I’ve heard all the New Jersey jokes on Futurama. I’ve heard the title “Armpit of the Nation”. But really, what’s so bad about New Jersey? Do you have to go there to understand? Is it contagious? Does it come in jars?
You gotta go!!!
You should stop by Princeton some time. It’s really nice – when you step off the curb, traffic stops to allow you to cross. It’s easy to forget you’re in Joisey.
Actually, except for a few key areas, the state is no different from other Eastern states. It’s not bad at all. Really.
NJ gets a bad rep because most people that visit come by way of Newark Airport which is surrounded by general industrial unpleasantness and confusing entangled highways. The rest of the state is great.
Well, living in NJ, I can say that there is more than an industrial wasteland, although those are much more accessible. I live about two miles from Princeton, where there are some nice places for a stroll (I especially like the Institute for Advanced Study, which Einstein used to frequent). However, as (probably) with more urban areas, people here are more high-paced, frenetic, and aggressive. In general.
Why does Jersey have industrial and medical waste and California have lawyers?
Jersey had first pick. 
The answer is that NJ is really two states - North and South.
The North side, for the most part, is awash in industry. Oh, sure, there’s the NW corner, which is quite nice, but that huge NE corner is nothing but blight. When people from other parts of the country think of the state, this is the part they’re thinking of - the Mob, toxic waste, hookers, and so forth.
The South side is much more agrarian. There’s a HUGE forest in the middle of it - the Pine Barrens. The farms are large and plentiful. And the beaches aren’t too bad, either, except for the jellyfish and the occasional shark.
Really, the two halves of the state are wildly different. And the southern part itself has parts that are wildly different from each other.
In short, you can get all kinds of people and all kinds of weather and all kinds of terrain in NJ.
What ain’t?
The jokes stem from the fact that most people’s Jersey experience is nothing more than passing through it on the NJ Turnpike. For several miles up in North Jersey, you pass by our world-famous collection of pretochemical refineries, which are capable of creating an ever-so-lovely odor.
Other than this one (albeit high-profile) spot, it’s really a very nice state. I could go into quite a list of reasons not to live here (congestion, auto insurance, property taxes), but my number one reason for living here is this: You are no more than an hour or two away from absolutely anything you might want to do. Cities, countryside, the ocean, casinos, skiing, amusement parks, scuba diving, mountains, etc. etc., it’s all here (this message brought to you by Hal Briston, who was not in any way influenced by the NJ Department of Travel & Tourism :)).
Ahhhh, the joys of finding out, on preview, that others have already pretty much made your point for you. Ah well. 
New Jersey is really an acquired taste. I have many friends in Maine, and they always ask me why I won’t move up there with them. I give them this answer:
Diners.
New Jersey, the Diner State. If I want a taylor ham sandwich at four in the morning, I can think of about fifteen places in a twenty-mile radius that will be happy to serve it to me. If I need a place to sit and drink coffee for three hours, I’ve got one. I’ve lived other places, but the draw of the diner brings me back home.
One thing that bugs me about the general perception of Jersey is the accent everyone seems to think we have–that bastardized Bronx growl. FALLACY!!. Only people from certain counties sound like that, thank you very much. 
I’m from Essex County, home of both the Sopranos (although I don’t watch the show–because every time I’m late for something, it’s because there was a damned Sopranos film crew in my way) and the murder capital of the northeast (does Newark still hold that distinction?). Essex county people don’t talk like that. At least, I don’t, and none of my friends do, either. (Well, except that one from Bergen County.)
Sure, we’re obnoxious drivers, our car insurance rates would make Midas blanch, and our international airport smells strangely like waffles (Terminal C Only). Doesn’t mean it’s not a pretty nice place to live.
Ooooh yeah, diners!
My dad is from New Jersey, and both my parents lament the fact that here in Ohio there are no places like diners, where there are about 7.3 billion items on the menu and more items that are not. Needless to say, our trips to New Jersey are never complete without a meal at a diner.
And let me chime in as an out-of-state person (but frequent visitor) who likes New Jersey, both north and south.
