Jersey City - The Sixth Borough
While Brian and I were hunting for a condo in March, our search quickly turned us to Jersey City, just across the river from Lower Manhattan. We were so dispirited by the real estate market in the Big Apple, even in the far-flung corner of Brooklyn or Queens. Not that there was not ample inventory for our price points, but it is a shortage of condominiums that did us in. After a month-long search east of the Hudson River, New Jersey breathed fresh air. The idea of living in NJ initially did not sit well with me, given my aversion to long commutes and flooding. But it is clear to me very soon that Jersey City (and to some extent perhaps Hoboken) is not just a fifth borough but also a miniature of New York City.
The Statue of Liberty, view from Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
View toward the Port of Bayonne.
Physically, Jersey City is fragmented and collaged, with geography and former industrial development playing a big part in making this a diverse city. You could find the bustling business financial district of Wall Street in Jersey City waterfront; you could sip and indulge in the local craft beer hipster place (think Brooklyn) and beautiful brownstones in downtown Jersey City; you could admire the diversity of people (think Queens) in much of Jersey City; you could venture to the rough edge (think the Bronx) and vitality of the working-class community in Jersey City Heights. It is a city with a complex and layered narrative. While many consider the signature skyline along the Hudson (an area commonly referred to as Newport) to be the face of Jersey City, it is quite a minor component in how we in JC perceive our own city.
The skyline of Manhattan from Newport district of Jersey City.
We were very glad to be residents in a beautiful townhouse in the Van Vorst neighborhood in downtown Jersey City. It is important to point out that the Newport area is not considered part of the downtown, given it is a latecomer and originally the Hudson rail yard. The downtown is the old part of Jersey City, in and around the Grove Street PATH station. The outrageous market in Manhattan fuels the recent real estate boom in Jersey City. And guess what? Our commute is much shorter than ever before. It is approximately 35 minutes door to door, and it breaks down to an 8-minute walk to PATH, a 15-minute ride, and a 6-minute walk to the office.
I enjoy that it is such a small system with only two lines. It makes everything seem manageable and essential. When your system consists of only 14 stations, there is less deferred maintenance, and everything is being handled. Sure, it is still extremely vulnerable to a hurricane like Sandy, but that could also happen to MTA just as easily. Weirdly, we now feel we are closer to New York.
The brownstone row around Van Vorst Park in downtown Jersey City.
Charming low-key corner of downtown Jersey City.
Living in JC makes me appreciate the separation between work and leisure. While I have always championed the mixed-use orientation of urbanism (and I still do), New York City itself became an unmanageable behemoth that is always on edge. Plus, commuting is commuting no matter what city you are living in. While I still can not imagine moving to the suburbs one day (I am sure Brian could), I have come to enjoy the slower pace of things. Whenever I got out of the PATH station after work, there was a sense of relief and vice versa for Manhattan. I no longer walked at the same pace, and I stopped to inspect every little shop and apartment building I passed by on the way home. It is truly a great feeling.
Despite rising prosperity in recent years, many corners of Jersye City still has its struggle.
Recently, a study by NerdWallet revealed that Jersey City is the most ethnically diverse among all American cities, larger than 100,000. As far as their racial diversity goes, it is defined by the equal distribution of four racial groups: White, Hispanic, Black, and Asian. JC ranked No. 2 behind Vallejo, California, and ahead of NYC, Oakland, and Sacramento. Before the study came out, Brian told me he liked the demographic he saw on the PATH trains. It is no longer white vs. minority. It is EVERYONE!! Jersey City has sizable Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Italian, Greek, Polish, Moroccan, Guyanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese communities. We would pass by the grand Victorian-Romanesque city hall on our way to work daily. And they managed to fly a different flag underneath the American flag. For me, that is a great indication of diversity... especially when they changed the flag from the Pakistani national flag to the gay pride flag to the protestant Christian flag in a single week. It is great that we could all coexist and celebrate each others' cultural heritage with no prejudice.
