New Jersey Sucks

what time did you run on the boards? i was there running from 7:35am to 9:15am did not have any problems. people were out, no more than usual. if you went after 9:00a.m. that FORGET ABOUT IT as one of bennies would say. besides if it was after 9 to start it was way too humid, should have waited until night fall... or just wake up earlier. plus it is 9 AM on a beautiful weekend, what do you expect people not to go to the beach, get real.

"Today, i say was my first real run (1h35m) and i basically had to weave through no less than a 1,000 high strung new yorkers six times up and down the boardwalk."

my advice: get up early and run.

the jersey bashers are a bunch of morons

i've lived in jersey my whole life and I cant tell you that i have never met anyone like tony soprano et al.

i grew up near miles and miles of trails, one of them called patriot's path, you could easily put a 20 miler on it and not get near cars, except to cross the road

there were several thousand acres of woodland behind my house with miles of trails, lewis morris national park, jockey hollow, etc.

As for newark, I agree that it is a shithole, but those are everywhere. Living near Newark is still way better than living near some depressed old mining town in pa - I guarantee most of the pussies that are bashing nj here won't post where they live.

15 min outside of newark is south mountain reservation with a 17 mile trail loop, there's watchung, and any number of other parks

If you can't find a decent place to run in nj, you're a moron or a whiner

Oh, and if you're from one of those fake nice places like PA where people act nicey-nice to your face and then gossip in the walmart, jersey people can smell insincerity

so don't even try it here - go home and keep your pos car out of the left lane.

dmb wrote:

I guarantee most of the pussies that are bashing nj here won't post where they live.

Oh, and if you're from one of those fake nice places like PA where people act nicey-nice to your face and then gossip in the walmart, jersey people can smell insincerity

so don't even try it here - go home and keep your pos car out of the left lane.

I live in State College, PA where Penn State university is located. The town is extremely educated and invites individuals to explore there unique interests. It is extremely runner friendly. There are countless miles of bike paths and trails within the town and a network of around 100+ miles of trails just outside of town. I garuntee you that you will not cross any roads running on these trails.

In regards to your comment on walmart, i personally boycott their business as do many individuals in my community. I speak for many of us in that we do not condone most of their business practices. I personally live up in the mountains removed from any human contact, this is the most gossip i have engaged in the past year.

That being said, i started this post and i wish i did not. I did not mean to hurt jersians feelings, just to express my dissent for the community of seaside park/heights. Furthermore, I wish that frivelous comments would stop in regards to this thread. Letsrun has a reputation as a credible news source and medium for serious runners to share their views on training and other pertinent running information. If i knew this thread would cause this much commotion, i would not have started it.

This is great fun and all, but at the same time pretty worthless. To make this a little more fun, how about all of you highly intelligent folks that think Jersy sucks let us know either where you're from, or in the case of being too ashamed, just mention a state that embodies everything you think Jersey should be. Then everyone here will be more than happy to tear apart every state mentioned. There is no perfect state in the union, period. I happen to believe that Jersey offers the most variety of any state in the union and no matter your pleasure, you'll find it there, but that's just me. Every state has wonderful things and every state has terrible things. So let's have some fun.

Would love to find them...I enjoy rocky hiking trails that are better than roads, but I have not found the miles and miles of trails like the middle of Maine...

1. The best I've found are at Wawayanda

2. Ringwood State Park's are too short

3. Long Pond Iron Works are also too short, unless I climb a lot before I begin the run.

Where are these trails?

i run at wawayanda too. great place in new jersey, other great ones are holmdel park and mannasquan resevior.

DMB

can I have your email.. I run in south mountain reservation almost every day and would be curious to know which 17 mile loop you allude to.. if there is such one that would be SWEET...

or if you don't want to put it on letsrun give me an email at

hypntzdla12@aol.com

thanks alot!

This article settles this issue once and for all with a fair and balanced debate:

Serious question, If you have a choice why would anyone want to live in New Jersey? Pro's? cons?

WHAT ARE WE YELLING ABOUT?

Pros: varied scenery - the western/morthern part of the state is beautiful & scenic. There's fairly easy access to the NY Metro area. The shore can be beautiful (or gross depending where you go). There are some really fabulous public schools in certain parts of the state. I think if it weren't for the cesspools of Newark & Camden, we'd be rated a good bit higher in education. Although traffic can be a bitch, there is good highway access, especially compared to other places I have lived such as Florida and Maryland/DC. There's a high concentration of pharma industries and I think the economy is pretty decent right now. Property values are excellent and if you have a house right now, you're making a lot of money. I bought in 2001 and the value of my home has risen 30+% and it's nothing particularly special.

Cons: crowded with pushy people, pollution is terrible in some places, there can be a bit of a "mall culture" at times. Despite relative affluence and sophistication, people can be downright stupid in their views, either driving around with "terrorist hunting permits" or environmental bumper stickers on SUV's. Certain commutes are abysmal and public transportation is very poor if you are off the beaten path. It's expensive to live here - a modest 3 bed, 1 1/2 bath house in my area sells for well in excess of $300k. People are suspicious - I barely know my neighbors (this can be a pro sometimes!) and there can be an air of indifference. The state government is very corrupt...

Anyway, there are compelling reasons to live/not live in NJ. It's not for everybody, but I dig it. Of course if I could convince my wife to go live in the Berkshires or some place like that, I'd do it in a second.

Pros.....Well diverse population. It is on the shore. Due to being heavily populated, one has many opportunities that other states may not have.

