Joisey/Trivia: Difference between revisions

* '''Newark:''' The largest city in New Jersey, and its most famous ghetto. Took over New York's role as [[Gangsterland]] after New York became cleaner -- something that is [[Truth in Television]]. ''Time'' magazine did a cover story on it, calling it the most dangerous city in America. Also the site of the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest seaport on the East Coast (and, as recently as 1985, the largest in the world), and Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the New York area's three airports. Sometimes, Camden or Asbury Park is used in this role. Often cited as the home of Lauryn Hill, even though [[Did Not Do the Research|she is actually from middle-class South Orange]]. The closer you live to Newark, the more likely you are to pronounce it "Nork", not "New-werk". If you are utterly lost, you will pronounce it "New-ark", which is in Delaware, not New Jersey.

** Unless it's Exit 63 on the Parkway, which is synonymous with Long Beach Island.

* '''Hudson County:''' Located across the Hudson River from [[New York City]] and dubbed the "sixth borough", this is probably the most New York-like place in the state. Major cities include Jersey City, Hoboken, and Bayonne. One of the most culturally diverse counties in the USA.

* '''The Skylands:''' A region that consists roughly of Somerset, Hunterdon, Warren, Sussex, and Morris Counties, and the West Milford region of Passaic County. Overlaps with North and Central Jersey. Most of these areas are essentially farmland and wilderness (suburban development is limited mainly to eastern Morris and Somerset thanks to New Jersey's strong environmental laws<ref>No joke. New Jersey is almost as tough as California when it comes to environmental standards and anti-pollution laws. Hey, if you lived in New Jersey and had to put up with wisecracks about smokestacks, suburbia, Superfund sites, syringe tides and "the smell", you'd also want to clean the place up.</ref>), which is why they are conspicuously absent from most media portrayals of the state. If referenced at all, it will usually be the site of [[Summer Campy]], the [[Horrible Camping Trip]], or a ski resort. Oh, and speaking of camp, [[Friday the 13th (Film)|don't work as a counselor if you value your life]]. [[Amusement Park of Doom|Action Park]] used to be located out here.

* '''Central Jersey:''' To hear it from someone from the area, Central Jersey is a distinct region of the state consisting of the area covered by the Raritan Valley, in Hunterdon, Mercer, Somerset, Middlesex, and Monmouth counties. To hear it from someone from North or South Jersey, Central Jersey is a nonexistent entity that is really an extension of North Jersey, and its residents all have an inferiority complex. The site of the state capital, Trenton, as well as suburban sprawl ballooning out from both New York and Philly. If a story requires that the characters consult a brainy professor, this scene will often either take place at [[Ivy League|Princeton]], or elsewhere with a professor who teaches there. If not Princeton, then the main campus of Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, will do in a pinch. (Never Rutgers Newark, or Montclair State University, and for good reason.)<br /><br />In addition to the above counties, many people in Central Jersey count the northernmost part of Ocean County as part of Central Jersey. This is mainly because this sliver of land includes the community of Jackson Township, home of Six Flags Great Adventure, as well as the beach town of Point Pleasant. South Jerseyans, naturally, consider it to be in South Jersey. A few people split the difference and say South Central New Jersey, but in their hearts, they know that they'll have to wait for [[Cue the Flying Pigs|the Cubs to win the Series]] before most of New Jersey accepts such a thing.

* '''South Jersey:''' With the exception of the Shore, this area, like the Highlands, is rarely seen in the media, due to the fact that it's more closely associated with [[Useful Notes/Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] than [[New York City]]. Often shown as being poorer than the rest of the state, with the suburbs being more working-class. This is partially [[Truth in Television]], but not exactly -- a visit to Cherry Hill, Moorestown, or Medford would quickly discredit this assumption. Home to two towns named [[Halloween (Film)|Haddonfield]] <ref>Fun fact -- the Haddonfield in ''[[Halloween (Film)|Halloween]]'' is actually named after the one in New Jersey, which is where Debra Hill, the co-writer of the film, was born and went to high school.</ref> and [[Friday the 13th (Film)|Voorhees]], which are served ([[My Friends and Zoidberg|along with Gibbsboro]]) [http://www.aaroads.com/northeast/new_jersey200/i-295_nb_exit_032_01.jpg by the same freeway exit]. If producers need a [[Gangsterland]], then Camden (in terms of crime rate, imagine a [[Fun Size]] Detroit) is often used in place of Newark.<br /><br />Residents are known to react even worse to the standard New Jersey jokes. The Turnpike has very few exits to the southern half of the state (and the Parkway has none outside of the Shore), and the near-absence of chemical and industrial plants results in little pollution. Plus, there are still many, many thriving farms in the area, as it is relatively undeveloped outside of the Shore and the Delaware Valley, lending some credence to the state nickname that so many seem to think is ironic -- "The Garden State."<br /><br />Definitions of South Jersey will vary depending on who you ask. Some will define the region as everything south of Interstate 195. Others will draw a line starting just south of Trenton and ending just north of Atlantic City, and classify South Jersey as everything south of that line. Many in Monmouth County will make the cutoff for South Jersey anything south of Toms River in Ocean County<ref>A definition that conveniently leaves out Point Pleasant and Six Flags Great Adventure, likely so that Central Jersey can count that little sliver of Ocean County as its own.</ref>, while many people in South Jersey will make the cutoff at Howell Township in Monmouth County instead, a definition that follows county lines more neatly. A few people go so far as to count everything south of Newark as South Jersey, a definition that includes New Brunswick and even Elizabeth. Needless to say, the distinction causes a lot of arguments within the state.

* '''The Pine Barrens''': Firmly straddling the blurry dividing line between Central and South Jersey is a region composed of hundreds of square miles of primeval pine forest, growing from a white sandy soil. Home to ghost towns, cranberry bogs, blueberry farms, and uncounted miles of dirt roads, the Barrens are a zone of complete wilderness that is unusual in any Eastern state, let alone the most densely populated state in America. A great majority of the state's stories of ghosts and pirates are set in or have ties to the Pine Barrens, and the Jersey Devil calls them its home, making it an out-of-[[Hollywood New England|New England]] branch of [[Lovecraft Country]]. (Mysterious [[Real Life]] phenomena such the [http://mysterybooms.blogspot.com/2010/03/mystery-booms-reported-in-2006.html unidentified booming noises] which have rattled the area on a regular basis for decades just add to the mystique.) For someone whose only exposure to New Jersey is Chemical Alley and Newark, discovering that there is a part of the state where you can drive for an hour and see virtually nothing but pine trees can be somewhat disconcerting.

== The White Picket Fence State ==

In recent decades, suburban sprawl has grown to the point where the state government considers it a threat to New Jersey's environmental integrity. Whereas the smokestacks of the Chemical Coast only stink up the Chemical Coast, out-of-control sprawl can lead to soil erosion and, with it, flooding and landslides, and is now starting to push into the state's water supply in the Skylands. Consequently, in 2004 the state passed the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act in order to contain the growth of New York's exurbs.