Property or income taxes? If so, how high are they? I had a buddy at work talking about how bad things were in parts of the state. He used Elmira, NY (I've never been there) as an example and pulled up listings on a popular real estate website for the place. It looked as if the whole darn town was for sale, and for cheap. I'm not from that part of the country and have never seen anything like it.
NJ income tax is flat, around 3%, similar to PA's. The property taxes in NJ are at least double those in PA, however. My aunt and uncle pay 15,000+/year on a 2,000-sq.ft. 4-bedroom house in North Jersey. The place is just evil.
These towns are old manufacturing centers and this has moved overseas. There is no work.