Third generation native of Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island. Introduced to Jersey City by an old NY friend, who had lived in East Brunswick for a while. Moved here in 1998 to be close to the World Trade Center (cutting my commute from 1 1/2 hours to 10 minutes.) Came to enjoy all the city conveniences. Love being able to go to NYC on a moments notice. Still have a short 30 minute commute to my new work location.

This is an interesting thread.

When I decided to move here for a job in downtown NYC I essentially took a protractor and drew a circle around where I would be working. I hate commuting but at the time could not afford Manhattan. Once I realized that living in the other boroughs would subject me to both NYC's firearms laws and an additional 4% income tax I know it was JC or Hoboken. I moved to a crappy studio in Paulus Hook but after a couple years found a nice apartment in an owner resident brownstone. The funny thing is that the 'hood has improved so much that my girlfriend doesn't feel entirely comfortable walking around in her normal attire. We could have worse problems....

I lived in Hoboken, alone and then with my husband, since 1984. We had a lovely apartment on Washington and third, but we were getting tired of the frat boy atmosphere (people throwing up in our doorway three times a week,sports bars galore, etc.) We looked around Hoboken to buy, but anything that we would even consider was $700,000 or more. An artist who we met took us up to the Heights and drove us around..I wouldn't say we fell in love, but we were intrigued. We found a place on Webster and put in a bid, which was accepted, and then I panicked. I was so sad to leave Hoboken, sure that I would never feel at home up here. I was so wrong...that was seven years ago, and I've never looked back. We have met the most interesting neighbors. It's like Mayberry here on our street...i always run into friends, and people stop by for coffee or to chat on the front porch. We love our house and our gorgeous, lush backyard. There are some drawbacks, of course (extremely loud neighbors across the backyard with thumping music sometimes) and there are hassles that one doesn't encounter in a more gentrified place (garbage on the street, indifferently timed public transportation, etc.) but we also have a lot of dedicated friends/neighbors who are working tirelessly to make the place better.

originally from maryland, but after graduating from monmouth university i lived at the shore for a year or two before moving in with a fellow classmate in JC who had already been living here for a few months. i was wooed by the fact that the rent was on par with what i'd paid in long branch and red bank and that i could do late nights in the city without having such a long trek home.

after following my roommate to JC, within a year i began dating a jersey-native brooklyner and lured my new boyfriend to JC as well. he was pretty impressed with the much lower rent and shockingly easier, cheaper, and shorter commute to his job on the west side. soon my roommate and i moved to a larger place so another girl friend relocating from new brunswick could join us, and two months ago (after spending dozens of nights on my futons) 4 long-time friends from college literally became my new neighbors.

interesting side story: two years ago at easter dinner my boyfriend and i were shocked to learn that his dad grew up exactly next door to the house i lived in at the time. #242 and #244.

I was born and raised in the least populated state in the country. Then I went to school in the hottest [but it's a dry heat] state. Then started my career in Southern California. Then I met my now Husband while he was consulting in So Cal... a few years later I followed him to Jersey City. :) I've only been here for about 4 months. So in short I moved here for love <3

Was born in the Margaret Hague and grew up one of 4 boys on Concord and Fleet St in a house my great-grandparents bought in 1917. St. Joe's, Prep, SHU then SPC. Lived in Greenville and Country Village, then bought by Lincoln Park. 3 kids, 1 going to college, 1 in St. Doms and 1 in Prep. Work in Manhattan, so it has always been an easy commute.

My dad came here over 30 years ago and my grandparents, my mother and her siblings came here over 40 years ago. My grandfather worked hard to buy a house (which my family still owns). My parents met, married and bought a business and building down the block from my mother's family about 30 years ago (which they still own and we still live in). My uncles also opened a business over 30 years ago on Central Ave. which they still own and run.

I love Jersey City, but theres plus and minus to every place. I've seen it change so much but there is still definitely more room for improvement. So hopefully as the years go by it will continue and change for the better.

My family and I immigrated here in '81, when I was 7. We lived in the JSQ area for a few months, then moved to the Gregory Apartments (now known as Metropolitan Towers) since my aunt already lived in bldg 2. My sis and I went to OLC and graduated from there. I'm still amazed at how downtown JC has changed over the years. We were there for the opening of Newport Centre Mall (which was also the longest ribbon cutting at the time..and made the Guinness Book of World Records!) and still remember the semi-ghetto Shop Rite that was across the street from our apt building on Marin Blvd (formerly known as Henderson St.).

Anyway, all this reminiscing should probably be for another thread. This is how we got here and 29 years later, we're still here. This town grows on you, I think.

Around 15 years ago JC was cheap.....much cheaper then Bayonne and there were more warehouses that could be converted.......so here I am

There is another thread on this topic but either it was "lost" during one of the past forum backup losses or who knows.

Moved here in '82 after breakup with gf where we lived in Park Slope/Prospect Heights.

My two friends I knew from our mutual pursuits of book biz and jazz radio told me to join them on Barrow St where we had a duplex with 3 bedrooms, huge living room, eat-in dining room/kitchen, 2 baths and free enclosed parking lot all for $600 split 3 ways plus split on utils. Spent first 5 years in NYC environs at nite till finally started to hang here more than NYC when first new bar in downtown JC opened up called "J.C. Winston's" opened by Ron Saxe who was president of the JC taverns assn. I lived across the street at one point and there are stories writ large on that place including it was where Richard Price hung out with the biker cops for a year gathering info for his book Clockers.