Cons...No state school(Rutgers doesn't count). Cops are assholes. Has the highest population state for it's size.

I grew up in the South, and currently live in the North. I believe NJ is like anything in life, you have to take the good with the bad. This goes for all states.

I lived in Jersey for many years in a nice town, with many unknown places to run, hidden trails and natural gems.

Positive: Good drivers (relative to the rest of the country), great restaurants, natives are generally unpretentious. The old folks are nice people.

Negative: A multitude of young high-income/low wealth A-holes in Escalades buying up real estate for teardowns so they can build a palace to please their the spoiled brat kids and materialistic wife.

METERS wrote:

For its size NJ produces the most oscars winners of any state. It is the birthplace of the modern motion picture.

Great NJ stars

Jack Nicolson

Meryl Streep

Danny Devitto

Susan Sarandon

John Travolta

Michelle Phiffer

you forgot bruce springsteen, jon bon jovi, and adam forman

you forgot bruce springsteen, jon bon jovi, and adam forman

i don't know who adam forman is, but the other two are not movie stars. if you had taken the time to read what you quoted, you would realize that he was talking about movies.

also Teresa Wright (Pride of the Yankees) and Joe Piscopo

According to this website NJ is the 4th Smartest State.

Princeton is probably the nations best university.

I forget another great American actor from New Jersey - Joe Pesci.

He is from Newark

It is amazing in the last 20 years NJ actors have taken more Oscars than actors from any other state.

Famous singers

You might say that folks from New Jersey can really carry a tune. Sing along with Frank Sinatra (Hoboken), Connie Francis (Newark), Whitney Houston (Newark), Paul Simon (Hoboken), Bruce Springsteen (Freehold), Dionne Warwick (East Orange), or Jon Bon Jovi (Sayreville).

Famous actors (Most of these actor have at least one Oscar nomination)

According to Shakespeare, "all the world's a stage"-but many famous actors got their start on the stage in New Jersey. Think about that the next time you see a TV show or movie starring Michael Douglas (New Brunswick), Meryl Streep (Summit), John Travolta (Englewood), Danny DeVito and Jack Nicholson (Neptune), Tom Cruise (Glen Ridge), Joe Pesci, Bruce Willis, and Jon Forsythe (Penns Grove), Jerry Lewis and Eva Marie Saint (Newark), Elisabeth and Andrew Shue (South Orange), Thomas Mitchell (East Orange), and Robert Blake (Nutley).

Considering its size NJ produces amazing talent.

It not just stage actors the state produces, but also movie stars like Cruise. Cruise is currently the highest paid actor in the world.

Below is Pesci flimography.

More New Jersey stuff.

First college football game

Every Saturday in the fall, college sports fans across America take up a tradition that got its start here. New Brunswick was the site for the first intercollegiate football game on November 6, 1869. Rutgers University beat Princeton by a score of 6-4.

First organized baseball game

Elysian Field in Hoboken was the site of the first organized game of baseball. The New York Nine beat the Knickerbockers by a score of 23-1 on June 19, 1846.

First pro basketball game

There were pro basketball players here long before the New Jersey Nets. The first professional championship basketball season was held in Trenton in 1898 - 1899.

First bulb, phonograph, and movie

Talk about a bright idea: The first incandescent lamp was made by Thomas A. Edison in 1879 in Menlo Park, where he also invented the first phonograph in 1877. In 1889, Edison developed the first motion picture in West Orange.

First town to be lighted

It didn't take long to put Edison's lamp to work. Roselle became the first town in the nation to be lighted by electricity in 1883.

First "condensed" soup

Mmm, mmm good! The first "condensed" soup was cooked and canned in Camden County in 1897-which became the famous Campbell's Soup.

First cranberry sauce

One day, Elizabeth Lee of New Egypt, a cranberry grower in South Jersey, decided to boil some damaged berries instead of throwing them away. She liked the tasty jelly so much she started a business selling "Bog Sweet Cranberry Sauce." That was the beginning of the Ocean Spray company that still sells cranberry products today!

First boardwalk and saltwater taffy

The world's first boardwalk was built in Atlantic City in 1870. Here's another fact to chew on: the first saltwater taffy was produced at the Jersey Shore in the 1870s as well.

First electric guitar

New Jersey rocks! The famous Les Paul invented the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah in 1940.

First national historic park

In 1933, the first National Historic Park in America was established in Morristown. Today, New Jersey has 38 state parks, 11 state forests, 57 historic sites, 42 natural areas, and three national recreational areas.

First submarine

This was a good idea that didn't float. The first submarine was built in 1878 by John Holland of Passaic County. It's now on display in the Public Museum in Paterson.

First copper mine

Back in 1640, Dutch settlers opened the first copper mine in America in the Kittatinny Mountains. Copper was an important metal to make materials for the early settlers. Today, you'll not only find copper in pennies, but also in the Statue of Liberty!

First ferry

Commuting to New York City is a time-honored New Jersey tradition. In fact, the first ferry service in the United States began in 1811, shuttling between Hoboken and Manhattan.

First brewery

Here's to New Jersey-the toast of the country! In 1642, the first

brewery in America opened in Hoboken.

First flag

History students know that Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag, but did you know it was designed by a New Jerseyan? Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, designed the first American flag in 1777.

Highest IQ

The area surrounding Princeton New Jersey has the nations highest IQ. The region has an average IQ of 117. That is in fact the average IQ of the world leader Japan.