Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
117,086
edits
Joisey/Trivia: Difference between revisions
→Geography: thumbnailed page image, changed para break coding as needed, fixed some links' texts; copyedits; added links
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (trope->useful notes) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (→Geography: thumbnailed page image, changed para break coding as needed, fixed some links' texts; copyedits; added links) |
||
Line 3:
== Geography ==
[[File:New_Jersey_Map_1090.jpg|
▲[[File:New_Jersey_Map_1090.jpg|frame|[http://i.imgur.com/Pwnf4.jpg Source]]]
Geographically, New Jersey can be divided into the following regions, [[Hollywood Geography|only some of which are recognized by Hollywood]]:
* '''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 (and one of the worst in the country, if not the world). 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.
* '''The New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway:''' The state's main north-south highways, both of which are toll roads. With regards to the Turnpike, this trope and stereotype refers specifically to the "Chemical Coast," the industrial areas cluttered around the northern part of the Turnpike, centered on the cities of Newark and Elizabeth. This area is highly polluted, giving the whole stretch a distinctive smell (the phrase "15 Miles of Universal Fart" has been used to describe it). Stereotypes of this region often overlap with those of Newark. The Interstate Highway System took many of its design cues from the Turnpike.
** 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.
** '''Jersey City:''' New Jersey's second-largest city (although some estimates suggest it could possibly overtake Newark as the largest city after the results of the 2010 census are in). The city is very, ''very'' [[Melting Pot|ethnically diverse]], and hosts many ethnocultural parades and events. Consists largely of working-class neighborhoods, although the downtown/waterfront area has been gentrified into an affluent yuppie- and hipster-magnet in the past decade as Manhattan became too expensive (its location next to yuppie Hoboken furthers this stereotype), while the Greenville neighborhood could be best described as [[Gangsterland|a chunk of Newark that broke off]]
:The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are geographically located just off the coast of Jersey City in the Hudson River, causing many New Jerseyans to express the view that they are (or should be) property of Jersey City, and thus the State of New Jersey, not New York. However, most New Yorkers will [[Berserk Button|angrily dismiss this idea]] if you mention it in their presence. The city government uses images of the Statue of Liberty on official documents and the "Welcome to Jersey City" signs.
** '''Hoboken:''' The yuppie and hipster capital of New Jersey. Home of Stevens Institute of Technology, otherwise known as New Jersey's MIT.
* '''Bergen County:''' New Jersey's most populous county. The part that most New Yorkers see coming over the George Washington Bridge. Often stereotyped largely as a land of rich Republicans (or, as that map
** '''Koreatown:''' Southern Bergen County (specifically Fort Lee, Leonia and Palisades Park, just over the George Washington Bridge) is home to the largest Korean enclave in the world outside [[Los Angeles]] and Korea itself. Much of the area is thoroughly bilingual, with road signs and even ballots offered in both English and Korean. It's telling that, when [[Girls' Generation]] and other [[Korean Pop Music|K-pop]] groups [http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-10-23/entertainment/30326066_1_korean-wave-pop-jingle-ball arrived to tour in America], their first New York area stop was in Overpeck County Park, not in New York itself. It helps that the climate of the area is similar to that of [[South Korea|Seoul]].
* '''The Meadowlands:''' A swampy area in northern Hudson, southern Bergen and eastern Essex Counties, at the terminus of the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers as they enter Newark Bay. Thanks to those two rivers, both of which are polluted to an ungodly level (some areas along the lower Passaic are ''still'' closed off due to dioxin pollution), as well as having been used as a landfill in the past (including rubble from [[London Town|London]] after [[World War II]]), the swamps of the Meadowlands are one of the main areas that gives New Jersey its reputation as a [[Literal Metaphor|literal]] dump. It is the site of:
** Metlife Stadium (formerly New Meadowlands Stadium), home of the [[American Football|New York Giants and Jets]]<ref>Even though neither team actually plays in New York. This has led to NJ's current governor pointedly and purposely referring to the Jets as the "Jersey Jets" as a bit of a [[Take That]] at the franchise owners for keeping "New York" in the name</ref>, which replaced nearby Giants Stadium in 2010. The [[Super Bowl]] will be held here in 2014, the first time the event will be held in cold weather (all past Bowls were held in warm-weather cities or in domed stadiums).
** The Izod Center, former home of the [[Basketball|New Jersey Nets]] and [[National Hockey League|New Jersey Devils]], who have since moved to the Prudential Center in Newark. It is also used as a major concert arena.
** The under-construction American Dream Meadowlands mega-mall, which will be by far the largest mall in North America and the largest outside of Asia... [[Development Hell|if it ever gets finished.]]
** A large number of dead Mob hits. One of the (many) locations proposed to be [[wikipedia:Jimmy Hoffa|Jimmy Hoffa]]'s final resting place was under the stands of the old Giants Stadium.
* '''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 (and as of 2014, [[Back From the Dead|
* '''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.)
: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.
* '''The [[Jersey Shore]]:''' New Jersey's coastline, and a major summer destination for New Yorkers, Pennsylvanians, and New Jerseyans alike. It used to have [[Never Live It Down|a reputation for being dirty]] due to the infamous [[wikipedia:Syringe Tide|"syringe tide"]] in the late '80s, when used syringes and other medical waste started washing up on the shore from the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island (in short, [[Mis Blamed|it wasn't even New Jersey's fault!]]). Now, thanks to [[MTV]], it
* '''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 [[Philadelphia (useful notes)|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
* '''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. In fact, at night from orbit, the Barrens are a black hole in the center of the golden light of the Washington-Philadelphia-New York conurbation -- in [https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/6790951550/ this photo from the ISS], the Barrens are the black spot below the middle "glow" of the three that stand out in the center of the right side of the image.)<br /><br />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.▼
: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."
: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
: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, deer, and turkey vultures can be somewhat disconcerting.
----
== New Jersey facts ==
| |||