My wife and I were just talking about NJ (we met there - she was raised there, I spent 8 years, in Clinton, just north of Flemington). I was telling my kids the first time I had a job near Atlantic City and drove from Clinton. Miles and miles of horse farms, then the Pine Barrens. My main thought was “NJ is the most densely populated? Man - the cities must just be jam-packed”.
The discussion had started with my wife seeing something on Facebook about NJ. Yes - they do have the best pizza and bagels. No - not everyone lives off the turnpike, etc.
Clinton was a great place to live - fishing in the reservoirs, canoeing down the river, hiking the Delaware water gap, the history (”Washington slept here”), even had a county park where you could toss your own clay pigeons about a mile from town.
Although I did find some of the stereotypes true - like the mob for instance. It might be better now - 30 years later. And I hated heading south through Newark. When I was there there was no freeway to go south on - you had to drive through the city, and it seemed like there was always construction. I would always get lost in what did not look like the nicest part of town. That was when I would have my thought of “I thought we were supposed to have hovercars by now!”
My husband and I grew up in the Deep South. We lived all over the Midwest and some cities in the northeast. We were transferred to NJ and dreaded moving there. It actually was one of my favorite places to live. We lived in Clinton for eight years and loved it. We had great friends and a wonderful neighborhood. It was extremely safe. The whole area was just beautiful. We could be in New York City in an hour and took advantage of that. Loved NYC. Loved going to small towns in PA. Clinton is one of the nicest towns you could live in. Problem is that the taxes make it impossible to stay there. Now in Atlanta near family. Difficult place to live.
Most of the people in NJ live in the northern part of the state.
It's a different world here in the southern part - just as you said, South Jersey is more rural. North Jerseyans even refer to South Jerseyans as "pineys" (i.e. NJ's version of rednecks). lol
I've lived here for two decades. Last year, I had to drive my sons up around Newark to look at colleges. None of us had been to that area before. As we got further north, traffic became more congested, and the drivers continuously honked their horns at each other. My sons couldn't understand it. I wasn't raised in NJ, but my sons were, in South Jersey. That must make them pineys. lol We all couldn't wait to get away from the traffic and go back home in the woods.
Although I did find some of the stereotypes true - like the mob for instance
The bubble that is Princeton isn’t bad either.