The Jersey Stigma

New Jersey New York City

What is it about them that makes you think they are so bad? Is it their propensity for being bad drivers? Is it because their Summer crowd down south made the wrong kind of splash into reality television infamy? Or is it because they have the misfortune of being that area just beyond New York City?

For whatever reason, the state of New Jersey gets a bad rap in a way that’s not whole-heartedly confounded. They are just an extension of a greater culture that extends from Jersey to Philly and all the way up to parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island. House music probably isn’t popular anywhere else in the world besides these areas outside of obscure parts of Eastern Europe and random Asian countries.

In all honesty, New Jersey as a whole is an upper tier state with taxes to match. Sky-high real estate values make it a difficult place to inhabit and while they might have funny accents, most of the surrounding NYC areas are really just as nice. Hoboken is a trendy small city/relative New York City suburb (essentially) that has real curb appeal. It’s tough to think of a city that comes to mind when thinking of this state, but that’s one to keep in mind.

Much like connecting state Delaware, there’s an obvious divide with regard to residency. Like Slower Delaware, the South Jersey is a whole different beast than the ritzy, well-connected North Jersey that still manages to churn out unfortunate reality television (i.e. anything with The Real Housewives of New Jersey). But it’s not like they were terribly trashy in public (like some people).

new-jersey-shore-beach_only_picYes, the Garden State is less synonymous with their namesake indie emo feature-length film starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman and rather is more famous for its association with Jersey Shore idiots who were only partially Italian and the worst kind of whores (shameless).

While New Jersey isn’t the prettiest (outside of a few rolling hills connected by malls), it’s not quite the ugliest. And while it may be difficult to buy land, there’s still welcoming places down on the shore and over in Atlantic City that make a worthwhile trip (through not to) not ridiculously laughable.

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