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No its shouldn't. This type of kiss-assery really needs to stop.

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Harrison.

I often refer to the Path as "the subway" in a general sense, because well, it IS a subway, and aside from people who are from NJ, nobody knows what the hell I'm talking about when I say "the Path". I have had people say, "what path?", or "path to where?".

You guys, this means only a few more trend pieces until Jersey City is truly, unquestionably relevant. Nice work.

YAWN

Kind of silly that the author just throws in at the end of the article the massive amount of development going on within a relatively small area of downtown JC, almost as an afterthought. That's the big news and what makes the state of JC real estate newsworthy in the first place. It should have been near the top of the first page.

Here is the quote, near the bottom of the second page of the article:

"Developers are building, and not just along the waterfront. Citywide, 2,610 units of housing are under construction and 11,405 more have been given the green light, according to the mayor?s office. In fact, the city has enough developable land available to fill all of Hoboken, which is one square mile. But the construction is still not keeping pace with demand. In July there was only a two-month supply of available homes downtown, according to Liberty Realty."

Most New Yorkers don't know New Jersey exists, let alone Jersey City.

Hmmm, I wonder where I'll move to when I get priced out of DT... The Heights? Bayonne?

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I totally agree with this. The Path should just be the "P" line or some other letter. It looks and functions just like the subway, although it's usually a bit cleaner. And you can use a metro card to get on. I think from a marketing standpoint that assigning it a letter would go a long way to undo the psychological barrier mentioned in the article that New Yorkers have of commuting to JC. Brooklyn'ers also cross a river to get home, so there's really no reason for it.

I know the NY Times gives the occassional nod to JC such as the recent bit about the Fulop election and a "The Hunt" column here and there but I don't believe I've seen a Sunday Real Estate section feature piece on JC yet. As an owner who recently made the same Manhattan to JC move that some of those in the article did I like the coverage. When we were looking in palces like Bushwick, PLG, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn we knew it was time to cross the Hudson. So much more on offer for less.

As an aside, there's this BIG piece in NY Mag from 2007 about JC (which I'm sure many have already seen) that is amusing/interesting. "Where to live to be cool right now":

http://nymag.com/news/features/25014/

Quote:every 6 months, more like. I'd rather they stop discovering it, to be honest. I like my rents where they are right now.

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I have always used train and subway interchangeably, when referring to the NYC subway (which I hear more and more people call The Metro, ou la la) and have often heard people use the term PATH train in my 30 years here. Technically, I believe the word subway refers to the underground tunnels and not the vehicles which are trains.

I would like more and more rich people moving here - from wherever - to create the market for better restaurants, groceries and stores. Oh also artists with stainless steel appliances, preferably Bosch or Miele.

Is it just me or does the Times release a carbon copy of this article every year or two saying New Yorkers have finally 'discovered' JC?

Does anyone know where Fulop is moving to in BeLa?

Of course, it's one thing to induce people to live in JC, getting tourists to come is a different ball o' wax: Can the Chilltown Rebels Defeat the Empire so that They May Live in Freedom and Dignity? (A Photo-Essay)

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Taking the Path "train" implies distance. From a proximity standpoint just take the subway, the Path line, ok? Of course this simple marketing change may help some new yorkers break their neuronal barriers but the question is whether we would really want that many of them to settle here...

"But when she and her husband, Serge, a Brooklyn native, began searching for a larger apartment, the best they could find was a Crown Heights two-bedroom listed at $3,200 a month. ?It was in a questionable area and still an hour-and-five-minute commute to work,? said Ms. Madhere, an associate production manager for the Hearst Corporation.

Reluctantly, Ms. Madhere ventured to Jersey City. When she saw the Beacon, a 14-acre Art Deco complex, she was sold."

Ms. Madhere, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. Please call me.

The New York Times
By RONDA KAYSEN
Published: August 15, 2013

Have New Yorkers finally discovered Jersey City?

As property values soar even in Brooklyn neighborhoods once viewed as on the fringe, New Yorkers are looking across that other river that separates Manhattan from the rest of the world: the Hudson. And some of them are heading to Jersey City, which has a flintier personality than Hoboken, its preppy neighbor to the north. New Jersey?s second-largest city, it now has a branch of the popular Williamsburg arcade-bar Barcade; farm-to-table restaurants; and a new mayor who worked for Goldman Sachs, served in Iraq and rappelled down a skyscraper.

Jersey City has long attracted the Wall Street crowd to its splash of waterfront high-rises that promise cheaper rent and a speedy ride to Manhattan. But for years, the rest of the city was an afterthought with a reputation for high crime, failing schools and a lack of night life. But as the economy and housing market improve, other Jersey City neighborhoods are enjoying newfound attention, with boutique storefronts opening and New Yorkers steadily moving in.

The renovated Hamilton Park, surrounded by brownstones, has new landscaping, tennis courts, free Wi-Fi and a playground. Construction is under way for White Eagle Hall, a new arts site downtown. And the Journal Square PATH station plaza will soon be renovated as part of a new development with three high-rises and retail. In a sign that parents from ?the city? have moved in, TriBeCa Pediatrics opened an office in Hamilton Park.

?Jersey City is good for 30- to 40-somethings who aren?t interested in hanging out in Williamsburg anymore,? said Kevin Pemoulie, the former chef of Momofuku Noodle Bar, who last year along with his wife, Alex, opened the restaurant Thirty Acres in the Van Vorst Park neighborhood. He, like many others who have moved to Jersey City, also liked the in-transition quality of the area.

