Jersey City."It" Neighborhood?
Any New Yorker has their own story of “when I lived in X,” referring to the days when they lived off of pennies/parents, were forced to live in the shittiest bourough/neighborhood/suburb, ate red beans & rice at every meal and generally hated their New York existence. On the other hand, it’s precisely this sad existence that we eventually brag about in our stories on why we have become official New Yorkers.I know, because I was one of them. And when I read this week’s New York Magazine story on “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Cool by Now” story I just had to spout off a bit.
The article centered on the next “it” neighborhood...Jersey City, New Jersey.
(I’ll patiently wait for you all to scrape your jaws off the ground)
Yes, Jersey City. The next “it” neighborhood? OK…I might be able to buy it. After all, I must admit that I once was a resident of Jersey City (GASP!), and like all of the rest of you out there…it was not by choice. As New York Magazine truthfully points out, anyone who has lived there usually has an excellent “How I wound up in Jersey City” story. Mine goes roughly like this…
I moved to NYC straight out of college for a lovely (and unpaid) internship at an international public relations firm. Because I knew nothing about the city, I sprung for a 4-month sublet on the corner of safe and boring: 57th and 8th. Clearly as a 22-year old, I was dirt poor and couldn’t afford to stay in my lovely pre-war, elevator, doorman, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a view of the park. So I was invited to move in with the one person in the city I knew and her roommate who happened to be a bartender at Coyote Ugly.
So I moved to Jersey City. I have to admit I was a bit scared. I was glad that after getting off the PATH at Pavonia Newport, half of my walk home was through the mall which has 24-hour security. My apartment was on the second floor of a 4-floor brownstone. Every room in the place was about 300 square feet. No joke. I paid $500 a month and that was about all I could afford at the time.
Despite the economical living quarters, I was none too pleased with the hood, which consisted of scary dark corners, a giant ShopRite and one Newark Avenue – home of the dollar store.
I was one of those people who incessantly bitched and moaned about JC. Why? Well, I was living there by default with a bartender from Coyote Ugly (I won’t even get into this). My dream of moving to New York City actually included living IN New York City proper. Plus, I wasn’t too keen on negotiating cab fare home at 3am.
Regardless of my story about the now-cool-kids-hood, the key thing that New York Magazine doesn’t talk about is that fact that to live in an “it” neighborhood essentially means resigning yourself to living in a shit hole until gentrification hits, at which point all residents then have the right either move out to another shit hole OR to complain about said gentrification. It’s all part of the ebb and flow of “Neighborhood ADD” as they say.
Jersey City might have lots of cool shops, cafes and apartments to live in, but one thing is certain: it’s NOT NYC. Let’s be honest here. It’s not even part of New York State. As I mentioned, as a New Yorker, my poorish and frustrating time in Jersey City will be looked back on fondly as part of the city hazing process, however I’ll always be happy to be living on the island.
And by the way, I totally have dibs on declaring that Morningside Heights is next on the list…
posted by Lisa @ 7:14 PM
2 Comments:
I love the J.C. (That's lingo for Jersey City if you didn't know). If you want to live in a brownstone you will find it here. Plus there is a little street that looks just like New Orleans... What's not to love?
Alright it is Jersey, but it is doable. I'd buy there in a second, if everything weren't already a million dollars
The idea that Jersey City could be considered the next "cool" neighborhood in NYC is hilarious on so many different levels.
I do have to say there's one thing that I like about the article though- Hopefully some of the idiots living in the REAL NYC that just run around trying to jump on the next coolest trend will be enticed to move to J.C. after reading this article.
Who knows, stranger things have happened...
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