# Why does New Jersey get a bad rap?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 30, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259 "2020-01-30T23:39:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CastletonSnob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/1 "2020-01-30T23:39:13Z")
New Jersey is often the butt of jokes, usually about how bad it smells. Why does it get such a bad rap? Is it really that bad?
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/2 "2020-01-30T23:50:48Z")
Like most states (all?), New Jersey has some beautiful areas and some incredibly ugly areas. I suspect the bad rap comes from two factors, 1) the part along the NJ Turnpike is heavily industrialized and ugly/smelly, which is where a great many people get their impressions, and 2) people in NYC who like to feel superior and smug by making fun of everything west of the Hudson. New Jersey just happens to be the first thing they get to going west. (they’ll also make fun of Chicago, the Midwest, and California)
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/3 "2020-01-31T00:05:40Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> Like most states (all?), New Jersey has some beautiful areas and some incredibly ugly areas. I suspect the bad rap comes from two factors, 1) the part along the NJ Turnpike is heavily industrialized and ugly/smelly, which is where a great many people get their impressions, and 2) people in NYC who like to feel superior and smug by making fun of everything west of the Hudson. New Jersey just happens to be the first thing they get to going west. (they’ll also make fun of Chicago, the Midwest, and California)
Spot on. Anyone landing in Newark airport and going into NYC is treated to a scene out of an apocalyptic wasteland.
…and Camden.
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### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/4 "2020-01-31T00:06:55Z")
I suspect a lot of people only see the area around Newark Airport before heading into NYC, and that’s the part they get their impressions from. And that part is industrialized and smelly, like described above.
ETA: Ninja’ed by southern Yankee who pretty much said what I did.
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### Author:  [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/5 "2020-01-31T00:09:28Z")
> [@CastletonSnob](#):
>
> New Jersey is often the butt of jokes, usually about how bad it smells. Why does it get such a bad rap? Is it really that bad?
Apparently, there is a rich and long history of making New Jersey the butt of jokes. Benjamin Franklin [wrote articles on the foibles of the citizens of New Jersey](https://nypost.com/2012/11/04/how-new-jersey-became-a-punchline/)and is quoted as saying “['New Jersey is like a barrel tapped at both ends](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-does-new-jersey-get-no-respect/)”.
If I had to take a guess, New Jersey is the little brother stuck between Philadelphia and New York City. Once given the role of the rural bumpkin state by the big brothers, it stuck (certainly not helped by the fact that, for a long time, New York was the major source of popular culture like songs, stories, and jokes that influenced the attitudes of folks across the entire continent) and any flaw was magnified while accomplishments were not as publicized.
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/6 "2020-01-31T00:10:39Z")
Here are a few old threads if you’re interested.
> **[Where did the jokes about New Jersey being a horrible place come from?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=537743)**
>
> I’ve noticed a trend in American media to make fun of New Jersey (typically treating it as hell on Earth). How did this come about? We don’t have any animosity towards its namesake over here in Britain at least.
> **[What's up with New Jersey? Why is it the butt of so many jokes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=397083)**
>
> It seems that New Jersey doesn’t have a very good reputation. Why? is it too close to New York to be nothing more than a bedroom community? is it really as mobbed-up as some of the stereotypes suggest? is it pretty much urbanised, or does it have...
> **[What's wrong with New Jersey?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246921)**
>
> 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?
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### Author:  [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/7 "2020-01-31T02:21:12Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> Like most states (all?), New Jersey has some beautiful areas and some incredibly ugly areas. I suspect the bad rap comes from two factors, 1) the part along the NJ Turnpike is heavily industrialized and ugly/smelly, which is where a great many people get their impressions, and 2) people in NYC who like to feel superior and smug by making fun of everything west of the Hudson. New Jersey just happens to be the first thing they get to going west. (they’ll also make fun of Chicago, the Midwest, and California)
As so wonderfully symbolized by the _New Yorker_.
[ ](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105185042im_/http://www.etapes.com/files/Image/Eve/steinberg.jpg)
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### Author:  [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/8 "2020-01-31T02:39:58Z")
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxirs7VGrGU](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxirs7VGrGU)
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/9 "2020-01-31T02:40:50Z")
It smells bad, its drivers are lousy, much of it is a cesspool of corruption (hello, Bob Menendez) and my brother-in-law is from New Jersey.
Some of the northernmost part is kind of pretty.
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### Author:  [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/10 "2020-01-31T03:44:21Z")
If Einstein was such a genius, how come he spent the last half of his life in New Jersey?
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/11 "2020-01-31T03:49:53Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#):
>
> Spot on. Anyone landing in Newark airport and going into NYC is treated to a scene out of an apocalyptic wasteland.
>
> …and Camden.
What’s the difference?
Most people associate New Jersey with what I call “the Soprano drive” from the opening theme of the show. Basically coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel, past Weehawken, onto I-95, against a backdrop of industrial sights like Newark Airport, the Pulasky Skyway, Port Elizabeth container fields and whatever shithole towns Tony drives through before ending up at his McMansion.
Shows and films like The Jersey Shore, Garden State, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, any Kevin Smith movie, and for that matter, The Sopranos, do little to dissuade the notion that the Garden State is full of fuck-ups, dumb guidos and a-holes.
