My continuous gripe is how Counties like Hudson, Essex and recently Union are becoming catch-basins for legal and illegal immigration (and too much unskilled, cheap labor). I'm starting to see more Spanish-speaking advertisement and finding more and more people moving into this area that can't speak a lick of English while the local governments seem to cater to them, plus the living standard is going way down. Makes me sick.
Besides, EVERY REGION OF THE COUNTRY that is experiencing economic growth is beset by the effects of illegal immigration. THere are signs in Spanish where my sister lives in South Carolina. At least Spanish is an easy language, the nabe I lived in in Brooklyn had signs in Arabic!
Essex, Union, and Hudson are the urban counties of the state. IMHO, the immigrants have actually IMPROVED much of Newark, Jersey City, Bloomfield, etc. Do you really think that Linden (until recently the redoubt of english-speaking whites and blacks) were really great places to live before the current wave of immigration?
I've lived most of my life in the northeast, with dad hailing from Newark and ma from Jersey City. I know the state very well. In my nearly 30 years, the bad areas (East Orange, Irvington, Paterson) are the same as when I was a child, and the good areas remain good areas. As a matter of fact, even some formerly bad areas (parts of New Brunswick, Jersey City, even Newark) have actually improved.