Posted on 03/09/2006 6:48:25 AM PST by Huck
Who's laughing now?
New Jersey, the state that spawned a thousand wise-guy bumper stickers and became the butt of a million late-night jokes, is actually a nice place to live.
The research group Morgan Quitno crunched the numbers this year and yesterday ranked New Jersey the fifth-most-livable state.
As for its neighbors?
Pennsylvania finished 30th, New York 32d.
"The people we talk to say they wouldn't live anywhere else, and I have to go along with that," said Mark Moran, a Bloomfield resident and one of the editors of Weird New Jersey magazine. "Whether it grows on you or people just don't know any better, I don't know."
New Jersey has long had a tragically poor reputation, earned by corrupt politicians, homicidal mobsters (real and fictional), surreal traffic patterns (who invented the jughandle, anyway?), toxic waste, and big hair.
The state's image has been so bad that even then-acting Gov. Richard Codey took the time last year to rollick in some of the more humorous entries in his public slogan contest.
Among the favorites: "New Jersey: You got a problem with that?" and "New Jersey: Most of our elected officials have not been indicted."
Morgan Quitno, a Kansas-based publisher of statistical data, based its rankings on 44 factors, and New Jersey shined in many.
The state moved up from eighth place a year ago. New Hampshire was judged the most livable state for the third year in a row.
The study determined that New Jersey has excellent schools; an educated, wealthy population; and relatively low rates of crime and poverty.
"We don't claim to be finding the most exciting place or the best place to take a vacation," said Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno. "It's just looking at very basic things. Other people can choose to look at other factors."
In other words, the things that make Jersey so Jersey didn't count against it. (Except for the toxic waste: Morgan found New Jersey had the most "hazardous waste sites on the National Priority List per 10,000 square miles.")
Moran also noted that if auto insurance and property tax rates had been considered, New Jersey's ranking would have sunk like a stone.
But in Morgan Quitno's world, livability is measured by factors such as student-teacher ratios and per-capita spending on the arts, and New Jersey excelled in both.
For Moran, there is no conflict in a state's combining livability with a tradition for the weird and absurd.
"You've got to take the good with the bad," he said. "The fact that it's such an odd and unique place... certainly makes it more livable for me."
Morgan visited the state last year and made a swing through Camden, the city his publishing company has famously labeled the most dangerous the last two years.
"We didn't advertise who we were," he said.
Haha, welcome aboard ;)
In other words, confiscating wealth in order to finance government intervention in areas where it doesn't belong, or where government funding is of dubious value.
That sounds like an odd barometer to use when you're measuring livability.
Do they have a corresponding freedom index, so that I'll know where not to move to?
You said it, Huck! Of course now you're letting the secret out. You're shocking FReepers whose only image of NJ has been the scenery during the opening credits of 'The Sopranos'.
Hmmm... maybe I should move back to NJ one of these years... ;-)
I meant to include you in my post #364. ;-)
Yeah, I had a layover in Dallas Airport once. I didn't realize magazines in Texas were so expensive. /sarcasm.
Wow man. That's so clever and original. We all know the other 49 states are pure as the driven snow.
I'm surprised how many freepers watch that dumb show.
You must not travel much, everything in any airport is expensive.
There are two New Jerseys. Not to sound like a failed candidate, but nonetheless . . .
LOL! That was funny. But breck girls aside, yeah, there's at least two NJs. Probably more. Its diversity is its strength, but you have to take the bad with the good. The bad is pretty well contained, though. I mean, East Orange pretty much stays East Orange, and Basking Ridge stays Basking Ridge, etc.
The fact that this is the only state where you can get a real Italian hotdog trumps all of that:)
anyone ever been to Annie's Road?
This is true. I work in a hospital that borders on the Lincoln Tunnel. We do have some employees who live in Eastern Pa. I think they still want the connection with their roots.
Berganline Avenue til this day, has some of the best shopping venues.
As a Brooklyn boy, you might find it interesting that we used to refer to Valley Stream (where I went to elementary school) on Long Island as "Bensonhurst with grass."
I had to go to LI for the first time in my life two weekends in a row last month, my oldest daughter had dance competitions there. Ugh, what an incredible PITA to get to. This Jersey girl will stay on this side of the GWB thank-you-very-much.
Annie's Road? Is she the girl that died on Prom Night?
no, who was annie?
I live in Jersey exit 114.
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