I have never found Newark natives any less friendly than natives of other cities. I live in that county and usually find myself there several times a year so I’m very familiar with the city. The problem isn’t rude people. The problem is the city is just plain ugly. I’ve never seen a part of it that was in any way appealing. They have a wonderful location that it is only about half an hour from Manhattan yet the city makes nothing of that connection. You can’t even see Manhattan from much of it. Aside from a handful of Portuguese restaurants they also have no amenities – no shopping, unique restaurants or interesting attractions to draw people there. I go through it and all looks like nothing but endlessly ugly big buildings and squat and really ugly private housing with a handful of rundown public parks in between.
EWR isn’t any particularly worse than other airports. I flew home through it this morning and we found it very easy to go through. The airport does several things well. For one it’s fairly easy to navigate. You can take a tram between the three terminals without any problems. They have people movers all over the place. For another they have multiple transport connections with NYC and the NJ suburbs that are easy to find and use. I also haven’t noticed any real price differentials between it and JFK or LaGuardia. The three terminals have multiple restaurants in each terminal that allow you to get everything from a quick bite to a full meal.
The terminals could do a far better job of showcasing the best of NYC/NJ food options with items like fresh seafood, authentic Chinese and really good pizza. The surrounding area is also quite ugly. State officials leave travelers with the impression that NJ is all that unappealing.
I understand why the Times endorsed Cory Booker. He’s done some good work at mayor even if I think Rush Holt is a far better choice for senator. But it’s all that effort and yet the city remains as utterly unappealing as ever.