People hanging out on their stoops and talking to their neighbors on a nice night like tonight. Especially love the old JC native ladies sitting on beach chairs in their housedresses............beats sitting around the boob tube watching American Idol anytime.

Cheap, cool and convenient. Just how I like my ladies.

-The smell of salty sea air on rainy winter days near the waterfront, which instantly brings back summer memories when most needed

- having any amenities that i want near me
- proximity to anything (airports, major rail stations, bus stations, interstate)
- views of nyc
- alot of good restaurants at affordable prices (mmm churrasquiera )
- having the vast majority of my family within 20 min of my house

The Brownstones ? check out Bramhall Avenue if you like them too. The different churches every 10 feet. Summer nights on the porch ? Mr. Softee in the background?. Mt. Carmel & Holy Rosary Feasts. A Park Tavern burger. Well, Park Tavern ? period. White Castle. White Manna ? I think I have a Burger problem:o) JC sarcasm?.something very special about it...Making fun of Bayonne. Downtown renovations?.some of you have done amazing stuff. Street noise. Some people relax to the sounds of say, crickets. But, street noise is white noise to me. It actually lulls me to sleep. The Waterfront?Past, Present, rebuilt?whatever. It?s an amazing view of the Skyline, the Harbor and The Statue?. Our Proximity to the City. JCList, of course. Could go on for days?But, last but not least?Always. Always running into a JC native when traveling (2 weeks ago in Florida - 2 separate instances 1. Doctor in the ER (minor event) and 2. The TSA security guy ? both rambled on and on about the City?s history, Mayor Hague, what a dump it is and how much they miss it:o) And, I always end these conversations with, ?But, you should see it now.?

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There's nothing better than going to bed knowing that the chances of waking up in a pyroclastic flow are pretty low compared to other places.

And there hasn't been a single major asteroid strike since I moved here.

GWB

And it hasn't been subject to a volcanic eruption in a LONG time.

Oh I forgot:

The best Pizza in the world only in Jersey City:

Vinny's Pizza on 440:

And I just loooovvvveeee JCLIST, boring sometimes but at times REALLY GOOD THREADS like this one and

The bare butt naked lady thread I got lots of laughs outta that one.

Even the drug dealers are nice and say hello when you say hello to them.

My favorite thing is the high concentration of people I know in real life living within walking distance.

I LOOOOOVVVVEEEEEE JERSEY CITY!!, the originality of the people and the places here.

i've moved around a lot and there's somethings that keeps me coming back.

Like when you walk out of Target and see the Empire State building. I don't know what it is, but it never gets old.


I also love that building on Washington Ave (I think) that has the tree growing out the side of one of the windows.

Is it just me, or do those small things make you really love JC?

hope no one's posted this yet:

McNair Academic High !!!the best HS in NJ and one of the top 10 in the US

plus: the best HS Faculty i've ever had the pleasure of knowing

full disclosure: my son graduated there and my daughter's a senior...

Such a good idea! I may have to repeat some replys.

1. Great runs along the Hudson -- Best views of Manhattan

2. Bubby's

3. Bar Majestic

4. Van Vorst Park's fountain area

5. Merchant Burgers

6. The promise of restaurant row on Newark!!!!!

7. That italian ice man on weekends

8. Liberty State Park

9. That new Natural Organic store on Grove Street - SUPPORT THE LOCAL BUSINESSES!!!!!

10. Helen's Pizza

Sure this thread seems to have been dead for a while, but I can't keep quiet (even though almost all this stuff has been said before). I think it's really great that, despite all our bellyaching, so many people have been contributing to this list. It's been a great read.

So, without further ado (and in no order):

*The absolutely beautiful architecture
*Living in a 130-year-old building, with all its charms and challenges.
*Breathtaking neoclassical public buildings: The post office, town hall, the courthouse, the library, etc.
*My (mostly) very pleasant neighbors . . . and living in what's really a nice neighborhood.
*All the cool people who live here, even if I haven't met most of them yet.
*The embankment
*Lots of nice doggies
*Hell, even lots of nice (stray) cats, and the quirky people who feed them (even if I wish they wouldn't throw out their cat food tins in my trash cans)
*The PATH -- makes the MTA look like a bunch of rickshaws. And $.50 cheapter to boot!
*All the parades.
*Mr Softee, how I adore thee!
*And the walk-up window at Torico's.
*Delicious pizza at Lombardi's
*All the other great places to eat.
*The vast amount of diversity, from the Phillipine War Memorial, to the Cubans and Polish and everyone else living together.
*All the aweseom food that comes with that.
*Cafe con leche
*Fantastic butcher, fishmonger, and vegetable shops, not to mention the fancy-schmancy farmer's markets.
*Lots of art.
*Beautiful tree-lined streets
*Seeing the NYC skyline from the waterfront, or outside Exchange Place, or (the best) seeing the Empire State Building rising over the Target parking lot.
*Miss Liberty welcoming me home after I visit Central Jersey.
*The Liberty Science Center
*WFMU's record sales
*Living in a UEZ.
*Looking down Sixth to see how the setting sun reflects off that giant disgusting glass office building, like a orange tower against a blue sky.
*And, of course, the "naked mayor." That's a name I hope will stick.

