I think the Heights ( at least certain parts near light rail and transporation) has a bright future. I know pepole who have moved from Manahattan and Brooklyn as well as DTJC and Hoboken who have moved there and have no regrets. The value for the money is there.

Born and raised in the heights and I can tell you it has changed and will keep changing. The thing about the Heights is it won't be a major success story as downtown.Its fairly easy to get into manhatten from the heights use the dollar vans and takes only 20 mins, 40+ during rush hour. The heights can make it "big" but that depends on the success of J.sq. I have already seen an influx of people from Hoboken and downtown move up because it is the closest section to both areas that is relatively safe and affordable.

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Plenty of people are at the lite rail in the heights within a 5 minute walk. There is an elevator that brings you onto the tracks from Congress Street (east side). Jitneys get you directly to the path train (west side of heights) within minutes whereby you skip lite rail. The heights is a LOT closer to NYC than Greenville. I was born and raised in Jersey City and worked in Manhattan (both downtown and midtown) all of my adult life and I can assure you that while I understand that you feel your commute is very direct, you are unaware that for many Heights' residents, there are very direct commutes as well. The commute is shorter with regard to time as well as mileage. You just have to know what areas of the Heights have the closest access to your preferred method of commuting.

As for $850/month, that is unfortunately a thing of the past in the Heights. I'm not saying that apts that cheap don't exist, but they are very rare.

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Agreed... $3k a month versus $850 LOL

The hipsters, not the fake trust fund ones, and the artists are getting pushed up the hill. Based on the cheap rents, lack of concern for surroundings and the fact that the commute doesn't bother them as much as others.

I commute from the Heights every day to midtown Manhattan and I think of it as a piece of cake. I take the New York jitney in the morning ($3) which is usually a 25 minute ride. I get a seat EVERY single day. When I take the jsq PATH I can't believe how much it stresses me out.

Coming home, I either take the jitney again (usually a longer ride but for only $2.50) or I take the Hoboken Path to the 87 bus. I pretty much always get a seat on both. The Hoboken Path is so fast. It's like 10 minutes or something from 33rd. The 87 bus has been much more reliable and is fairly quick - 10 to 15 minutes.

I think my neighborhood is the most under rated place on the planet. But I kind of like it that way. The people that do get it are usually pretty cool and interesting. There is such a great sense of community in our neighborhood.

Will it change? I'm not sure. But I'm not sure I really want it to. We have a car so going out is easy. Cabs from downtown and Hoboken are cheap. Life in the Heights is great for my family and I.

Oh man. I convinced my husband to move to The Dirty Jerz with the argument that we'd have to hear less of "I'm a Native New Yorker and..." and now I'm in the Jerz and still having to hear it. Glad to hear we've found our place with the auslanders in the Heights though. LOL.

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This is why I think it would be easier for you to live in the Heights, I felt stuck when I was there. I like that I can walk to a few lightrail stations and get back into NYC without waiting on a bus or walking more than 5 minutes to a rail station. I grew up living next to some sort of station, I guess I am spoiled. Good Luck!

I am not in fact a native New Yorker. I only live here for my husband. But I should point out that I laid out my commute, which doesn't involve a bus or a jitney in elaborate detail.

I also want to say that I find GV to NYC in 21 minutes kind of unbelievable since I ride the HBLR and PATH every day! Sometimes 2 stops takes 10 minutes. The Hoboken line is the worst in terms of creaking delays, for both HBLR and PATH. I cut down my commute to 35 minutes only after I started taking the West Side avenue train to Exchange Place and taking the PATH for 1 stop.

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I am not sure if you are a native New Yorker, but I am and most NYC folk like public transportation options and not too many are fans of buses and jitneys.

I live on the eastern end of the Heights, almost directly in front of Riverview Fiske park. The views are so amazing (and our home is huge) that it's hard to believe we paid as little as we did for it. We moved from Astoria-looked in Hoboken, Union City and DTJC before we bought our place.

I'm not sure about what the situation might be like deeper into the Heights, closer to Central Ave or further, but I work right by the Freedom Tower and my commute door-to-desk is 35-40 minutes. That breaks down into a 10 minute walk to the light rail (Congress), 10 minutes of Light Rail riding, 5 minutes of PATH and then 10-15 minutes total of waiting. I could just as easily do the 100 steps but I recently injured my leg so I'm staying with Congress for now. My husband works in mid-town so he takes a jitney or the 123 bus from in front of our house to PABT and then walks. He says he's at about 45 minutes but that's largely because he doesn't want to pay for the 2nd metro fare for what is effectively 1 metro stop. Getting into Manhattan ranges between 15 to 20 minutes for him via bus.

