OT: The War for Central Jersey's Identity is On

[Knight Shift]

Monmouth and Ocean County want no part of a Central Jersey that includes Union County. It's not personal.

"But proposed legislation that's working its way through the halls of Trenton may decide it, at least from a marketing and tourism point-of-view.

The bill would establish three tourism regions in the state for marketing and promotion. There would be Northern, Southern and Central regions."

"But for Central, things get a little tricky. It would include Hunterdon, Somerset, Union, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties. And just about everyone in the state — all 9.3 million of us — has their own borders in mind. (Assuming they acknowledge Central Jersey at all)."

Maybe Monmouth and Ocean and Mercer Counties can secede from the state?

'This is how wars start': Does Central Jersey include both Ocean and Union counties?

New Jerseyans react to a bill in Trenton that could set boundaries for Central Jersey.

www.app.com

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Union County is clearly North Jersey.
No debate

 

[Ronnie_B]

I always thought North Jersey started north of the Driscoll Bridge that connects Woodbridge and Sayreville, I think mostly because that's where the Bennies start.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I always thought North Jersey started north of the Driscoll Bridge that connects Woodbridge and Sayreville, I think mostly because that's where the Bennies start.

On the coast it’s easy to draw the lines

Inland a little harder.

But Union County isn’t close to a central Jersey.

 

[RU4Real]

Ya know, I've said this before, but I guess it doesn't really resonate with anyone else on the board. Maybe @RUforester72 would get it. Probably.

Regardless, the 3 regions of NJ, in my opinion, align almost exactly with the 3 major geological provinces in the state.

In the north, you have the part of the state that was covered by the last glacier. The glacier's line of maximum advance was roughly the Raritan Bay. North of there you have lots of exposed bedrock (because the glacier strips everything else) and the hilly regions created by the erosion as the glacier was receding.

In the middle - "Central NJ" you have that part of the state south of the line of maximum glaciation that is comprised of glacial till - rocky soils created by runoff during melting and some topological relief, what is known as "kame and kettle" topography. This extends southward to the point where there is no more glacial till, the soil is mostly sand and there's almost no topological relief, i.e. it's flat. This is "South Jersey".

 

[RUforester72]

Ya know, I've said this before, but I guess it doesn't really resonate with anyone else on the board. Maybe @RUforester72 would get it. Probably.

Regardless, the 3 regions of NJ, in my opinion, align almost exactly with the 3 major geological provinces in the state.

In the north, you have the part of the state that was covered by the last glacier. The glacier's line of maximum advance was roughly the Raritan Bay. North of there you have lots of exposed bedrock (because the glacier strips everything else) and the hilly regions created by the erosion as the glacier was receding.

In the middle - "Central NJ" you have that part of the state south of the line of maximum glaciation that is comprised of glacial till - rocky soils created by runoff during melting and some topological relief, what is known as "kame and kettle" topography. This extends southward to the point where there is no more glacial till, the soil is mostly sand and there's almost no topological relief, i.e. it's flat. This is "South Jersey".

Yeah makes a lot of sense to me. And the vegetation transitions along those lines as well.

But I am cynical enough to doubt that any legislation would not follow the geological delineation.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

Union County is clearly North Jersey.
No debate

Do they call it Taylor Ham in Union County?

If not, they don’t belong in North Jersey. 😂

 

[e5fdny]

Fine with Ocean being considered as South. They can have it.

Monmouth is Central as they come. Right out of central casting.🙂

 

[DJ Spanky]

How could Ocean County be considered Central Jersey and not Burlington County?

 

[colbert17]

IMHO after having lived all over the state here's my breakdown.

Central - Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth

Everything north of that is North Jersey and everything South is South Jersey.
Anyone who thinks Elizabeth is Central Jersey is insane.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

@colbert17
I would not consider Basking Ridge or Fords Central Jersey

 

[RUChoppin]

IMHO after having lived all over the state here's my breakdown.

Central - Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth

Everything north of that is North Jersey and everything South is South Jersey.
Anyone who thinks Elizabeth is Central Jersey is insane.

On a county level, this aligns with my own feelings of where "central" is... but the definition of central isn't necessarily defined by county.