I've of course left out obvious stuff like the cheap rent and easy access to work, and bad stuff, like how all my snobby Brooklynite friends seem to think I live 700 miles away, but even that's kind of awesome. I like that JC is a diamond in the rough.

Most of all I like that JC has let me take a job in in Manhattan but stay a New Jerseyan. Happy New Year, everyone.

No 20-30% down to buy an apt.
The tennis courts in Lincoln Park
Chicken Delight
Pizza Master (Love the Chicken Foccacia)
Jitneys
The views of NYC

Just Realizing HOW awesome IT IS to live in JC!

1. Madame Claudes (get the hangar steak with shallot sauce, or the smoked salmon crepe)

2. Path Train (Always Reliable, even during blackouts)

3. MANY Dunkin Donut's

4. Diversity!!! and EVERYONE seems to accept everyone!!

5. Friendlyness/Understanding (if that is even a word) I have smiled at and had more people smile at me during the heat wave, than ever before.

6. The 24 hour Fried Chicken Places!!! THANK YOU!

7. Ibby's!! That place makes me dream of Falafals and Hummus!!

8. The Waterfront, always relaxing!

9. The Street Festivals and Block Parties

10. The Grove Street Pimp!!! I am DYING to see him!

11. Kenny on the PATH train, who is collecting food for the Bergen Lafayette women and children!!!!

VIVA LA JERSEY CITY!!!!

1. Commute not affected by damage to overhead power lines and downed trees.
2. Had electricity and air-conditioning all night while there were power failures in the Bronx and Queens.

1)Three fruit stores, 2 pharmacies, countless delis, 2 bagel stores , 3 dollar stores, a fish store, a library etc. etc. all within a block of my apartment.
2) La Conga supermarket.
3) 50cent cans of soda or coffee at the local deli (being able to walk into a deli , buy a sandwhich , a bottle of water, a snack and a coffee all for less then the price of a sandwich in manhattan) .
4) The zen fountain in the Pershing building.
5) The great view from the lobby of the Hyatt hotel.
6) Manhattan at my doorstep.
7) The oasis of Van Voorst park.
8) Getting up at 8 to be at work by 9; being home from work before most of my co-workers have even made it to their commuter train.
9) Number One chinese on Newark and DJs on Grove., and all the other options for inexpensive take out.

1) 35 minute door to door easy commute to Manhattan
2) Rent about ? of what the same place in Manhattan would be
3) Not having to pay the 4% NYC income tax
4) Not supporting the agenda of the NYC city govt. or being subject to their gun laws
5) Being car-free without it being an impairment
6) Diversity without too much overt animosity
7) The waterfront walkway
8) How the development will keep things more affordable than it would be without it (doubtless, despite the developers? intentions)
9) The normal benefits of gentrification, such as better restaurants
10) Views of the Statue of Liberty and NYC and lots of trees on my street
11) The blissful quiet of my place and its sundeck
12) The folks I?ve met here
13) That the Golden Cicada owner won his eminent domain fight with help from a few others ? even in NJ politics fairness can win if a few people stand up.
14) Easy access to EWR and points north and south.

Ha, ha, I bitch enough about living in this metropolitan area and JC so it?s nice to think about why I do live here. For me JC is still the best place to live if you work in Manhattan.

What I love is the shock and awe on peoples' faces when you tell them you actually live in Jersey City.

Priceless!

