HELP! I'm moving to New Jersey (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Porter]

I have just learned I am moving to New Jersey. Is there any upside to this? I heard the cities stink, the theaters stink, its 100x more costly living there than Texas and the houses are almost inaffordable. I know Ron lives there. Can I get your perspective Ron?

 

[Colin-H]

Wow. Sounds like you have a stereotypically negative view of NJ.

Positives:

beaches, skiing, the (insert whatever here) center of the world (i.e. NYC), farms, forests, lakes, etc. all within day trip distance.

cheap gas.

good public transportation.

there are many more. i will let others fill you in.


new jersey does not suck. new jersey is not the armpit of the usa.

 

[Howie D]

Which part of Jersey are you moving to? When flying into Newark it does not give you a great impression but what Colin says is true. As for housing, yeah, it's a bit more expensive than Texas but you can still find something.

 

[Scott L]

Cheap gas in Jersey?

What does suck about NJ is traveling through it. Paying for tolls, waiting in traffic and for the guy to gas up your car in the full serve stations.

Other than that the usual stereotypes of NJ are totally wrong. I lived there for about 7-8 years and of all the places we've lived (military family) our favorite was in NJ. We had the greenest grass, clean air, and a lake just passed our backyard. It isn't called the Garden State for nothing. The people there are great too imo. Just like nyc they're so much more full of life and energy than the dullness that is the DC metro area.

Of course NJ is also the first and only place I got jumped when I was a kid but don't let that scare you off.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

New Jersey is a great place to live, work and raise a family. Look outside of the stereotypes (and the dumb Kevin Smith films) and you'll find plenty of places to live that fit your needs.

 

[Scooter]

I HATE New Jersey and can not wait to move out!

In my half of NJ taxes are ridiculously high...everything is taxed, regulated and licenced to death!!! I have already filled out my Breathing Permit application in anticipation of that be required soon.

Once my son graduates from HS, which is 2004...I am outta here!!!!!!

 

[MikeDeVincenzo]

Scooter

NJ state taxes & gas taxes are some of the lowest in the nation.

The local property taxes can be quite high, but that also varies greatly from community to community.

Kevin

As for the high cost of living, that's partially due to NJ's proximity to New York City (where the cost of living is even higher). See the end of the post for more thoughts on this.

Couple of tips:

1. Try to find a community with low property taxes for its area (My town, Whippany, has the 2nd lowest property tax rate in Morris County)

2. Try to live as close as possible to your new worksite. The closer you live, the less stress you're going to have on your commute.

3. If you need to use one of the toll roads (Turnpike or Parkway), get an EZ-Pass as soon as possible. Its not a perfect system by any means, but they are working to get it up to snuff and it sure beats paying the more expensive full cash taxes.

4. Movie theaters in New Jersey are no different than any other state from what I've experienced. That is to say, in my opinion, they generally suck. However, there are some art-house theaters in Montclair (delightful city, and now has direct train service to New York, but expensive) that are pretty good. And of course, you can always go to New York and see just about any movie you can think of. (For mainstream stuff, I highly recommend the AMC 25 on 42nd Street)

5. Some of my favorite things about New Jersey:

1. The general strangeness and character of the place (see www.weirdnj.com for more details)

2. Diners (The Tick-Tock on Route 3 is a chrome masterpiece, but you'll find a good diner in just about any NJ community)

3. Easy access to New York

4. The Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton..also a very charming town, also very expensive.

5. WFMU Radio, 91.1, Jersey City, New Jersey. Rated the best radio station in America four years running by Rolling Stone, WFMU is truly bizzare and a great antidote to Clear Channel mass produced CRAP. You can listen on the web at www.wfmu.org (MP3 streams and archives of nearly every friggin' program)

6. Hoboken (Great city, a bit too yuppie, but at least it has the excellent Maxwell's restaurant and live music venue, and its got $1.50 PATH train service to New York, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hoboken is very expensive though -- see a pattern here?)

7. Tolerance. NJ is increidbly diverse, and I've found the populace to be much more tolerant of minorities, gays, etc. than much of the rest of the country, including, I must say, Texas. (I spent a few weeks in Tyler, Texas, visiting a friend, who spent his first five years in NJ, moved to Texas, then returned to NJ for college. He's never looked back.)

8. Scenic beauty. Yes, scenic beauty. Warren and Sussex Counties in particular, are quite beautiful.

9. Lots and lots and lots of good Italian and Chinese food.

10. Very few Wal-Marts


I could go on and on, but, believe me, NJ is a great place to live. Why do you think the housing costs are so high? Its supply and demand. And the number of people who want to live in New Jersey far exceed the supply. You've got to ask yourself, why is that?

 

[Jason Wilcox]

i'm in Lawrenceville and i couldn't agree with you more mike...

might i just stress the good pizza and bagels that can be found in jersey

 

[Marc S Kessler]

NJ is one of the most diverse states I know. North, central and south parts of the state are so different you cannot judge the state by seeing one part of it.
I grew up in Philly so I am familiar mostly with South Jersey but have been in every part as well as lived in Burlington Co. My home was on six wooded acres which is not what the average person imagines when they think of NJ.
Now that I live in Tennessee I miss being able to go to great restaurants and going to the "shore" or to the mountains, NYC or any other interesting destination within a 2 hour drive.

