Jersey City Folks

sarahufl · January 2014

Tell me about Jersey City!! FI and I currently live in Manhattan and are trying to be realistic about our ability to stay here long term. Looking for more space without having to spend the astronomical sums of money it costs to stay on the Upper West Side where we are now. Currently exploring the burbs and JC is next on the list.

He works in Chelsea and I work in Morningside Heights, so JC is probably a better option commute-wise until Metro North moves over to the west side.

MairePoppy · January 2014

You would probably get responses on the New Jersey board.

http://forums.theknot.com/categories/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey

JCbride2015 · January 2014

Yippee-- I live in Jersey City and absolutely love it! @Swazzle might have some input too, and I'm sure I've seen other mentions of JC on these boards.

So, I could probably write a book about why I love it here and you may want to PM me for more details lest I talk off the whole board's ear. I commute to Morningside Heights, and Fi walks to work at a financial firm in the Newport neighborhood of JC. Things to love about the commute: if you live near a PATH station, the West Side is basically 10 minutes away. We live within a ten minute walk of Exchange Place or Grove Street, so I can be at WTC in a 3-min train ride, or the West Village within 15 minutes. Rent obviously gets higher the closer you are to a PATH station.

But the rent: it is higher than anywhere else in NJ but lower than Manhattan and most areas of Brooklyn. I don't mind oversharing, so I'll tell you our rundown: we pay about $2400 for a large one-bedroom in a beautiful, full-time managed apt building (you can find one-beds for less in other areas of downtown). We have a pool, gym, club rooms, garage parking included, a fireplace, balcony, and great appliances: dishwasher, W/D in the unit. My NYC dwelling friends call my apt a palace. And we don't need the parking spot so we rent it out for $160/mo: so effectively our rent is about $2240/mo. We also were looking in the UWS before settling here, and that rent could have bought us a decent studio on the UWS. Here we have lots of room to stretch out and enjoy a large beautiful apartment.

Neighborhood character! It's great! JC is a large place and so you need to really know your neighborhoods. The downtown is getting very gentrified and has lots of amazing restaurants and night life. Our neighborhood is Paulus Hook-- if you know where the huge Colgate clock is when you look at JC from Manhattan, we are behind the clock. The waterfront is gorgeous, Liberty State Park is amazing and very easy to run/bike to from our 'hood, and there are delicious restaurants and bars on every corner. Not as much night life as NYC, but plenty to keep you busy and Manhattan is an easy PATH ride away.

JC is also really huge into street fairs and farmers markets. There is a farmers market happening literally every day of the week somewhere in the city during season. Our neighborhood has one every Saturday from May-Dec. The Grove St. PATH station has one twice a week after work until 8pm, so you can actually get there.

I'd say the only real downside is that you are sort of in an awkward spot between not wanting to drive anywhere, but sort of needing a car for certain things. We have the PATH and the light rail, which is basically a trolley system in the street. But Target is a few blocks from the light rail, and the local grocery stores are either ghetto, or really expensive gourmet shops. Traffic is annoying because we have the Holland Tunnel bifurcating the northern part of the city. It's totally possible to have a car (or go without a car, if you use the PATH to commute) but it gets a little annoying.

All in all, I love JC. We moved here initially because it was the middle ground between Fi's old job and my law school. But now that we've been here, and survived Sandy here, I think we actually will not move to Manhattan even once we can afford it. Our money goes farther and we really love our neighborhood.

One last piece of advice: do NOT live in Hoboken. It has a lot of hype right now, but it's basically a frat party that somehow turned into a town without a college. Loud at all hours of the night, no parking anywhere, and orange porcupine-heads running around. It's a fun place to take the light rail to and go out on a weekend, but not someplace to live. Plus it's crazy expensive compared to JC, so at that point you may as well live in Manhattan.

PM me if you want any more details or if you end up looking at specific neighborhoods. I love it here!

RissAnn1970 · January 2014

JC, if you didn't work in Morningside Heights, I'd think you were an attorney friend of mine who also lives in Jersey City & is planning a wedding!

She adores Jersey City too. As a Bergen County girl who lives in a house on 1.24 acres with a forest in my backyard, I could never stand it, but I learned when I lived in Brooklyn for law school that as much as I love the city & could hang out there every night of the week, I can't live in a city.

With Jersey City specifically, it's imperative anyone moving there really does pay attention to neighborhoods. Like NY, it's a real city with both beautiful areas, especially the brownstones along the river, and slums. I've spent too much time at the Hudson County Courthouse, so I've seen the good & the crud.

I will disagree with JC and say that Hoboken is very nice. It's definitely a young city, so you just have to know what you like. But there's a lot there in terms of restaurants & night life & shopping & festivals too. My friend, who's in her late 30s, has a condo there & loves it. Weehawken is another decent option, especially if the ferry would be good for your commute.