I grew up in Jersey.
Most of it is, uh, very nice Especially Princeton, Hoboken, Montclair, the whole Jersey shore (except for having to pay for the beach)… However, like other people have said, most people know the Newark Airport, Elizabeth, Jersey City (which is getting better)…
Also, much of Northern Jersey lives in the shadow of NYC. Or at least it did for me, until I moved here.
People also complain that it’s too expensive here, but the truth is, the only parts that are pricy are the housing (because it’s waaaaay crowded up here in the north - the south is a different matter), and the car insurance. For everything else, such as gas, groceries, clothes, etc., I pay the same or less then my relatives in PA or out in the middle of nowhere western NY. I’ve gone to Connecticut and Illinois quite a few times for business, and I’m always shocked by how much things cost.
I also live by the rule of always avoiding any New Jersey city. Newark, Jersey City, Orange, Trenton, Camden… they’re all armpits. But we really don’t have very many of them, and everywhere else is just lovely.
Plus, you haven’t truely lived until you’ve eaten a fresh picked and perfectly ripe Jersey tomato. You can (and I have) eat them raw, just by themselves.
One reason for NJ’s unpleasant reputation stemmed from its confusing and inadequate road signage. In one of her columns, Ann Landers – ever the diplomat – set about defending NJ from its critics but even she could not deny that it had the worst road signs in the nation. IIRC, the problem was so acute and undeniable that several years back the state launched a new program to specifically solve this problem that, in theory, its DOT should have been correcting as a matter of course.
Perhaps the problem has been fixed – like I said this was years ago – but I have never noticed a big improvement. In any case, people who drive on “stupid” roads assume that a “stupid” state built them.
Born and raised in northern NJ (Passaic county) and I agree that most people who make jokes only either know the Newark airport side and along the Turnpike & Parkway or are NYers who wouldn’t say anything nice about us no matter what. (I love NYers, but I’m just saying . . .) Folks are shocked when I take them to my parents’ house in what is basically rural NJ. We have lakes, clean air, mountains and a state park. It’s quite pretty, actually. It’s not an awful place, at all. We even have the Giants, Jets and Liberty Island (home of the Statue of Liberty) to call our own, and let NY claim them, anyway. So we are pretty AND generous!
Parkway Exit 36 checking in.
To Summarize:
[ul][li]The crappy part of Jersey is really crappy, and it is[/li][list]
[li]Next to the airport[/li][li]Visible from the Turnpike[/li][li]Next to NYC[/li][/ul]
[li]The rest of the state is quite nice, and very diverse[/li][li]Diners are awesome.[/li][li]Signage sucks.[/li][li]We’re sorry about Bon Jovi[/list][/li]
If you got a problem with any of that, you tell me and I’ll make an appointment to kick your ass.
Well, I live in Newark. I honestly think it gets an unfair rap. It’s ugly, sure, but it’s not even on the top ten dangerous places to live. And there’s lots of good things about it. You’ve got NJPAC, the Ironbound, the Newark Museum. And there’s the Jimmy the Acroplis gyro truck right there on MLK, between NJIT and Rutgers. Best. Gyro. Ever.
I know people who are afraid to walk the streets of Newark in broad daylight so they never do. And guess what? They never get to realize that it’s Not So Bad After All. I refuse to be afraid of things I’ve never experienced.
I would never avoid Newark, East Orange, Orange, Irvington, or Elizabeth in a tour of NJ. The wimps and pussies can’t hack it those places, so you’re left with the salt of the earth.
(I’m one of those rare people that see see the beauty in urban blight, I suppose.)
Jug handles. Other than that, nothing.
Shoutouts to the Red Lion’s antipasto!
Whoa! I lived ten minutes from that restaurant.
Mrs. Casey1505 used to work there about 5-10 years ago, long before I met her. After we met, she wanted to go back to her house in Brick to get stuff and see her Dobermans (she was in the process of getting divorced). We had dinner there (the prime rib rocked, too!), hung out at the bar, and spent the night with her friends.
Beautiful area. Nice bar, too.