New Jersey & You - Perfect Together (New Jersey)

Member Name: davidwicks99

Product:	New Jersey
Date:	11/01/01 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: diverse place, lots to do, great people

Disadvantages: far away

New Jersey & You - Perfect Together. This was the New Jersey's tourist slogan for several years. Sure it seems hokey, but I think it is fairly accurate.

New Jersey may not seem like the place for everyone, but it does have something for everyone. It's more than just Newark Airport, although that is all that many people get to see. It is a diverse state with a diverse people.

I had the opportunity to live in New Jersey for an extended time during the late 80's and early 90's due to a position I had taken there with my firm. At first I was a little wary of living in a place that was nicknamed "the armpit of New York." If you don't get the reference, look at a map and you will see that the state of New Jersey fits up against the state of New York (where New York City resides) like a stick of deoderant rubbing against an armpit. However, I found my stay in New Jersey to be quite wonderful.

Let me begin by stating that I lived in a lovely little town called Princeton. Princeton is near Trenton, the state capital. The entire area is full of historical landmarks commemorating the revolutionary war. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a house that is from the 18th century that George Washington didn't sleep in - he certainly got around! But more than that, Princeton is home to Princeton University, where Einstein worked for many years. It is also a lovely place with coffee shops, bookstores, community theatre, and cute little black squirrels. Princeton is also a short train ride away to either Philadelphia or New York City. In fact, wherever you are in New Jersey, you can reach either Philadelphia or New York City in a relatively short amount of time. Thus, you have the ability to gain all the culture and shops of big cities without having to live in them.

Now, this is not to say that New Jersey is without conveniences because it certainly is. New Jersey has an innumerable amount of sho
pping malls. Every few miles on just about any road you travel there is a different mall. It's simply amazing the number of stores that are throughout this area. And they have everything imaginable at prices that are much less expensive than in New York or Philadelphia or London for that matter (but I don't think you'll come out ahead if you go all the way to New Jersey just for a bit of shopping!). What one should keep a lookout for in New Jersey are places called "outlets." These "outlets" are essentially places that sell clothes or other retail items straight from the manufacturer so there isn't a mark up cost. You can pick up many deals there, but they get very crowded on weekends as all the people from New York City and Philadelphia travel into New Jersey to shop there.

New Jersey is also home to beautiful beaches along the coasts. In southern Jersey, especially, the beaches are gorgeous. The towns I visited there include Wildwood, Cape May, Atlantic City, and Stone Harbor. Some of the beaches are free, but most require the purchase of a beach tag for use. That costs about 10 American dollars for an adult. Wildwood has a large boardwalk with many amusement rides and games. Atlantic City of course is well known for its casinos. I particularly enjoyed the Taj Mahal (which was quite new when I went there). Most of the casino's have themes to them and they all provide free drinks, cheap food, and a variety of shows. One word of caution: Atlantic City is not the nicest of places. It's more than a bit dodgey so use your head and don't venture far from the casinos (which are quite safe) late at night.

New Jersey is also home to the Poconos mountains. While they aren't like the Alps or the Rockies, they are still decent and very affordable places to ski. Due to the weather in New Jersey, you can generally only go skiing in the winter months. In the summer there isn't enough c
old air to keep the snow that the resorts create or that is natural to the mountain.

Which brings me to another point, the weather. New Jersey has all of the seasons and nothing too extreme. It has warm summers, cool autumns with the changing leaves, cold winters with enough snow to cover the ground, but not so much to immobilize the roads, and glorious springs with the whole state in bloom.

The people in New Jersey are also lovely. Almost everyone I met was of a pleasant and helpful demeanor. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe it is something in the water there. It is also one of the more diverse populations in America with its proximity to New York, yet there don't seem to be as many racial and ethnic conflicts as there are in other similarly diverse areas. I really liked how diverse the school was for my son. There were children of several different nationalities there, including Mongolian! (Apparently New Jersey has the largest population of Mongolians outside of Mongolia and China!) I think that there is a lot that one can learn from a diverse group of people and that is why I emphasize this as a strong point for the place.

In general, New Jersey often gets a bad reputation as being a dirty place with lots of industrial waste and being "that place between New York and Philadelphia." But let me tell you something! New Jersey is a wonderful place with many things to do and see, a great climate, proximity to large cities, and a great population. If you go to the states and don't spend some time in New Jersey, you are really missing out. In the summer go to the beaches in southern Jersey. In the winter, head to the mountains in the northern area. And at all times, hit the shops!

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