Union, NJ sees a nearly complete shift in its racial and ethnic makeup

Newark Star-Ledger ^ | 2012 | Stephen Stirling

[GuavaCheesePuff]

UNION TOWNSHIP — Theodore Jakubowski has seen this before.

The 64-year-old man saw it as a child growing up in Union Township, as Italian, Irish and Polish families came to his community in droves after World War II and learned to live together despite their differences.

And now things are changing again in Union, and in few places in New Jersey is that change happening as quickly or as completely as it is here in this town of 56,600.

[Lee25]

I’m Asian. Let me give you some wisdom: the quality of life in a community( division, township or city, state or country) IS the quality of people . Don’t forget that

[TexasGator]

You modified the title against guidelines resulting in misinformation being propagated.

[Atticus]

I grew up not too far from Union in the 1970s/80s. Always viewed it as a solidly middle class town. Mostly white with a historically black section known as Vaux Hall. Memories include Jahn’s ice cream and the Great Eastern department store which later became the Union Market. It also is home to Joe’s, a classic pizza joint.

[GuavaCheesePuff]

They like their own nations than helping Americans, yes, I suppose.

[GuavaCheesePuff]

Were once snooty white conservatives, like Christie Whitman, etc.

They all moved....the Brooklynites came to those towns.

[kearnyirish2]

I don’t assume newcomers are looking to work or buy a home; some are, others aren’t - they are looking for “free” housing, food, and public schools courtesy of the US taxpayer. Dying states are happy to offer these things - chasing out the remaining employers and many workers with the high associated costs.

[central_va]

There are high costs combined with a McJobs economy, as many of the employers have fled the high costs and sent jobs to China and Mexico instead of relocating in cheaper parts of the USA .

Fixed it.

[central_va]

If whites native Americans were subsidized as heavily as the 3rd work replacements, they’d have kids too.

[IndispensableDestiny]

I grew up near Union. Had an adolescent fantasy about changing the "U" to an "O" on the huge watersphere in town. The family often took the GSP North to shop at the Two Guys store. They still had blue laws, so on Sunday only the food store part was open. Two Guys had a good arcade next to the restaurant. I still have a box of Christmas ornaments with a Two Guys price label on it.

Union was mostly blue collar and had the best bakery in the area. My mom would get birthday cakes there. Great high school football team.

My last intentional trip to Union was with my pseudo-girlfriend to a uniform shop. She was finishing up her nursing school, about 1982 or 81.

[italianquaker]

The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Union City is 1 in 50. Based on FBI crime data, Union City is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to New Jersey, Union City has a crime rate that is higher than 80% of the state’s cities and towns of all sizes.

[Jeff Chandler]

The average property tax bill in 2011 was about $7,600

Is this a high rent area? Because that comes to $633 per month.

[bgill]

School enrollment data show an even more dramatic change.

Ten years ago, our HS child asked what the heck was happening at the middle school because it had gone from majority white to majority illegal.

My '70s college prof said America isn't a melting pot but a tossed salad. He was right.

[IndispensableDestiny]

Union Township is the subject of the article, not Union City.

[GuavaCheesePuff]

I still love Union.

I go there every week to the Theaters.

I love Union. It was literally a blue collar haven for cops, firefighters, teachers, middle class rags to riches.

“Although the racial changes in Union are dramatic, the ethnic shifts are even more telling. Once dominantly European, Union is now an international patchwork of small but quickly growing enclaves, and the town now boasts sizable populations from South America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Asia. Demographic experts say it shows the aging, white European residents of Union that settled in the area after World War II are dying, retiring elsewhere or moving, and a new wave of immigrants is following the same path.”

[GuavaCheesePuff]

Do you think Trump should campaign in Union or make a play for the township in 2020?

[italianquaker]

Thnx

[Deplorable American1776]

Two Guys...we used to shop at Two Guys in Berlin CT on the turnpike. It became a Beadles and now it’s a Walmart...

[NobleFree]

I applaud those who come here legally because they love our Constitution and American culture.

I think most come here for free s*** and/or to remake American law and culture to their primitive standards.

[Bonemaker]

“the quality of life in a community( division, township or city, state or country) IS the quality of people . Don’t forget that”

No one disputes that...well spoken.

[pepsi_junkie]

It’s changed before. It won’t ever again now.