I will also say that unless you really never intend to leave the city areas, you really need a car in NJ. Our mass transit to NY is good, but within the state it's less than stellar. Getting anywhere in NJ without a car is a bitch (though so's Jersey City traffic).

pinkcow13 · January 2014

JCBride2014, your apartment sounds amazing! We live in Chelsea now and both work in midtown - we pretty much walk to work. We do not pay a lot for rent because FI was able to move into my apartment - which my parents own and let me live in when they moved. For the location, our rent is a steal. But we are only going to be able to live here until maybe 2015 or so, and at that point we are going to have to hunt again.

FI wants to buy a house, but I do not want to live in the burbs, I'm too much of a city girl. So maybe at that point Jersey City would be a good option that we would need to seriously explore. We also love BK, but the rent in JC sounds like it's comparable to neighborhoods further out such as Bay Ridge [which I love, I used to live there], and I would love to be closer to the city.

sarahufl · January 2014

Wow, such nice reviews! Thanks, ladies

Here is the thing. I love, love, love living in Manhattan but I am most decidedly NOT a city person. If it was up to me, I would just leave the area all together, but FI has a great job here and his whole family is nearby, so it really makes sense for us to stay here. We have good jobs and a lot of friends, so leaving makes me cringe a bit. I am dying for a house, space, closets- but I love not having a car and being able to walk places. Who knows? Too many decisions!

We drove around Westchester the other day and while it is very nice, there just doesn't seem to be a ton to do there. I want to be able to walk to stores, etc. JC sounds nice and like you get a smidge more space than you do here.

Cookie Pusher · January 2014

JCBride2014 said:
One last piece of advice: do NOT live in Hoboken. It has a lot of hype right now, but it's basically a frat party that somehow turned into a town without a college. Loud at all hours of the night, no parking anywhere, and orange porcupine-heads running around. It's a fun place to take the light rail to and go out on a weekend, but not someplace to live. Plus it's crazy expensive compared to JC, so at that point you may as well live in Manhattan.

Hoboken has a college - Stevens. You know how hard those engineers like to par-tay!

I live further west in Jersey than @JCBride2014 does (west side of Union county), in a super nice suburb. I grew up splitting my time between NYC and NJ, but there was no way I could afford to live in any non-ghetto urban area when I graduated college. I have a lot of friends who moved to JC because they got jobs in the city, and many of them stayed because they loved it so much. It does come down to what neighborhood you end up in, though, so definitely do research before you commit yourself to anything.

HobokensFury · January 2014

Cookie Pusher said:

JCBride2014 said:
One last piece of advice: do NOT live in Hoboken. It has a lot of hype right now, but it's basically a frat party that somehow turned into a town without a college. Loud at all hours of the night, no parking anywhere, and orange porcupine-heads running around. It's a fun place to take the light rail to and go out on a weekend, but not someplace to live. Plus it's crazy expensive compared to JC, so at that point you may as well live in Manhattan.

Hoboken has a college - Stevens. You know how hard those engineers like to par-tay!
I live further west in Jersey than @JCBride2014 does (west side of Union county), in a super nice suburb. I grew up splitting my time between NYC and NJ, but there was no way I could afford to live in any non-ghetto urban area when I graduated college. I have a lot of friends who moved to JC because they got jobs in the city, and many of them stayed because they loved it so much. It does come down to what neighborhood you end up in, though, so definitely do research before you commit yourself to anything.

yep... I went there LOL. May I suggest Bayonne. I left my apartment in Hoboken for a larger one in Bayonne in a private home with a driveway and a backyard. DH calls it the suburbs because our neighborhood looks/feels nothing like being in Hudson county. We also saved $1000 a month. The light rail runs through town so it's really easy to get to the PATH station.

JCbride2015 · January 2014

Haha, sorry Stevens ladies-- I totally knew Stevens existed! I guess I just didn't think of it the way Rutgers is. Stevens doesn't strike me as really bringing in the hard-partying crowd!

HobokensFury · January 2014

JCBride2014 said:

Haha, sorry Stevens ladies-- I totally knew Stevens existed! I guess I just didn't think of it the way Rutgers is. Stevens doesn't strike me as really bringing in the hard-partying crowd!

It's crazier on the average Friday/Saturday night than Rutgers because there are less people and pretty much everyone is at the same place. I've been to a few frat parties at Rutgers and it was tame compared to Stevens.

JCbride2015 · January 2014

HobokenBride2012 said:

JCBride2014 said:

Haha, sorry Stevens ladies-- I totally knew Stevens existed! I guess I just didn't think of it the way Rutgers is. Stevens doesn't strike me as really bringing in the hard-partying crowd!

It's crazier on the average Friday/Saturday night than Rutgers because there are less people and pretty much everyone is at the same place. I've been to a few frat parties at Rutgers and it was tame compared to Stevens.

Wow. Who knew?

HobokensFury · January 2014

JCBride2014 said:

HobokenBride2012 said:

JCBride2014 said:

Haha, sorry Stevens ladies-- I totally knew Stevens existed! I guess I just didn't think of it the way Rutgers is. Stevens doesn't strike me as really bringing in the hard-partying crowd!

It's crazier on the average Friday/Saturday night than Rutgers because there are less people and pretty much everyone is at the same place. I've been to a few frat parties at Rutgers and it was tame compared to Stevens.

