New Jersey gets a very bad reputation largely because most visitors sole experience with it is travelling through the RT 1/ RT 95 corridor (New York City to Philadelphia - Hudson, Essex, Union, Middlesex, Mercer, Burlington and Camden counties)). That corridor is the most congested, built up, dirty and liberal part of the state. Once you get a few miles away from that, north or south, most of the state is quite different,
Northern NJ as you travel west becomes much less crowded, more rural and with beautiful scenery. Politically it becomes very conservative (e.g. Scott Garret) (Morris, Warren, Sussex, Hunterdon, Somerset).
South Jersey also is much, much less crowded as you move further south. Large portions of the Pinelands have population densities of less than 10 people per square mile and in some areas you can drive for miles without seeing another person or hitting a paved road (very unusual for the mid-Atlantic region). The landscape isn’t nearly as pretty as northwest New Jersey because it is mostly flat. Politically South Jersey is fairly republican along the shore (Monmouth, Ocean, Cape May) but trends Democrat inland (Salem, Cumberland, Gloucester, Camden, Burlington).
It is one of the richest states in the nation and three of it’s counties are consistently in the wealthiest Top 10-20 counties of the United States. Gas is cheap.....cheaper than many surrounding states where you have to pump it yourself. The weather is usually nice (except the past 2 years. It typically doesn’t get too hot, too cold, too rainy or too snowy.
The whole state is full of American history, especially Revolutionary War stuff. On my commute to work (which is pretty long) I drive past 3 of George Washington’s headquarters houses, 3 major Revolutionary War battle sites, Albert Einstein’s house and dozens more places important to the American experience...personally I think that is really cool.
A good chunk of what people believe about NJ simply isn’t true. It isn’t all built up. You can own guns (I live within 6 miles of three gun stores). It’s not covered by pollution. Everything is not unionized. The mob doesn’t control everything. People don’t talk like “dis” or say “forgettaboudit”. Most people do not live near either a turnpike or parkway “exit”.
What is true about NJ is that the politics stink. The crowded liberal areas overwhelm the more conservative rural areas in almost any statewide election. That’s how we get/got Menendez, Booker, Lautenberg, Corzine, Florio etc. Taxes are very high but also pretty high in several surrounding states and the gun laws are way too restrictive. Liberals ruined a good state and are intent on continuing the downward trend.
NJ is far from perfect...it has a lot of problems, most of which were caused by politicians and lazy people who just want something for nothing. However it isn’t that bad a place...depending on where you live.
I’m surprised no one here noticed the timing of this hit piece: NJ guber Chris Christie just announced. The article claims Omugabe’s socialist dystopia is the most admired state. The urban media has their 500 days of election propaganda queued up.
It is one of the richest states in the nation
I just wanted to add that, because of the level of income, the federal gov't collects far more in taxes from New Jerseyans than it gives to NJ.