It was NOT inevitable for the Ale House and Simple to fail. I hear what you're saying about boutiques maybe struggling, but those two eateries/bars did quite well until very recently. But then they made changes that people didn't like. The Ale House added those awful TVs and their food quality went down. Simple's menu and food quality went down too.

I think that businesses like that will do quite well in Hamilton Park, provided they have the right atmosphere and a decent (not 5-star, but decent) menu. People post on JC List all the time looking for a place to eat in HP. A lot of people miss the way those places used to be.

Any more news on when this place is opening? The paper is down from the windows.

The highest endorsement for this place seems to be "can't complain" about the food and "good value." It seems to me that there should be a GREAT restaurant on the water. This place doesn't sound great.

Oh, sorry. I saw "apartment's owner" but missed the part about the dog's owner.

The reports don't say whether the dogs belonged to the people they attacked.

Oh, I'm so sorry this happened. I assume these were out-of-towners who might now be afraid to come back to JC. This happened to me when I lived in North Bergen-- once my windshield, once my side mirror. Right outside my building.

I don't know what to suggest, except maybe to put a security camera outside. That way if it happens again, you can give something to the police. Incidents like this are unfortunate because they can scare people away from your warm and wonderful business.

There are different accents for North, Southern, and Central Jersey.

Northern is influenced by New York City.
Southern is influenced by Philadelphia.
Central is its own thing. See "Clerks."

It's true that B&N (both in Hoboken and Edgewater) is often used as a hang out, a daycare center, and a library.

JC used to have a bookstore on Grove St. This was 10 years ago or something. I think it's _possible_ that a bookstore could survive if it sold used/rare books (not new--too much competition from Amazon) and maybe got itself involved in the community with authors and events. But since bookstores and really anything cultural have struggled in Hoboken, the sense I get is that a lot of residents in the area are more interested in salons, bars, cell phone places, and restaurants and not so interested in bookstores and galleries.

Here are some resources:

http://spotcrime.com/nj/jersey+city


And this is from a few years ago:

http://www.starledger.com/str/indexpage/crime/JC_Crime_Overall.jpg

Bakery? I never heard that a bakery is coming to HP. All I know about is Cocoa Bakery on Grand. Any details?

I hope the pet store has grooming/nail clipping. My dog isn't walking well right now, and it's a pain to go to Canis Minor and park in that narrow little deck.

Jeez, you guys are pretty judgmental. Someone is losing their home and all you can talk about is whether he's mentally ill or just a second-rate book collector?

I went into Smith and Chang earlier today. It's a really nice store with a very nice owner who was also involved in the early years of Basic (but later sold it). He said they aim to sell goods made by small companies and artists, mostly within the region. The goods are also Earth-friendly. Many of them are all-natural, recycled, and such. The store has an eclectic selection of furniture, cast iron pots, natural soaps, lighting, gifts, and more, and everything is very nice. And the prices are really very reasonable. He said they also plan to carry practical items, like toothpaste and things.

There's a bit about the store here:

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... hamilton-square-and-more/

Yes, I agree. I think my 2-year-old niece loves it too. It's a good place for younger kids, but maybe not so much for older kids and teens. And I think there are science museums that do a better job of making sure that people of all ages are interested and entertained.

So to the parents of younger kids, yes, I would recommend it.

I guess I'll be the lone dissenter here and say that I went there a few months ago and was disappointed. The exhibits weren't that impressive (though I wasn't looking at it from a child's perspective). A lot of it was just computerized games. I felt like they could have done more with all the space they had.

I went by Smith and Chang's tonight. I wasn't able to go in because I had my dog, but it looked nice from the outside. My sister went in and thought they had some interesting stuff. She talked to the owner (I guess he's the owner), who confirmed that the wine shop would be coming and also said something about a restaurant (didn't say what kind) and a pet shop. Hadn't heard the pet shop rumor before. I hope it's a groomer--would be nice to be able to quickly take my dog there. I hope Smith and Chang gets some signs up. Not much foot traffic around there, but maybe when the park and other stores open, they'll get some good business. Plus there's not a Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel in the Newport Mall, and with presumably more unique stuff, S&C might have a shot.

