I’m in NJ too. It sucks. Our COL is so high, taxes so high. Our affluent area (that we could barely afford to live in to begin with) is overrun with Section 8 housing type people. It’s amazing.
NJ is definitely a dying state (like neighboring NY state); American taxpayers that can get out are doing so at a rapid rate. My town is probably well over 50% Hispanic now (an unofficial “sanctuary town”), and because we are in Hudson County the county taxes really drive up the property taxes.
That Section 8 scheme is a way to foist the “takers” from the bankrupt urban cesspools on “makers” in surrounding areas so THEY are forced to provide them with money for schools, emergency responders, etc.; landlords that shied away from Section 8 tenants for decades now welcome them to cope with vacancies (due to the American evacuation) and to receive steady rent payments (since our job losses don’t impact “gibsmedats”).
Besides the changing complexion (literally) of NJ over the past 20 years, I’ve also noticed that few people bother with home repairs and maintenance if it can be avoided; nobody believes they will recoup those costs when they sell the homes due to the high cost of living coupled with the “stripmall” economy that has replaced the good jobs we had in the past...