I’ve been reading about Bruce Springsteen growing up in NJ, and although Bruce grew up near Atlantic City, it’s not actually a big city at all (300,000 people). On the other hand, NJ is right next to both New York and Philadelphia, and its largest city Newark is basically just an extension of NYC (from what I can tell anyway). So I assume the majority of people in NJ identify as coming from New York or Philadelphia which aren’t even in the state. Is that true? Is that weird for people who come from NJ? Does it mean that people from other states think of NJ as a kind of in-between state because you would only ever travel through it rather than travelling *to* it?
27 comments
Not really. Most of NJ is pretty suburban and people identify with that.
Anyone I know from NJ claims to be from NJ. They don’t want to associate with Philly or NYC.
Not if you’re from NJ, but if you are from NYC or Philly you know this to be true.
I think you may be right about how outsiders perceive New Jersey, but you’re definitely wrong about how people from NJ perceive themselves.
Related to your point about people traveling *through* NJ, it doesn’t help that all most of them see is the NJ Turnpike, which goes through some of the ugliest parts of the state. You can probably be forgiven for being confused about the nickname “The Garden State” if all you’ve seen is the Turnpike.
> Atlantic City, it’s not actually a big city at all (300,000 people).
TIL 300k people is not a big city.
> So I assume the majority of people in NJ identify as coming from New York or Philadelphia…
No. No one from Jersey does this. You’re trying to create your own definitions for how people identify. People definitely travel to New Jersey, the Shore is mobbed in the summer. Tourists have things to do other than visit the most major cities.
Crosspost this thread at /r/newjersey and observe the response.
Anyone from NJ will say they’re from NJ. Most jerseyans are overly proud of the state. When describing where one is from, however, it’s just objectively easier to tell people they’re from south/Philly or north/NYC for the sake of convenience. But the shore/AC don’t claim Philly metro
Beyond the reason people are proud of the state (if they like it and not trying to get out, like I did), much of the state, in spite of being Philly/NY suburb doesn’t extend to urban sprawl like you are pointing to with Newark (or JC, Camden, Elizabeth, etc). A lot of the state is rural/swamp/farmland. Like people are surprised I grew up around people riding horses into town or owning goats and pigs
Nah NJ has a strong state identity for a lot of people, probably driven in part by the fact that they feel overshadowed
No, we’re from Jersey. We don’t give a fuck about NYC or Philly.
As someone from the Boston area, this is pretty much how we view Connecticut
I prefer not to think of New Jersey at all.
Out west we just think of New Jersey as a kind of joke state.
People say this all the time then come down from NYC to go to the beach all summer. Most often they are simply talking shit.
Originally from NYC but I’ve lived in NJ for over 20 years. Let’s start with Springsteen. He grew up in the Freehold area which is closer to NYC than AC.
But that aside, NJ has plenty of larger population areas and AC isn’t one of them. It’s more like 30,000 not 300,000.
Unfortunately many of of our cities aren’t terribly attractive and don’t have to much to offer to tourists so they aren’t on the radar.
NJ has a lot of things to see and do that aren’t the Turnpike and it’s environs. But everyone loves to hate on us because they looked at the shit trap that is the highway out of Newark airport going to Manhattan.
Only in terms of professional sport franchises.
People in NYC kind of do. But NJ is a very mice place to live in, albeit a bit crowded and expensive.
Yeah there’s a few categories of people:
1. People actually from NJ. Growing up there, I can assure you that we have a very strong identity. There’s certainly influence from the bigger cities in NY and PA but I grew up on the shore and it was always more of background noise more than anything else. I think it’s funny that you associate Bruce with Atlantic City when that’s a totally different part of NJ than Monmouth County. There’s a huge divide between parts of NJ culturally, which is funny from the outside given how small it is, but nonetheless it’s true.
2. People in NY and PA love to hate on us. Which is fine. I’ve lived in NYC for about 4 years total and while it’s an amazing place to visit, it’s a hard place to live. Same with Philly. Outside of the two big cities I don’t really see how either is “better” than NJ, it’s pretty similar geographically. Culture is slightly different but not that different really. People just love to feel better than others.
3. People who have “been” to NJ but really never left the area right next to NYC or just stayed on the turnpike while driving through. NJ is full of beauty, the garden state is not a misnomer….that is unless you only experience these two areas of the state. NE Jersey is a lot more urban/industrial and somewhat run down in a lot of areas. Leave that area and we are back to the garden state for the most part.
4. People who have never been there. This is the largest group. While I don’t think NJ needs to be the first stop on anyone’s travel plans, it’s a state with a lot to offer and is extremely overlooked. I see people say stuff like “oh here NJ is just a joke to us” while being from certain states that I know people in NJ think are a joke as well. It’s easy to pick on NJ because of its closeness to two major metro areas, but there’s a reason why so many people live there.
I don’t live there anymore, and I don’t have a huge desire to return. But having lived in multiple states in multiple regions now, I really do see NJ as quite underrated and probably in the top 15 states to live in. Not fantastic, but certainly not worth the hate.
Nah, bro. People from New York and New Jersey tend to know that we have a lot culturally in common, lots of slang, almost every New Yorker has been to New Jersey and vice-versa, however, we are distinct people. I almost view us as brother-states, yeah, we shit on each other but we’re more similar than not.
They identify as being from New Jersey. There’s no reason not to.
Bruce is from no where near Atlantic City. He grew up in Freehold NJ; it’s well over a hour drive.
Pretty much everyone here identifies as being from New Jersey, if I go abroad it’s easier to sometimes say I live in New York City because I live on the opposite of the Hudson (my apartment faces the Manhattan skyline) I’m closer to Manhattan than most of Manhattan in Jersey City; but it’s not that well known internationally.
You’ll see the difference in sport allegiances. Southern half of the state tends to route for Philly teams.
Atlantic City has 37,000 people.
Absolutely not. New Jersey has a (non official) flag that says “no one likes us and we don’t care.” I grew up on Long Island and lived in NJ. At my bridal shower I told my mom’s Long Island friends I liked Jersey and they were horrified I changed loyalty. New Jersey is New Jersey, Philly is Philly, New York is New York.
No, they think of it as a circle of hell.
Many of us prefer to forget New Jersey even exists.
New Jersey is a state?
/s
I once met a girl who said she lived in NY but later in the conversation it was revealed she actually lived in Hoboken. I had no use for her after that.
New Jersey cities are called exits.
As a New Jerseyan, the only time we really identify with NYC or Philly is based on sports allegiance. Most New Jerseyans are proud of being from Jersey, and would find it weird or insulting if someone asked us if we identified more with New York or Pennsylvania (not saying me or any of us are, but if you asked someone that here, you’d get some colorful responses). As for Newark, yeah it’s NYC Lite but it is its own city with plenty to do; hell, that extends to NJ in its own right! We’re a big state with a lot of stuff to see and we’re all generally proud of it!