Honestly, I have nothing more to say, the views you have are a little narrow minded and a lot selfish. Maybe you should ask the mayor " Why should I care that Greenville is a ghetto that I would never set foot in?". or better yet, take the mic at the next Groove on Grove and address the crowd, and let them know how you feel. I am sure love will reign down on you in buckets, but what do you care right - it's your world right? We're all just living in it.

And as everyone knows, once upon a time downtown was a sh*t hole no one wanted to be in - and now it isn't. And it took close to 30 years for it get that way - so it's really speaks volumes about you for you to basically say now that this cool part of town is stabilized and nice, and you are there all comfy and cozy - fuq everyone else.

The way you are generalizing everyone and thing outside of downtown is the douchiest thing I've seen in a while on here. I used to rent downtown and me and my wife decided to lay roots here by buying. I am a creative director in NYC and she is a registrar at an art dealer and the best we could afford was over near Lincoln Park. To imply that anyone outside downtown doesn't work hard or lives like sh!t is fuq'd up

The area is very safe, I walk from down on Duncan between Westside and 1 almost everyday to JSQ for the past 2 1/2 years after moving from downtown. My little section had more to deal with than any part of Duncan east of me. I have worked effortlessly with the police and the city to help positively change things here, and I must say the ball has begun rolling.

Man, I looked at that place a few years ago pre-reno. It was a dump, so crazy to see it now like that

Being that I live off of that street I couldn't agree more KH

I'm not sure if you were referring to my post, but since I moved to that side of town I have done nothing but not accept the litter that was there. I cleaned not only my street but a quarter of a mile up Duncan Ave. But I realized not only was it foolish to put this onus on me solely, but a waste of time to try and accomplish it by myself. I am relentless with my councilman and the JCIA contact I have about doing things to address the problem - from more clean up crews to warning and fining property and business owners, and although not at the pace I would like, it is working. Downtown does not have a litter problem....at least not one that people walking to the PATH on their daily commute can't solve

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Litter? If you think Downtown has litter, walk or Citibike down Montgomery heading west, and I will show you a litter problem.

As 2 shootings happen pretty much around the corner from me and a couple blocks up.....

Me, my wife and daughter moved from downtown a year and a half ago to the general area ( I am actually off Duncan near Lincoln Park.) In our case, we wanted to plant some roots, and being that we are not people of great financial means, our options were limited as to where would could look to buy. No, this side of town obviously does not have the amenities that downtown has, nowhere else in JC really does, the Heights ehh. This side of town I personally believe though will be on the rise, not just because I live here. I know quite a few people that have done exactly what I did, in terms of the move. And even in the year and a half that I have been there I have seen progress in varying forms. In terms of walking late at night, I personally don't do it and wouldn't not just here but in a lot of places outside of downtown, but then again, depends on what your calling late. You always have the bus option, and of course the cabs.

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You have no idea how often I am hearing this from the city officials I am in constant contact with

Thanks man, I am trying!

Agreed to many of your points, but, without city support there is an inherent difficulty in making an area more desirable to eventually achieve maybe not a "critical" mass but a more sizeable one. Would you be more attracted to an area, and forget about amenities, that is clean and fairly well kept or one that is a perpetual shit hole? I understand how long it took downtown to come around, as I said, I witnessed it in part through my passings through the years. Downtown is full and people will look for other parts to settle. The curb appeal of a neighborhood has a lot to do with where that happens to be, and although you may tell me different, I know downtown's aesthetic was not 100% due to solely resident effort. In any event, I'm not trying to pick fights, I'm just fed up. I just find it hard to believe/accept that the plight of an area rests SOLELY, and I repeat SOLELY on the aspects pointed out.

"I agree with you entirely about what it is you want: clean streets and safety, which should be something that everybody in Jersey City should be entitled to. I'm just saying that without 24/7 access to the region's employment and cultural core, your neighborhood will probably not attract a "critical mass" of residents that absolutely demand the streets be clean, and require interesting and plentiful amenities in the neighborhood."

First off, I know plenty of people that make complaints/requests about things in this neighborhood that get little to no response - eventually giving up out of frustration. I on the other had have been beyond vigilant and I am beginning to get results. The point being - I shouldn't have to F'NG BEG everyday for these things and not get them because there isn't a F'NG Path train around the corner! I know what downtown used to be like, I have been in and out of JC quite a bit because of musical interests for the past 17 years or so. I used to pick up a girl who played bass in a band I was in for practice who lived right by Van Vorst Park, and I'd shit my pants waiting for her to come out to the car at night

Why do I get the impression sometimes that people in certain parts of town don't want to really see any other part get better?