I like:

1> The people
2> The bars and restaurants*
3> The fact that most of my friends are within walking distance as are all the bars we go to
4> That we can take a very long walk along the water with the beautiful view - ours is better than theirs! nah nah
5> That we can walk to LSP
6> My back porch/yard - the insanity in the asylum
7> PATH runs 24hours - even if we do detour though Hoboken (my friend had to leave early on Friday night because her car was parked at Montclair - they don't have train service on the weekends)
8> Pecoraro's & 2nd St Bakery
9> The nice people that say hello and are friendly in my building
10> My neighbors kids that watch my cats while we're away
11> JClist and all the great people I met through here
12> The arts
13> Walking distance from a mall & Target
14> Non-NYC rents
15> The local characters and flavor

Did I miss anything?


*Way too many to name!

In no particular order and please pardon the spelling?

1. Torrico?s Coconut Pineapple Ice Cream ? SMOKES the Haagen Dazs version

2. Owning a car, but having an insurance DISCOUNT because we don?t use it to drive to work.

3. ?Creative?, neighborhood gardening ? from windowboxes on brownstones to patches of corn.

4. The brasciole and gravy at 2nd Street Bakery

5. ?Possum-hunting? with the dogs during the last walk of the night at the embankment

6. Jersey City Pesto ? made fresh with basil from our garden (chromium be damned!).

7. Ethnic takeout and neighborhoods ? from a 15 minute walk from the intersection of Jersey & Newark the options include Vietnamese, Polish, Italian, Cuban, Pakistani, Syrian (Ibby?s), Chinese, Mexican. And then when you add the other JC areas? I always think of the Joe Strummer song ?Bhindi Bhagee? as the unofficial theme: ?Welcome stranger, to the humble neighborhood??

8. Moule Frite in mustard-wine sauce and crepes with nutella @ Madame Claudes.

9. Pizza @ La Rustique and the unscripted ?Honeymooners? routines from Charlie and Phil.

10. My dark, ?old-school?, 40-year-resident, Russian neighbors who scared the hell out of us at first with their tales of how bad everything is - but couldn?t be better people.

Things I can't believe no one has mentioned yet:

* The Embankment and the Resevoir
* Brunswick Window Gallery
* Balance Hair
* La Conguita
* Subias
* the cheesy multi-holiday decorations at City Hall
* and that Pimp guy

Not having to own a car has to be tops on my list.

A house and garden a 7 minute train ride to work is wonderful.

I love the Grace VV Church booksale

What I love about J.C.? Positive threads like this.

Seriously, everyone's named everything I've loved about this place since moving here in '98. There is just no other place like J.C.!!!

Thanks, Australian, for asking a great question.

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::shrugs::


i havent been to iris yet, but then i havent been one to *buy* music as of late, relying more on live shows, radio and my friends to introduce me to new bands.

to most i would suppose the biggest impact WFMU makes on jc as a local force, would be their irregular yard sale. i would volunteer if it fit into my schedule.

another thing i love about jc--the siperstein's paint can!

There was a nice thread apparently lost on this subject near the inception of jclist-

1) Not only diversity, but the mishmash of multi-ethnic and gay families.
2) PATH access to NYC, Newark, JC was built on proximity to NY / transportation and still is.
3) Liberty State Park.
4) Coming into Jersey City on the Pulaski Skyway
5) NYC Skyline and the Hudson River
6) Loew?s Theater
7) Little India
8) Grace Van Vorst as a cultural center
9) That little car (Henry J?) on top of the used car lot on lower Communipaw
10) The sense of neighborhood, though you may need to set down roots to get it.
11) Some of our neighbors that care about the city and its future
12) The idea of the cultural anchor of PAD
13) JC is a do it yourself kind of place that has the bones to be a great city.

I do not get including WFMU, while I love the station, you barely know that they are here and seem to have nothing to do with JC; rather I would also include Iris Records on Brunswick.

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of course. but that goes without saying.

love that casual jersey pride!

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No disrespect to JC but part of its greatness is its proximity to other places, namely the greatest f'in city in the world, and that its in the greatest state in the country, NJ. What's not to love about that?

i think it's funny how many lists have mentioned either our proximity to OTHER places, or our methods of transportation used to GET to other places. humph.

my 2c, no particular order

* madame claude
* bryan benninghove @ the lampost every wednesday
* tanqueria
* the castle-like cluster of brownstones on the eastern side of jersey avenue at 8th street
* the low-ees, err, loews.
* boulevard drinks
* torico's ice cream
* the white mana
* random weirdness - i hope this town its unique f890ed-upness. so much secret history.
* 58 coles
* dayri
* wfmu!

i wish i could include the canton, melt, and uncle joe's. sigh. and i'm undoubtedly forgetting a lot.