So transportation, on the eastern end of the Heights isn't as bad as it's made out to be but the lack of small business on the street itself sucks. Washington Street in Hoboken is literally a 15 minute walk from where we are (though we are very fast walkers) so we have options, but it would be nicer if we could just stroll down Palisade or Central. for things like restaurants, bars, gyms etc.. What we ended up missing the most was a real gym. We just ordered a real gym quality squat rack and treadmill because neither one of us was willing to walk to Hoboken for what are sure to be constantly crowded and overpriced gyms.

That said, here are a few reasons we thought things might be starting to change:

Farms in the Heights, Yoga in the Heights, Riverview Community Association

the Supremo market is not at all bad outside of the meat dept-the produce is excellent, giving us a walkable grocery store option (we have a Costco membership but we buy produce at Supremo)

Distillery Gallery

Trolley Car Bar

Good pizza places and little shops on Central Ave

Good bike shops

Beautiful relaxing views and a nice park/green space

Palisade Lumber for our home projects

Nice neighbours

Honestly if you gave me a coffee shop on the way to Congress and a gym my satisfaction with this neighborhood would be complete.

The Heights is a pretty large area so you have to break it down into neighborhoods. The areas east (Ogden, Palisade, New York Ave, Webster, etc) offer easy access to Hoboken (light rail elevator leaves you on lite rail track), the steps, easy access to the tunnels, etc. The west side tends to use the jitneys to get to journal square path or to go directly to the Lincoln tunnel.

There has been an influx of New Yorkers lately. Also, some of the people in Hoboken who got flooded are coming up here to avoid those issues.

It is changing, but it is a large area so the change is more detectable in some areas and less in others.

There are farmers' markets in the parks and new eateries popping up. Craft fairs, art exhibits, wine tastings, etc.

This is what I'm seeing lately.

When I was house hunting back in 2009 I considered The heights, the views are awesome. However after searching for 2 years I decided to go with GV which shocked me and everyone in my circle.

The problem "The Heights" have is transportation, GV offers 3 lightrail stations and you are downtown JC in 7 minutes and in NYC in 21 min door to door. I do not know many people who feel comfortable depending on a bus as their only options of public transportation, I know I don't.

If they offer ferry service up there, that would make a big difference.

I think Central Ave and Journal Square are poised for a comeback. The opening of this spot on Central:

http://orangeandolivecaterers.com/

definitely signals people are willing to take risks in the area.

That, and the fact that the city will be giving abatements away from DTJC should bode well for the heights.

You're right, overall, that it hasn't changed much in decades. I was born and raised in the heights, and it's almost exactly the same as it was when I moved downtown 6/7 years ago.

I've often wondered the same thing about that area. The views from some of the parks are magnificent, and the building infrastructure is there. Having traveled to other cities, you see neighborhoods like this all the time become popular destinations/living outposts.

I think you hit the nail on the head with transportation. A bus ride just doesn't seem as "efficient" as a subway ride from BK. Similarly, people just want that NYC address, no matter how you slice it or dice it.

I don't foresee any lightrail or PATH extensions coming up the cliff over there... so IDK what the other options are.

I've been a resident of the Heights for several years now, and while I'm thrilled whenever someplace new opens - like the Trolley Car Bar or the Distillery Gallery; or we see some new infrastructure improvement - like the new "100 Steps" to Hoboken open, anytime I go to DTJC (or read the posts here, on JCList for that matter) I can't help but feel the Heights is stuck (or just in a really slow gear).

While a new store or restaurant opens occasionally, it seems there are more and more vacant storefronts. In fact, near me at the Corner of Franklin Street and Palisade Avenue ALL 4 CORNERS have vacant storefronts! And the number of vacant buildings boggles my mind - in a neighborhood where you can see Manhattan just a few miles away!

It seems the Heights should be poised to be more visibly up-and-coming, and maybe it will take time, but I'm curious what other JC'ers (from the Heights or elsewhere) have to say. My friends from NYC say its because the Heights has lousy mass transit (being a 2-fare zone from NYC) but the happening neighborhoods in Brooklyn are further out as the crow flies... So what is the story?