Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Why do people HATE New Jersey?

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KLD it.


I personally think it is a gorgeous, diverse state. Yeah we have our slummy parts, but who doesnt? People fail to see the miles and miles of gorgeous beaches, farmlads, acres of pine trees, and the Appalachin Mountains. Plus, your never, ever, more then an hours drive away from anything you want. It has 4 of the richest counties in the country, and the shopping capitol of the world!

Yet there is never any shortage of people ready to say they hate New Jersey, that it smells, it's dirty, and it's dangerous, all simply not true! I hate when people from PA try to say "we should blow up NJ and give PA a beach, it smells when ever we cross the border." (to them I like to say, because you don't know anything better then cow sh*t)

My question is, why do people hate NJ? and for those of you who talk trash about it, have you ever actually been here? or past the the highways you have travelled on?



Answer
I moved to New Jersey from Virginia about ten years ago. I was surprised at all of the beautiful countryside, the mountains, the forests, and all of the beautiful places. But in general, my experience in NJ was generally negative compared to other places.

For example, In Virginia I lived at the beach. I used to spend a lot of time at the ocean. In New Jersey, I had to pay every time I wanted to go to the beach. I was shocked when I first heard that and I'm still shocked ten years later. It's a huge turn-off when you're used to going to any beach you want on either coast without even considering a fee.

Also, the cost of living is a total shock unless you're coming from DC, Boston, or parts of California. You can easily pay $350K for a two bedroom cape cod if you don't want to commute for an hour. I had 4 kids so two bedrooms didn't cut it. And my wife raises our kids, so we had only one income, meaning $350K was out of the question, yet we needed at least 4 bedrooms, not two.

And finally, I had a hell of a time whenever I wanted pizza after midnight, people in stores and in traffic were generally unfriendly to strangers in comparison to most of the country, prices on dining, furniture, and clothing was much higher, there was no local broadcast news - only NYC, or Philly in the south, I could go for miles and never find a convenience store if I didn't know where to look, NJ vehicle inspections suck, the major highways had tolls, and for all the talk about being close to NYC culture, most people in NJ rarely ever went to a show in the city or any of the other cultural events.

I recently moved to what most NJ residents would consider a nightmare. It's a large midwestern city. I have beautiful manicured boulevards, I'm in a beautiful new house that would cost over $1 million dollars in NJ, I have more restaurants than NJ ever offered, at a much lower price, my property taxes are 1/3, I can take my kids to NFL, NBA, etc. without traffic and without hurting my pocketbook, I get almost as many national performance acts at half the cost, food is cheaper, clothes are cheaper, the school system is the best in the state, and people are FRIENDLY. Kids ride their bikes in the streets and neighbors sit out front in the evenings and share their lives. People are walking their dogs and stopping to meet or catch up with others.

For me, NJ was a stepping stone. I'll miss friends, I'll miss some beautiful countryside, but otherwise, compared to many other places I didn't find it a good place to live.

Best place to live in New York, NY for young family?




502EGL


We will be a mid to late 20's family with one kid and one dog relocating from FT. Benning, Ga. to New York, NY area. Wife is an accountant, I will seek employment with NYPD. Looking for a place that is relatively safe, good schools, house prices that match our jobs, backyard would be nice. Any help would be appreciated.


Answer
Unless your wife, as an accountant, makes buckets of money -- you can forget about Manhattan. The average one-bedroom apartment in a decent neighborhood is $2,000/mo rent. If you're looking to buy -- it's about 1,100 per square feet -- about 1 million for less than 1,000 square feet of space, plus taxes, maintenance and utilities. Ridiculously expensive.

Great alternatives to rent or buy are:

In Queens: Forest Hills, Astoria, Long Island City and Flushing.

Forest Hills is beautiful, extremely safe, there's plenty to do, it's only a short 25 minute train ride to midtown Manhattan, and it's very affordable to buy and rent.

Astoria is just across the bridge from Manhattan (a 5 minute train ride to Manhattan). Esthetically it's not much and it is pricier than most places in Queens because it is so close to the city.

Flushing is an Asian neighborhood and is pretty up-and-coming in terms of development. New things are springing up there left and right, but I certainly would not want to raise a child there.

Long Island City is very nice and culturally diverse. It's relatively cheap and you're pretty close to the city (only one train stop away). The only problem is that you will have to rely on the 7 train to get there (which is not very reliable) and it's the only train. If service goes out, you're cabbing it.

If I were you, I would focus on Forest Hills. When NYC was being developed they chose Forest Hills to be like a park with lots of trees and grass (which is great for kids to go and play). It's very family-focused, and there's plenty to do for everyone. There's a huge park (Flushing Meadow Park) with a lake in the center of it where you can rent paddle boats). Flushing Meadow Park has a few tennis courts, a basketball court, a few playgrounds, a place to have a picnic and BBQ, and there's also a place to rent bikes to bike around. It's about a 10 minute walk from Forest Hills. In Forest Hills, they have playgrounds, lost of places to walk, a Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, lots of shopping, etc. It's pretty awesome.

Good luck!




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