temp changes depending on the clouds and fog (it was 70 on the day we visited in August).
I used to live in Saddle Brook, N.J. When we got married we had an apartment there and within 6 months, discovered that we couldn’t afford to stay there. We moved to Hamburg, N.J. and we had a very nice apartment there, but when my first child was born, the buliding couldn’t renew the lease since we were now three and not two (It was a very small apartment). So we moved to PA.
We’ve been in PA for about 10 years now. I like to visit Jersey, but now, there’s no way I would want to live there. It’s entirely too populated and the traffic is just too much for me to handle. The neighbors are too close to each other and it just seems to me that the people just aren’t as friendly.
Well fuck me sideways. Who would have thunk it? I thought it would be real nice and warm during the day and then cold at night. I guess I’ll scratch Albuquerque off my list of places I wish I lived.
I grew up in South Jersey, real close to Philly (Burlington). I moved to Michigan just after high school, and only then did I appreciate some of the aformentioned positive points. My brother always says that “New Jersey is a great place to come from…” meaning that you must move on eventually, but that’s probably true of most places.
Being sandwiched between Philly and NYC makes for an interesting place to grow up!
dougie_monty I’m not sure I get your point (I often miss the obvious). You knew 2 girls from Jersey that didn’t look alike. One you didn’t get along with, the other you didn’t talk to…and? Are you trying to point out that people from the state are diverse, unfriendly, or don’t belong in California?
