.

I have posted this link before.

We made the big times in 2007...the front page of USA TODAY!


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-15-jersey-city_N.htm

a nice piece.



Here is a side bar they had with the piece?

The city also is among the nation?s most densely populated.
A comparison with other major cities in people per square mile in 2005:

New York : 26,848
Jersey City: 16,776
San Francisco: 15,837
Chicago: 12,515
Boston: 11,543
Philadelphia: 10,832


PS ? Yes I had the front page framed !

So, we all reside in a "livable city suburb"? LOL.

Developers Create Neighborhood Feel With Condos and Shops

The New York Times
By ALISON GREGOR
Published: April 28, 2011


AT HOME Hamilton Square, in Jersey City's historic district, has ground-floor retail and condos newly built in the shell of a former hospital.

WHEN Eric and Paul Silverman began developing here in 1981, they realized that building housing alone was not enough to attract new residents to what was then a very troubled city. Instead, they focused on projects that combined residential and retail to create a neighborhood feel.

The two brothers? latest project is Hamilton Square, 124 apartments and stores about six blocks from the Hudson River waterfront in a historic district of elegant late Victorian town houses.

About two-thirds of the apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, are in what was once a hospital, with wings built in 1927 and the 1980s; the rest are new construction. Their loftlike interiors, with exposed concrete ceilings and ductwork, and an assortment of homegrown retailers on the project?s ground floor, are attracting buyers who say they feel at home, even if they are coming from Manhattan.

?On the Upper West Side now, we have a lot of banks and so forth,? said Marsha Cutler, who after living there for more than 15 years will move next month with her husband, Carlos Lamourt, into a 1,650-square-foot Hamilton Square two-bedroom with a 1,000-square-foot terrace. ?But Hamilton Square is almost what the West Side was 10 years ago ? a lot of independent stores.?

One-bedrooms range from $385,000 to $599,000; two-bedrooms are $565,000 to $875,000; and three-bedrooms $900,000 to $1.35 million. All apartments have eco-friendly features like bamboo flooring over cork, recycled glass countertops and cabinets made with wood from Connecticut. Baths have radiant-heated floors; units have washers and dryers.

Ms. Cutler said she and her husband had been looking for a home in New Jersey to be closer to their two granddaughters in nearby Bloomfield. Both had enjoyed Jersey City?s restaurants while visiting friends there, and they found the train commute to their jobs near Pennsylvania Station would take the same amount of time as the trip from the Upper West Side.

?I personally love the scale of a historic district,? she said, ?and by Hamilton Square, it?s just beautiful. You?ve got all the brownstones; you?ve got the park; you have a lot of families; you have a lot of independent stores.?

Many Manhattan buyers at Hamilton Square are seeking more space, including closet space and outdoor space, as well as larger kitchens, said Sawyer Smith, the director of sales.

Alan Ginsberg, a Brooklyn native who rented in Chelsea for 23 years, found Hamilton Square through friends residing in Jersey City.

?They said, ?Why don?t you come and look here?? ? Mr. Ginsberg said. ?I said: ?Absolutely not. I?d never do it. I?m a New York native, and I?ll never live in New Jersey.? ?

But, finally persuaded to look, Mr. Ginsberg said he had been immediately attracted to the spaciousness and style of his 1,000-square-foot one-bedroom at Hamilton Square, with views of the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. He moved in last October. ?I love, love, love my apartment ? the view, the space, the price, the convenience,? he said.

Mr. Smith, the sales director, is also one of the retailers whom the Silverman brothers attracted to the development. He and a partner, Alex Chang, formed Smith & Chang General Goods, which sells everything from kitchenware to bath products to antique furniture and locally made jewelry.

Although the Silvermans prefer having several established retailers in each of their developments, they often nurture new retail businesses like Smith & Chang, said Eric Silverman, a principal in the brothers? company. They provide start-up capital and financing for improvements, or offer help with marketing, networking, event planning and encouraging residents to become customers.

In the case of Smith & Chang, they had the owners decorate some model apartments in Hamilton Square, which has drawn many customers, said Paul Silverman, also a principal.

?A lot of people who live here like to buy things from them, or ask them to decorate,? he said. About 62 units have closed at Hamilton Square, he said, and the developers have plans to build 100 more apartments.

Among established businesses in Hamilton Square are Tribeca Pediatrics and Newport Pharmacy; among new businesses are Hamilton Health and Fitness, Downtown Coop and Madame Claude Wine. The Silvermans helped a former Rockette, Amy Burnette, establish a performing arts studio, Next Step Broadway, in another location before she moved to Hamilton Square.

The area?s revival is being further helped by a $3.2 million renovation of the five-acre Hamilton Park, to the west of Hamilton Square, which added a children?s spray park and two dog parks, among other improvements.

But Jersey City?s evolution toward a livable city suburb has been slower than neighboring Hoboken?s. Even in the last decade the few families who used the park would leave by 5 p.m., said Alice Troletto, who owns Madame Claude Wine with her husband, Mattias Gustafsson. ?We didn?t want to stay,? said Ms. Troletto, who raised two children in Jersey City. ?It was too scary.?

Now the park is filled with children and families at all hours. ?It?s been a great catalyst for the neighborhood,? Paul Silverman said.


see article (click this link)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/rea ... sting.html?ref=realestate