The Meadowlands looks like the Dead Marshes from Lord of the Rings…if Sauren decided to build a bunch of elevated interstate highways, shopping malls and a giant football stadium in them.
New Jersey, in reality, is a very crowded state, traffic is terrible, and it’s very expensive to live there.
That said, there are lots of very scenic places in NJ once you get a little past the Meadowlands.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/12 "2020-01-31T11:45:38Z")
[Moderating]
There’s not really a factual answer to this, so let’s move it to IMHO.
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### Author:  [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/13 "2020-01-31T11:50:39Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> Like most states (all?), New Jersey has some beautiful areas and some incredibly ugly areas. I suspect the bad rap comes from two factors, 1) the part along the NJ Turnpike is heavily industrialized and ugly/smelly, which is where a great many people get their impressions, and 2) people in NYC who like to feel superior and smug by making fun of everything west of the Hudson. New Jersey just happens to be the first thing they get to going west. (they’ll also make fun of Chicago, the Midwest, and California)
Don’t forget upstate. They’ll also make fun of upstate. Bunch of yokels with their suits from Sears and their gingham dresses. Upstate is anything north of the Harlem River. Anything north of the Tappan Zee Bridge is so far above the Arctic Circle it might as well be Canada.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/14 "2020-01-31T12:07:53Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#):
>
> Don’t forget upstate. They’ll also make fun of upstate. Bunch of yokels with their suits from Sears and their gingham dresses. Upstate is anything north of the Harlem River. Anything north of the Tappan Zee Bridge is so far above the Arctic Circle it might as well be Canada.
Yeah, my wife’s family is from that area. They are super yokel out there. But people don’t think of that region when they think of “New Jersey”. Culturally, it’s closer to Eastern Pennsylvania outside of Philly (EPOOP?) or Upstate New York (basically anything north of White Plains).
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### Author:  [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/15 "2020-01-31T12:22:58Z")
I think it’s because the Giants once ruined the Patriot’s ‘Perfect Season’. Also that the Jets didn’t.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/16 "2020-01-31T12:30:52Z")
For the record the smell that most people talk about doesn’t exist anymore. The oil refinery in Elizabeth NJ along the Turnpike and close to Newark airport used to be the worst smell in the world. The plants still exist but whether it’s better technology or different processes the smell hasn’t been there in decades. I used to hate driving through there when we were heading to visit relatives on Staten Island. Now I don’t notice anything when I’m driving through there. Who knows, if they roll back regulations enough maybe it will come back.
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### Author:  [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/17 "2020-01-31T12:40:18Z")
To echo many of the folks up thread, anyone who has been to Newark would not be asking this question.
This is what always bothered me about Cory Booker. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna vote for a presidential candidate who’s claim to fame is Newark. Dude, you do realize lots of us have been to Newark, right?
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/18 "2020-01-31T13:31:48Z")
I spent 12 years driving 18 wheelers and here’s something I noticed about New Jersey. Most of the state is a peninsula and you have to drive over a bridge to enter or leave the state. Here’s the thing… you can enter NJ for free, but there is always a toll if you want to leave. Because no one would go there if they had to pay admission but they’d be happy to pay to leave it.
There are a lot of refineries and other chemical plants across from Delaware. One blew up once and it shook the heck out of my Jr High, which was maybe a mile or so inland on the Delaware side from the Delaware River.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/19 "2020-01-31T14:09:04Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#):
>
> I spent 12 years driving 18 wheelers and here’s something I noticed about New Jersey. Most of the state is a peninsula and you have to drive over a bridge to enter or leave the state. Here’s the thing… you can enter NJ for free, but there is always a toll if you want to leave. Because no one would go there if they had to pay admission but they’d be happy to pay to leave it.
> …
For the record, this is not actually accurate. There are several free bridges out of NJ and of course the northern border. But it makes for another fun joke at least.
New Jersey is very crowded. We are the most crowded state in fact. He have more people, more cars and more roads per square mile than any other state. We are also among the wealthiest state (though with some of the worst cities), best educated states and most expensive states. North East Jersey is urbanized. Cities & dense sprawl. Central Jersey, Northwest Jersey, South Jersey are really nice place. Most of NJ is a day trip from the beach. That is pretty great. Loads of airport & highways make travel easy.
The pine barrens is a vast super-rural area.
More sports teams within 90 minutes than anywhere in the US.
Cape May is an incredible resort town.
World Class amusement park in Great Adventure in mostly rural Jackson Township.
Easy trips to NYC & Philly (OK, maybe Philly isn’t a selling point)
Appalachian Trail
Skiing, not great skiing, but skiing.
Horse Tracks
Horse Farms
Delicious Orchards.
Decent Mass Transit though only really good for getting to NYC, Philly & DC.
We’re down to just 113 superfund sites now.
#5 for Solar Panel Power Generation and the 3 of the 4 above us get a lot more sun.
We’re the best and the worst of states.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-new-jersey-get-a-bad-rap/847259/20 "2020-01-31T14:27:54Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> Easy trips to NYC & Philly (OK, maybe Philly isn’t a selling point)
Yeah, Camden and Wilmington, DE are both notorious shitholes, and deservedly so, but that’s primarily, if not entirely, Philadelphia’s fault.
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