So someone like me, who is now a hair over a mile away from JSQ, who decided to stay in this city and pay taxes and plant roots should basically just accept the shitty things to stay that way because I don't make as much money as people in the more "desirable" parts of town and can't live where they are? I am asking basically for the city to keep the streets clean, doesn't seem like a lot to ask or unreasonable

PS - re-reading my post I realize how poorly it was written. I am at work and probably be spending the time here I am on this board, but reading through this thread evoked a deep emotional response considering the b.s. I have been dealing with on this very matter so it was more a spewing than a compostion

Ok, I may speak for a small minority of people but that does not invalidate the points I am about to make. Me, my wife, and my daughter moved from downton a year and a half ago. We had lived in a small apartment on 5th Street between Monmouth and Coles and with my daughter getting bigger we knew we had to find another place. Me and my wife both work in the arts, and we are by no means people of wealth, nor are we destitute. So we decided, hey, we both work in NYC, staying here in JC is the most cost effective place to stay in terms of transportation costs, so let's look for a place to buy. Downtown was obviously out of the question, so the heights and the Westside became our focus. Originally we looked at condos, but when we realized making that happen because of owner occupancy rules and the amount for a down payment where obstacles, we ended up looking at houses. We ended up finding a place off Duncan near Lincoln Park. Ever since we have been there I have done whatever I could to make my surroundings better. That includes cleaning not only my street but most of Duncan between Westside and Rt. 1. By myself it is a near impossible task to keep up with, and I beg city officials daily for help, which comes at the pace of a three legged turtle. My point in all of this is this - I am not what is perceived to be the typical inhabitant of this neighborhood as described by previous posters, and I know many more who are not either that have come to this part of town. These areas NEED the city's attention. No one will ever want to start occupying an area if it is continually treated like some disfigured stepchild that you hide in the attic. I never truly realized how different life in downtown and other spots truly was until I actually lived here, and now that I am a resident of this neighborhood I am beyond pissed and frustrated that I can't get responses to the requests I make. To simply say, these parts of town are filled with this type of person or that type and they aren't worth attending to or servicing is a complete horesh@t answer that I will not idly stand by and accept

Will be interesting to see how many people start utilizing it on a daily basis in certain locales as part of their daily commute to the PATH. I mean, if people in my neck of the woods, near Lincoln Park, think oh, I'll just bike to Journal Square, where are they going to leave the bike when all the other people in the surrounding area near JSQ think the same thing. There are only so many parking spots for those bikes - would suck to ride there and realize you have nowhere to leave it.

Your best bet is to just go there

How is it that a Neo Liberalist with such an anti capitalist view resides in what would arguably be one of the sections of town where most people sit on the higher end of the socio-economic ladder? I respect your viewpoints, and the statements you made in subsequent posts, but when I saw in your user profile what section of town you listed, I was kind of thrown. Granted, I know nothing about you and your economic standing, so I don't want to make any wrongful assumptions - for all I know you could be sharing an apartment with 4 other people. But my points in this all is this - number one, to embrace an ideology such as the one you profess it seems kind of ironic to me that you would choose to settle in a part of a city which has what I believe has been identified has the 8th highest rent rate in the country. If we are indeed slaves to an economic system - which I am not arguing we aren't - why choose to have to work all the more harder and give up more to live in said location. Once again, I am not judging here, just trying to understand your statements in the context of the big picture here - and as I said I know nothing about you so my comments be out of place.

As to my second point - I live on the West Side near Lincoln Park, we have been there for about a year and a half now after living downtown for almost 5 years (rented there, bought where I am now). The first thing I noticed when I got there was how much more dirty it was, and I have taken it upon myself to be the "custodian" of my street and a lot of Duncan Avenue. Those pics of the park are nothing compared to what I see and have to deal with on a DAILY BASIS. Although I am not a cheerleader for any of the -ism's, but I am not going to blame any of them for the litter I see on a daily basis. If I got into the "this begets this" argument, I'd be talking for days and pouring over "if this-then this" arguments and scenarios ad nauseum. It all boils down to simple personal accountability and respect - for oneself, others and in this regard, your neighborhood and the world itself.