I believe Hamilton Park has long been mostly a residential neighborhood--more residential than some other downtown JC neighborhoods--so it has never had a lot of retail around it, at least not in recent years. That said, the area has lost a few of its restaurants (hopefully temporarily) and does seem to be rather light on services, except delis. All I know about Hamilton Square is that there will be a gym and some sort of boutique called Smith and Changs. I hope there will also be a restaurant. At one point there was talk of a noodle shop, but that was a long time ago.

I was living in JC in 2000 and remember asking my roommate if we had gotten a census form in the mail. She said no. As I recall we shared a mailbox with the people in the upstairs apartments (we had the downstairs duplex). Maybe we only got one form and one of the others filled it out, but I wasn't counted.

I don't want to condemn all delivery drivers either. There have been a couple of times when I've been pleased. One was when I ordered a laptop and I wasn't home , so they left it with a neighbor. Part of me was pleased, because the explanation was that the delivery guy (can't remember whether it was UPS or USPS) didn't want to leave it in the hallway or on his truck, and part of me was horrified, because how did he know my neighbor wouldn't go, "Computer? What computer?" when I knocked on his door to pick it up. Not a good idea to order a computer online anyway. The other time was when I ordered vitamins and the mailman insisted on bringing it to me (rather than leaving it) even though he did'nt have to because "it sounded like pills" and he didn't want me to be without important medication.

Okay, FedEx person who delivers to Hamilton Park-- I'm onto you. I was home all day yesterday and expecting a package, and no one rang the buzzer. At about 5 pm I discovered a tag in the vestibule of my building. "We missed you," eh? How about doing your job and actually calling upstairs to see if I'm home?

I tend to think that the impact of this site is mostly positive.If you read through the posts, you can tell that JC has a lot going on. The negative attitude of many of the posters is odd-- I used to read a forum about Portland, Maine, when I lived there, and I the tone certainly wasn't blindly positive, but any criticism of the city was constructive, and people didn't criticize _each other_. People generally worked together to build a better community. But I think the negative posters say more about themselves than about this city or this forum. I do believe that negative posts (about car accidents, corruption, etc.) get more attention/replies than positive ones (about new businesses, etc.), but maybe that's just human nature. Or maybe it IS really hard to live in this part of the country and people are just looking for something to piss on.

I have a hand-me-down Braun coffeemaker that must be 20 years old. It's ugly, but it works great. They don't make them like they used to!

From his bio it sounds like he was born in JC, raised in a bunch of places, and lives... in Florida? Where he lives now wasn't clear, actually.

I tried going to Balance 5 times and had three different stylists. I was never happy with the results. Since they seem to get raves from some and jeers from others, I can only assume that they're good at some types of hair and hair styles and bad with others. I'm happy for people who have good experiences there, because it's a cool place. I've been much happier with Studio 17-- and it's cheaper.

So there's a sign up at Hamilton Square that one of the stores there will be Smith and Chang (I think that's the name), some kind of boutique that promotes healthy living. Sounds interesting, although it's taking forever for anything to open in that building. Thoughts?

Does anyone have any experience with the boarding facilities at Boca's Play and Stay (dog boarding)? My usual boarding person is not available at the time I need.

Anyone know if they're kind, trustworthy, what the boarding facilities are like, etc?

You might want to post this to the Yahoo dog group, too. I truly hope you find Benji!

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/DOGJC/

I think one thing the OP was objecting to was the chance that downtown JC could turn into an urban version of a mall--sort of like Hoboken. Mediocre restaurants, big box stores, etc... no decent bookstores no decent music venues, no art galleries. Sure, right now there's still an artist community, but for how long? And maybe the OP fears that the people who he observes are likely to attract bars, designer boutiques, and big box stores and likely to drive up property values to the point where artists and blue collar people are priced out. That, along with government preference for the development of condos over the development of community services, could lead to a cold, stale downtown and a city that has two groups: upper middle class professionals and poor people.

They've put the benches around the fountain, and I, for one, think it looks nice. I just don't know... People complain about high property taxes, yet they expect Central Park. I'm very excited about our newly refurbished park.

The Web site now has all the info about grab n go dinners and everything else. Looks great!
http://www.madewithloveorganics.com/

Celeste, I was in for brunch on Sunday and had the farmer's breakfast. It was great-- eggs, hash browns with onion in them, sauteed spinach, and homemade bread. It tasted like I had made the breakfast, if I were a great cook. Very homemade and yummy.