Wow. Who knew?

Yeah 12 frat houses and 3 sorority houses (not including those without houses). Percentage wise Stevens has one of the biggest Greek populations in the country. About 50%.

ohmrs2014 · January 2014

HobokenBride2012 said:

Cookie Pusher said:

JCBride2014 said:
One last piece of advice: do NOT live in Hoboken. It has a lot of hype right now, but it's basically a frat party that somehow turned into a town without a college. Loud at all hours of the night, no parking anywhere, and orange porcupine-heads running around. It's a fun place to take the light rail to and go out on a weekend, but not someplace to live. Plus it's crazy expensive compared to JC, so at that point you may as well live in Manhattan.

Hoboken has a college - Stevens. You know how hard those engineers like to par-tay!
I live further west in Jersey than @JCBride2014 does (west side of Union county), in a super nice suburb. I grew up splitting my time between NYC and NJ, but there was no way I could afford to live in any non-ghetto urban area when I graduated college. I have a lot of friends who moved to JC because they got jobs in the city, and many of them stayed because they loved it so much. It does come down to what neighborhood you end up in, though, so definitely do research before you commit yourself to anything.

yep... I went there LOL. May I suggest Bayonne. I left my apartment in Hoboken for a larger one in Bayonne in a private home with a driveway and a backyard. DH calls it the suburbs because our neighborhood looks/feels nothing like being in Hudson county. We also saved $1000 a month. The light rail runs through town so it's really easy to get to the PATH station.

I agree with @HobokenBride2012. I grew up in Jersey City and miss it so much that I can't wait to move back next month. When FI and I were looking for a place to live, the amount of space you get for the price shocked me. I was definitely spoiled growing up living in a family owned apartment building. And I personally didn't want to live in an apartment building again and trying to find a private home with an apartment proved to be hard. We looked in Bayonne and found an amazing apartment in a private two family house. We are on the first floor and have access to the backyard. Granted its really small but we are able to BBQ and FI loves to BBQ. We have an eat-in kitchen and a dining room, separate living room, and two bedrooms. The bedrooms are a little on the smaller side but all you do is sleep in them so I was fine with that. The rent is half of what I would have paid in Jersey City. FI works in Hoboken and we are only a 5 block walk to the light rail.

HobokensFury · January 2014

@50ShadesofMe What neighborhood are you moving to? I'm downtown by the 8th street light rail.

Cookie Pusher · January 2014

HobokenBride2012 said:

JCBride2014 said:

Haha, sorry Stevens ladies-- I totally knew Stevens existed! I guess I just didn't think of it the way Rutgers is. Stevens doesn't strike me as really bringing in the hard-partying crowd!

It's crazier on the average Friday/Saturday night than Rutgers because there are less people and pretty much everyone is at the same place. I've been to a few frat parties at Rutgers and it was tame compared to Stevens.

Most of the frat parties were lame at Rutgers! Well, except the Pharmacy frat. Not so much for the crazy partying, but because they made the pledges take weird concoctions. Like, there was one incident with pills that, when taken with alcohol, turned your urine Tidy Bowl blue. Funny for those of us who knew what was going to happen, maybe not so much for the drunk pledges who were freaking out. lol

KeptInStitches · January 2014

Engineers drink. A lot. The weekend starts on Tuesday.

RissAnn1970 · January 2014

Engineers must be related to lawyers.

Speaking of other river towns, if you're ok with the bus Fort Lee & Edgewater are *right* over the GW & in Bergen County.

Which reminds me, if you're at all looking to get into local politics, stay out of Hudson County. It makes Chicago in the 1920s look clean as a whistle. Crazy corruption.

ohmrs2014 · January 2014

@HobokenBride2012 we are moving to uptown 42nd street by Bayonne Park. I'm excited that park is so nice and will be great for outdoor runs.

lc07 · January 2014

You ladies are totally making me miss "the city". I grew up in North East PA (rural) but my long time boyfriend lived in Brooklyn for a while and the Bronx for a while. I miss being out there. I'm in San Diego now which is goregous but a small country town in comparison.

pinkcow13 · January 2014

I was born in the Bronx, and when I moved out on my own I lived in Brooklyn for a while. I'm definitely a city girl! @lc07, I visited San Diego for a day ( we were staying in LA) and I absolutely loved it! It was such a beautiful city, and so much fun. I can't wait to go back!

lc07 · January 2014

pinkcow13 said:

I was born in the Bronx, and when I moved out on my own I lived in Brooklyn for a while. I'm definitely a city girl! @lc07, I visited San Diego for a day ( we were staying in LA) and I absolutely loved it! It was such a beautiful city, and so much fun. I can't wait to go back!

Thanks! It is a really beautiful place. We've had 80 degree weather all week and I haven't shoveled snow in 7 or 8 years so I really can't complain. And as expensive as it is to live here, it's not nearly as crazy as NYC. I'm just a go-go-go person and an east coast girl at heart and it's hard for me to get on board with the laid back surfer lifestyle out here! If you're ever planning to come back out again, hit me up - I'd be happy to fill you in on the great spots that only locals know about.

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