 

[Justin Lane]

Kevin,

I guess the question is where in New Jersey will you be moving? The stereotypical New Jersey has to do with the industry and area in the north near New Your City. Where I live in southern Jersey, it is almost like an entirely different world. It is primarily rural in south with a great deal of farming (fact: 2/3 of the world's eggplant is grown in NJ). One benefit is that gas is generally cheaper here and they pump it for you. Let us know some more specifics about where you will be relocated, and we can give you a better idea of what to expect.

J

 

[Scott L]

Do New Jersians really consider other people pumping their gas a benefit? I admit I didn't give it much thought when I was living there but after I moved and later went through NJ traveling it was such as hassle. 2-3 people working all of the pumps and even though you were full you had to wait for the guy to come over and take the pump out of your car, give him your credit card/cash, and of course yatta yatta yatta...

 

[Howie D]

I'll add that I grew up in Hunterdon County which, when growing up, was primarily farmland. Still an hour or so drive to New York, the shore or skiing. Again, don't get your impression by the area close to NYC. I'm near there now and can't wait to move to something a little more "country" like.

 

[Jay H]

If you hate NJ tolls, don't go through Delaware... Something like $5 of tolls for 16 miles of I-95. (yes there is a way around them but not for the general traffic)...

I don't mind NJ and I live in northern NJ and about 40 miles to NYC. I bike to work through the woods, I can bike almost anywhere without spending half a day, I have about 4 major grocerie stores all within 5 miles of my house, banks, drug stores, etc all within biking distance without being a half day trip. There are alot of small mountain bike parks within a half hour's drive, and although there is always access issues to deal with, the trails are fairly empty if you get there early and the trails are all very technical and tough. Same goes for hiking, the catskills are 2 hours away, the ADKs are 4 hours away but there are day hikes aplenty near me. We finally got some snow this year so I was able to go snowshoeing without having to go to the catskills this year.
All that and being 40 minutes from NYC via car or train.

Like others have mentioned, property taxes generally are very high, urban sprawl sucks depending on where in NJ you are and you can't pump your own gas. I prefer to pump my own (maybe once a month?) but I can't complain about the cheap gas. And car insurance generally stinks. (NJ Manufacturers is very good to me though)

Jay

 

[PeteyG]

NJ gets such a bad rap - it is a beautiful place (once you get off the NJ Turnpike!!)

I grew up in the Princeton area and wouldn't trade it for the world. Living in NYC makes me truly appreciate growing up in NJ with green grass, fresh air, a car, parks, etc. My wife and I are already thinking about moving back!!

4. The Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton..also a very charming town, also very expensive.

Mike I couldn't agree with you more - I have yet to find a store comparable in my opinion (and that includes all the shops on St. Marks Place!!)

Don't be so down on NJ - it's a great place with plenty to do - good luck on the move.

Pete

 

[Don_Houle]

Right on Mike! I couldn't agree with you more!

I was born and raised in a small town in south central Massachusetts. When I began planning for my move to New Jersey in 1994, I was dismayed.

My only experience with NJ to that point had been driving down along the Turnpike! Thoughts of living near the airport with oil refineries belching smoke and fumes did not make me happy! I was also a little put off by the high cost of living - particularly rents - in the area.

However, after a short, but very busy search, I managed to find a room for rent in a house on a lake in the Rockaway/Dover area that was really inexpensive. After a few months, I really learned to love NJ. I was surprised by the amount of beautiful natural areas and by the sheer amount of things to do in this state!

I've been here for almost 9 years now and I find that I really enjoy living in NJ!

Good luck!

 

[Matt_R]

I grew up in Ridgewood NJ my entire life... 3 years ago moved to Wyckoff a couple towns over. EXPENSIVE EXPENSIVE area to live. Can't really find a house in these towns for less than 400k -- HOWEVER the school systems are top-notch, and the police/fire and other municipal servies are excellent. Great place to raise a family. But for a young single guy for me time to move to Hoboken!

 

[Sam Posten]

NJ Rocks. I live in Monmouth county, I'm 5 minutes from the beach, an hour from NYC, an hour from AC, an hour from Philly, and 2 hours from my deer huntin' spot =) My commute is 7 minutes.

If you judge NJ by newark, jersey city, hoboken, you are seeing 1/1000th of NJs attraction.

And what Scooter doesnt tell ya is he has a decent house in a gorgeous neighborhood, hell his neighbors DIG IT when the guy puts up a 30' wide screen in his back yard and has 200 of his closest friends come over to watch the Pod Race. =)

Sam

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Can't really find a house in these towns for less than 400k

Around here that barely covers an apartment-conversion condo... Houses start around $600k. NJ sounds cheap.

 

[MikeDeVincenzo]

Dennis

Wow. It appears that while the dot-com bubble might have burst in Silicon Valley, the housing bubble remains quite bouyant and bouncy.

That's cra-zee

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

The prices in the expensive houses have gone quite soft around here, but the bottom end of the market is still appreciating. A $2Million house from 2 years ago is now a $1.4Million house, but my $400k house is now a $435k house...