With New York City rents reaching new highs, housing prices by comparison are still reasonable in Jersey City. The average rent here was $1,900 a month during the second quarter of the year, according to data provided by Trulia. In early July, the average listing price for a home downtown was $604,000 and in Hamilton Park was $426,000, according to data provided by Liberty Realty.

Richard LeFrak, chief executive of the LeFrak Organization, which began developing the Newport neighborhood in 1986 when it was rail yards and warehouses, is one who has noticed a change. ?I would say, in the last three years, when you say you live in Jersey City,? he said, ?people don?t look at you like there?s something wrong with you.? In the next decade, LeFrak plans to add condos, a hotel and an outdoor swim club to Newport.

A year and a half before the Pemoulies opened Thirty Acres, they moved to Jersey City from Williamsburg, shaving $600 a month off their rent. They pay $1,650 a month for a large two-bedroom apartment two blocks from the Grove Street PATH station, which has a renovated pedestrian plaza with shops and new residential developments nearby.

?Brooklyn is just ridiculous ? it?s expensive,? Mr. Pemoulie said. ?It?s frustrating to be there. All of my friends ended up moving out.?

Indeed, some parts of Brooklyn have even eclipsed Manhattan in rent prices. The average rent for a one-bedroom in Williamsburg in July was $3,155 a month, a price point rivaling those of many Manhattan neighborhoods, according to a market report by MNS. Even less-developed Brooklyn neighborhoods are commanding a premium: in Bushwick in July, the average rent for a one-bedroom was $1,900.

Still, for many New Yorkers, crossing the Hudson is a psychological hurdle, even if Jersey City now has a Two Boots Pizza and a coffee shop that serves Blue Bottle Coffee.

?The PATH train is like the train to Hogwarts,? said Kip Jacobson, 41, alluding to the ?Harry Potter? series. Mr. Jacobson moved to the Van Vorst Park neighborhood from Williamsburg a year ago with his wife, Samantha, and their young son.

Jersey City?s new mayor, Steven Fulop, 36, intends to persuade budget-conscious and reluctant New Yorkers to give his city a chance. Mr. Fulop has been in office for less than two months and already has plans to start a marketing campaign called ?Across the River? to entice New Yorkers.

?I?m looking to portray Jersey City as a cool place to be,? said Mr. Fulop (who a year ago completed the 140-mile triathlon known as the Ironman U.S. Championship).

Sitting in his sparse office a few weeks after his inauguration, he declared, ?There?s a stigma associated with living in Jersey that we?ve got to correct.?

But Jersey City itself has more than just an image problem. Its public schools remain partly under state control, and certain areas have a serious crime problem; Mr. Fulop knows the two issues must be addressed before the city?s reputation can improve and more upwardly mobile families can be persuaded to remain. In his first month, he chose a veteran of the New York Police Department to be his new public safety director. Similarly, the city?s new school superintendent once worked for the New York City Department of Education.

One newcomer, Celeste Madhere, describes herself as having been ?anti-Jersey.? Ms. Madhere, 39, who is originally from Chicago, had lived in Brooklyn for 15 years. ?When you?re a transplant,? she said, ?you always want to live in the city or in Brooklyn. There is no other place to live.?

But when she and her husband, Serge, a Brooklyn native, began searching for a larger apartment, the best they could find was a Crown Heights two-bedroom listed at $3,200 a month. ?It was in a questionable area and still an hour-and-five-minute commute to work,? said Ms. Madhere, an associate production manager for the Hearst Corporation.

Reluctantly, Ms. Madhere ventured to Jersey City. When she saw the Beacon, a 14-acre Art Deco complex, she was sold. Her commute, which includes a shuttle ride to the PATH train, is now 33 minutes door to door. ?I was like, ?This is really $2,200?? ? she said of the two-bedroom apartment that she and her husband have called home since late July. ?It had a dishwasher!?

Like many of the new developments in Jersey City, the Beacon has a generous amenity package with a dog run, an organic garden, a spa and a screening room. The buildings, some of which date to 1929, have details like terrazzo floors, a wood-paneled poker room and a frieze of the history of humanity. Rents range from $1,825 a month, for a studio, to $2,400 a month for a two-bedroom. Set midway between the Grove Street and Journal Square PATH stations, the complex offers a free shuttle to the train.

Developers are building, and not just along the waterfront. Citywide, 2,610 units of housing are under construction and 11,405 more have been given the green light, according to the mayor?s office. In fact, the city has enough developable land available to fill all of Hoboken, which is one square mile. But the construction is still not keeping pace with demand. In July there was only a two-month supply of available homes downtown, according to Liberty Realty.

?If you see a vacant building in Jersey City,? said Joseph V. Covello, the owner of Liberty Realty, ?someone is bidding on it or renovating it.?

Mr. Fulop, too, is moving farther into the city. Two weeks before his election he sold his apartment, a fifth-floor walk-up in the desirable Paulus Hook neighborhood. Now he is renting in the Madox, a luxury boutique apartment house also in Paulus Hook. But he will leave the waterfront as soon as he closes on a brownstone near Liberty State Park.

This summer, the Greenpoint bookstore WORD hosted a reading at Barcade in Jersey City. More than 250 people showed up to hear Chuck Klosterman read from his new book of essays. WORD?s owner, Christine Onorati, who plans to open her second bookstore near the Grove Street PATH station in September, found the event encouraging. ?The neighborhood is so receptive,? she said. ?People who live there are so desperate for retail, because they love not having to leave Jersey City.?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/rea ... .html?pagewanted=all&_r=0