 

[colbert17]

On a county level, this aligns with my own feelings of where "central" is... but the definition of central isn't necessarily defined by county.

I understand what you're saying but how else can you define it?

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Monmouth and Ocen Counties are correct. Union is North Jersey. Westfield.. I feel their pain. They are more Central Jersey.. but Plainfield? which is south of Westfield.. that's North Jersey.

If this is about dollars.. I can see everyone's arguments. Union County will demand dollars based on population.. but if they are in north Jersey.. they are one of the smaller mouths looking to feed.

I say forget this plan and just divide the tourism dollars by how many tourists each county currently draws. Then again.. why is the government bothering with this? Allow some private organization to form to seek dollars from businesses interested in joining a collective to sell New Jersey tourism to the masses. To take taxpayer dollars to do this is just another way for politicians to give paydays to their supporters... aka The Friends and Family plan.

 

[colbert17]

why is the government bothering with this?

This. I'm going to guess that there are more pressing problems for the state to address.
How about this? NJ ranks as having two of the top five dirtiest cities in America.

2023's Dirtiest Cities in America - LawnStarter Blog

The cleanliness of your environment can impact your health. Find out which U.S. cities are the dirtiest in this LawnStarter ranking.

www.lawnstarter.com

 

[RUaMoose]

@colbert17
I would not consider Basking Ridge or Fords Central Jersey

I always considered Woodbridge the northern edge of CNJ. Anything north of there ( ie., Rahway) is NNJ. Any town around the same parallel as Woodbridge (Piscataway, S. Plainfield, Middlesex, BB, Somerville, Green Brook, etc) is also CNJ

 

[colbert17]

I always considered Woodbridge the northern edge of CNJ. Anything north of there ( ie., Rahway) is NNJ. Any town around the same parallel as Woodbridge (Piscataway, S. Plainfield, Middlesex, BB, Somerville, Green Brook, etc) is also CNJ

Agreed. A tough call is Carteret.

 

[ruinac]

If we are going to divide the state for tourism then I’d go with four regions: the densely packed northeast region, the mountains and lakes northwest region, the shore/southeast, and the rest/southwest.

 

[RUbacker]

This. I'm going to guess that there are more pressing problems for the state to address.
How about this? NJ ranks as having two of the top five dirtiest cities in America.

2023's Dirtiest Cities in America - LawnStarter Blog

The cleanliness of your environment can impact your health. Find out which U.S. cities are the dirtiest in this LawnStarter ranking.

www.lawnstarter.com

Murphy and his team should focus on more pressing issues …..and there are plenty of them .

 

[ruinac]

Murphy and his team should focus on more pressing issues …..and there are plenty of them .

Promoting and increasing tourism raises funds to help pay for those pressing issues

 

[Section124]

Do they call it Taylor Ham in Union County?

If not, they don’t belong in North Jersey. 😂

Born and raised in Union County. It's Taylor Ham area. I agree with what RUReal posted above. To me North Jersey alway started at the Driscoll Bridge. Northern Middlesex County is definitely North Jersey. Hell, as long as you are adjacent to Staten Island you can't be Central Jersey.

 

[Section124]

@colbert17
I would not consider Basking Ridge or Fords Central Jersey

Agreed. the northern parts of those counties are definitely North Jersey.

 

[ruinac]

Born and raised in Union County. It's Taylor Ham area. I agree with what RUReal posted below. To me North Jersey alway started at the Driscoll Bridge. Northern Middlesex County is definitely North Jersey. Hell, as long as you are adjacent to Staten Island you can't be Central Jersey.

In my much younger days I met a girl in a shore nightclub who told me she was from the part of Staten Island that is in NJ. 🤔

 

[Section124]

If we are going to divide the state for tourism then I’d go with four regions: the densely packed northeast region, the mountains and lakes northwest region, the shore/southeast, and the rest/southwest.

It's just another way to divide us. 😜

 

[RU4Real]

Yeah makes a lot of sense to me. And the vegetation transitions along those lines as well.

But I am cynical enough to doubt that any legislation would not follow the geological delineation.

Yeah, I don't have any hope that they'd actually use that complex a set of guardrails. But it makes me happy that some of us will always know the truth. 😉

 

[RU205]

IMHO after having lived all over the state here's my breakdown.

