We are thinking of moving there, any fellow NGer lives there?
Does the mob still have any public presence in parts of Jersey ?
ie....people actually seeing people and knowing "those are mobsters".
Why would anyone move to New Jersey?
I find it interesting how the Feds will still spend months on end and who knows how much money to bust a mobster running some small time gambling racket.
Meanwhile, there's ethnic street gangs a few blocks over selling crack and murdering people and the Feds have zero interest. They're the local cops problem.
I always wondered if one of my former bosses (the owner) was in the mob. Italian guy from Jersey. I was the GM, but it noticeable the guy had 2 sets of records for the company. The actual sales reports and "his" sales reports. He slipped up a few times and I'd even noticed shady shit. Like people on the payroll who didn't work for the company, invoices for shit we never received, altered sales reports I saw a few times...etc.
I guess the fact he was Italian and from Jersey just makes you stereotype him as a mobster, but he was certainly using the company to hide income.
Born, raised, and lived most of my life in Union county. Its suburbia. As stated before there is a big difference between Elizabeth and Westfield.
To answer an ignorant question...people move to New Jersey for a few reasons:
1) people in new jersey don't sleep with their family members unlike some southern states *cough*
2) New Jersey has some of the best school systems in the country.
3) You have access to more things in a day trip than A LOT of other places ( Beach is less than an hour away, NYC ( Capital of the world ) is less than 2 hours away ) where else do you have so many of the best restaurants in the world, beaches, skiing snowboarding, all can be done in one day.
4) Taylor ham. Invented and for the most part solely sold out of the state.
All valid points.
The biggest downside to NJ is the cost of living, which for a supposed shitty state as many here like to believe is extremely high. North Jersey can be brutal with rent costs, taxes if you are a homeowner, and auto insurance blows.
As far as the corruption in the state goes, I would still say Illinois is even worse.
Then on the subject of the financial problems the state has, California is still infinitely worse.
Every state has its pluses and minuses, but a lot of people will put up with the minuses Jersey has because it has a ton to offer.
Going through the state on I-95 doesn't make you qualified to say anything about this state. If that was the only way I saw the state, I'd think it was pretty shitty too.
/Agreed.
I do not like when people stereotype the state and know little about it.
1) people in new jersey don't sleep with their family members unlike some southern states *cough*
We visited Cranford and Westfield yesterday. Cranford is beautiful with the river and canoe club, but I prefer not to be so close to the flood zone. Westfield has the cutest downtown in any suburb I have seen (I have been looking to relocate to a suburb from Brooklyn for over a year, anywhere from Long Island, to Upstate NY to all different counties in NJ). Plus, it has an express train to the Newark Penn.
But the most important thing for us is the school system. Both towns will have top notch public schools. I know WF has a reputation of being a rich town but with the housing market in the shithole, we can actually afford a decent 3/4 bedroom house there. We are very excited about it.
And I never thought I would *want* to live in NJ, but WF fits all my criteria for a suburb that's commutable to NYC (school->1 to1.5 hr commute->great community/facility->"reasonable" property tax).
We visited Cranford and Westfield yesterday. Cranford is beautiful with the river and canoe club, but I prefer not to be so close to the flood zone. Westfield has the cutest downtown in any suburb I have seen (I have been looking to relocate to a suburb from Brooklyn for over a year, anywhere from Long Island, to Upstate NY to all different counties in NJ). Plus, it has an express train to the Newark Penn.
And I never thought I would *want* to live in NJ, but WF fits all my criteria for a suburb that's commutable to NYC (school->1 to1.5 hr commute->great community/facility->"reasonable" property tax).
I had to buy engine coolant at a Wal-Mart in Kearny, NJ about a month ago. Now I'm not a regular Wal Mart shopper buy any means...but that store made any Wal Mart in Massachusetts look like Buckingham palace. And Kearny/Harisson smelled bad.
However, people do unfairly bash NJ. I'm sure it's a fine state to grow up in.
I used to live next door in North Arlington with a great view of NYC. Since property's at a premium there, every house is so damn close to each other.
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Yes the North Arlington NYC view is nice. I killed sometime at the North Arlington bowling alley.