JC is it's own reason now for being here even though I still love NYC days and nites of music of all sorts and jazz-filled wanderings with friends across all of NYC though primarily downtown.

That's my short story and I'm stickin' to it!

A friend of mine from Rutgers moved here after graduation because her friends, also from our dorm and a year older, had been living here. Because she was here, she showed my exgf around and so she moved here. I then moved here, and at about the same time my former roommate from New Brunswick also moved in down the street. He was followed by a few of his friends and his brother. My brother followed after me, taking my old apartment and many of his friends followed. Basically, living here spread like an infectious disease among about 5 years of Rutgers graduates.

I settled in JC after I realized that I couldn't afford hoboken. I grew up in Union county and moved to Hoboken b/c of the short commute to NYC . I bought buy my condo in '02 and I fell in love with Hamilton Park neighborhood. I can't see myself anywhere else.

I married into JC. I am from Texas originally and was living in NYC when I met my husband. I never would have chosen to live here but absolutely love our house and have learned to like downtown.

I grew up in NJ, but was living in Inwood and working downtown. I ran into a friend who was a real estate agent who talked me into buying a two family house in the heights. I was 24 then, not so concerned about the kinds of things I would be looking at now if I was buying. But, 10 years later, I've been able to invest a lot into it and I absolutely love my place.

I'd like to see more restaurants though and would also like Pershing Field to fix up the tennis courts and track!

So, after years of lurking about, two posts today pushed me to register and reply.
My husband and I moved to the Lower East Side almost 20 years ago and eventually had a baby. Then wanting a better apartment, we moved to Greenpoint Brooklyn. When our older daughter was ready for kindergarten we faced a choice, private school, or public school. Friends of ours had moved to Hoboken where they found a brand new charter school for their daughter. We thought we'd give home ownership and charter schools a try, and we bought a home in the Heights on Ogden, 10 years ago. Now our oldest attends McNair and our younger daughter is in the charter school we love (Elysian in Hoboken). So odd as it sounds, we moved to Jersey City for the schools. Now if only the Heights had come along like the LES and Williamsburg Greenpoint. . . . . .

We bought our JC condo during a fit of temporary insanity, which is now looking more permanent.

My then-boyfriend and I used to park in JC (near the current Grove Pointe) when going into NY when we lived in New Brunswick. We'd also go to Uncle Joe's a ton where he played in his band at the time.

When we decided to move in together 5 years ago, we only considered JC. We rented a 2-bedroom on Jersey, near 6th, which we loved. Then last year we got married (at the Loew's) and bought on 5th st, near Monmouth. We avoid the topic of where we'll go next...for now, we're just excited and consider ourselves fortunate to live where we do.

Hello,
I was a long time Hoboken resident, 1989 - 2008, where I rented then owned a condo. When my boyfriend and I were looking to move in together, we decided to choose JC over Hoboken on the grounds of more space for the money. We moved to the Hamilton Park neighborhood in 10/08. I thought I'd never leave Hoboken and was amazed how quickly I fell in love with JC. I wish I'd moved here sooner.
Now we are about to get married and about to close on a condo by St Peters College, where we hope to remain for some time.

I was born in Jersey City at the Margaret Hague Maternity Center and grew up on Thorne Street and Beacon Avenue.

My handle reflects what the Heights used to be named - the independent city of Hudson City - from 1855 until May 2, 1870.

There are a few reminders of my past - the Hudson City Savings Bank, Hudson City Post Office on Central and the Hudson City Library on Zabriskie. The former town hall still stands on Oakland Avenue.

Got a job in NYC that required me to relocate. Didn't want to give up the comforts to which I've grown accustomed like a car, washer/dryer in my apartment, and living without roommates. Couldn't find what I was looking for in the city and someone suggested that I check out JC, especially since my commute is to the financial district. I was satisfied with what I saw when I came to visit and now here I am!

Were you born and raised? Are a transplant? Let's hear your story!

I graduated from Fordham U in 1989 and was living in the Bronx. I wanted to move so my "college years" would end and my "adult years" (heavy on the quotes!) would start. I looked at the LES but it was still a very dodgy area. I looked into Brooklyn and Queens. A friend from work happened to be sharing and apt in JSQ. I really liked the PATH train; it was clean and quick (compared to my 40 minute commute on the D train from Fordham Road). I liked Jersey City. Of course my "hip" friends all laughed at me!

I picked up a Village Voice and checked the apts for rent section. There was a one bedroom in JC listed with fireplace, dish washer and hardwood floors for $750. (Keep in mind that this was 1990 and I made the mistake of going to a Hoboken realtor and he laughed when I asked for a one bedroom for $750!). I wanted to see the place.

I found myself at the Pavonia/Newport PATH station. It was wierd-- mostly vacant lots, a few office and apt bldgs and a mall. As I walked to the apt I asked a couple of young women about living in the area.

"You want to live on 8th Street? That's a good street. You really don't want to live on other streets."

Long story short, I rented the apt and bought it in 1997. The area has really come along!

Webbie-- pls merge this if another thread about this exists. I couldn't find one when I searched.