Central - Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth

Everything north of that is North Jersey and everything South is South Jersey.
Anyone who thinks Elizabeth is Central Jersey is insane.

I agree with you if they want to divide it by county lines.
Central - Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth
Union is North
Ocean is South

 

[knightfan7]

This. I'm going to guess that there are more pressing problems for the state to address.
How about this? NJ ranks as having two of the top five dirtiest cities in America.

2023's Dirtiest Cities in America - LawnStarter Blog

The cleanliness of your environment can impact your health. Find out which U.S. cities are the dirtiest in this LawnStarter ranking.

www.lawnstarter.com

Lawnstarter has a Better Business Bureau rating of "F". They should be more worried about cleaning up their own house.

 

[Knight Shift]

In my much younger days I met a girl in a shore nightclub who told me she was from the part of Staten Island that is in NJ. 🤔

Was her name Snookie or JWow?

 

[tom1944]

Agreed. A tough call is Carteret.

Carteret would be the northernmost town in Central Jersey

 

[Plum Street]

Union is definitely northern . Ocean is southern arguably .
Otherwise pretty accurate

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

Hell, as long as you are adjacent to Staten Island you can't be Central Jersey.

It’s comments like this that are the reason many say Central Jersey doesn’t exist.

 

[Plum Street]

Born and raised in Union County. It's Taylor Ham area. I agree with what RUReal posted above. To me North Jersey alway started at the Driscoll Bridge. Northern Middlesex County is definitely North Jersey. Hell, as long as you are adjacent to Staten Island you can't be Central Jersey.

Last I checked the only thing adjacent to Staten Island is waterways. Hence the “island”

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I always considered Woodbridge the northern edge of CNJ. Anything north of there ( ie., Rahway) is NNJ. Any town around the same parallel as Woodbridge (Piscataway, S. Plainfield, Middlesex, BB, Somerville, Green Brook, etc) is also CNJ

It’s debatable but Rahway is East of Colonia (Woodbridge)

 

[ponyfoot19]

Growing up and spending many a decade in NJ, the definition of zones was easy. If you had a an area code of 201 you were North Jersey, area code of 609 you were South Jersey. Blame the phone companies for the confusion by assigning new area codes.

 

[RU4Real]

Carteret would be the northernmost town in Central Jersey

Nope. Carteret was under the ice. North Jersey.

 

[BigRnj]

@colbert17
I would not consider Basking Ridge or Fords Central Jersey

Agreed. A tough call is Carteret.

All of Woodbridge Township including Fords, and Carteret (in fact ALL Middlesex county towns) are definitely CJ.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

All of Woodbridge Township including Fords, and Carteret (in fact ALL Middlesex county towns) are definitely CJ.

When I lived in Rahway no one considered it central Jersey and Woodbridge township was a 2 minute drive away

 

[ruinac]

All of Woodbridge Township including Fords, and Carteret (in fact ALL Middlesex county towns) are definitely CJ.

FWIW Carteret is not part of Woodbridge Twp

 

[BigRnj]

When I lived in Rahway no one considered it central Jersey and Woodbridge township was a 2 minute drive away

No one in Woodbridge considers it North Jersey. Rahway on on the other hand feels more like Linden, Elizabeth, Roselle Park, etc so yeah like North Jersey. All of Middlesex county is Central Jersey, period.

 

[robcac26]

This. I'm going to guess that there are more pressing problems for the state to address.
How about this? NJ ranks as having two of the top five dirtiest cities in America.

2023's Dirtiest Cities in America - LawnStarter Blog

The cleanliness of your environment can impact your health. Find out which U.S. cities are the dirtiest in this LawnStarter ranking.

www.lawnstarter.com

If they allocated funds to cleaning those cities, people would still have a problem with it and would say those cities should be the ones footing the bill rather than taxpayers throughout the state.

Born and raised in Union County. It's Taylor Ham area. I agree with what RUReal posted above. To me North Jersey alway started at the Driscoll Bridge. Northern Middlesex County is definitely North Jersey. Hell, as long as you are adjacent to Staten Island you can't be Central Jersey.

I grew up in Iselin and live in Edison now, and never considered it North Jersey. Definitely Central.