Why do American movies and shows make so much fun of New Jersey?
Posted by BlueDandellion@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 224 comments
There are moments in which the characters of a movie have to go somewhere described as horrible, and then it turns out they're going to New Jersey. Why is New Jersey considered a bad place? Is it an inside joke or something? Does it have to do with history?
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Ok I rarely ever do this but I’m approving this old frequently asked question by people that don’t understand jokes and rivalry between various regions in the country.
However.
The rule for this thread is it is now a “New Jersey Appreciation Thread.”
Any answers that don’t put respect on Jersey’s name will receive a 1 day ban and removal of the comments.
TallWalmartCovington@reddit
You win this time
DistributionSea4052@reddit
Is this for real? If you don’t blow a load over NJ you can’t post? Sometimes I really hate Reddit.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Do you actually have something really nasty you want to complain about Jersey about?
This is just a mild ongoing project.
Go for it. I'll make an exception for now. This one reply is your chance to just beat the shit out of Jersey if you have that burning desire. Otherwise maybe go find some Jersey hate sub.
DistributionSea4052@reddit
I don’t have too much experience in NJ and it’s been like a decade since I’ve been but…I was actually rather fond of it. Didnt love all the right hand turn only jug handle situations but I did love driving through all the swampy towns as opposed to 95 when I was going from DC to little egg harbor.
Smooth-Respect-5289@reddit
Unrelenting positivity…. How dystopian. Where’s my soma pill?
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Over there next to the Soylent green.
Smooth-Respect-5289@reddit
Thank you Big Bro. You’re always there for me…watching.
Revolutionary-Tiger@reddit
Based mod
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Oh my man, I’m like the worst mod.
ilp456@reddit
It’s because they’ve only passed through on their way to NYC or Philadelphia. The highways are ugly and you pass power stations and chemical plants. The major airport is in a shitty city - Newark. But there are so many gorgeous towns in NJ. It’s called the Garden State for a reason. And there is a long coastline of beautiful beaches.
No-Jump4346@reddit
And the other somewhat popular airport is in Atlantic City, was a good place but now is basically a crackhead version of Las Vegas even with the illegal prostitution that's somehow even less classy than Las Vegas.
Arleare13@reddit
I'm a New Yorker with a lot of family in New Jersey and I've been there quite a bit, so I think I understand the situation pretty well.
The fact is, New Jersey is for the most part a lovely place. Really nice towns, surprisingly good cultural institutions (music, food, theaters, museums, etc.), some outstanding nature, strong economy, ample public transportation, and one of the best public education systems in the country. It's often ranked at or near the top of the country for best quality of life, and it's not without reason.
Despite this, it has a bad reputation for two reasons. First, most of the state is a suburb of New York City, and there are few things some New Yorkers love more than making fun of the suburbs. Most people who choose to live in NYC are doing so because they like urban living, and some of them think that that requires deriding suburban living -- i.e. New Jersey. And New York City has an outsized voice in national media, so what NYCers think about things is often amplified. Hence, the common stereotypes.
Second, a couple small areas of New Jersey are pretty gross. And unfortunately for the state's reputation, they're among the most visible parts of the state. The small area between Newark Airport (one of the NYC area's main airports) and NYC along the NJ Turnpike is basically a big industrial and shipping area, and it smells like shit because of the chemical plants in the area. It's not a huge area, but due to its location just outside NYC, it's one of the areas that visitors are most likely to see. The area just outside Philadelphia is similar. These are small, non-representative parts of the state, but they're the first or only thing that a lot of people.
Bottom line: New Jersey is actually really nice, and its bad reputation is understandable but undeserved.
Pugilist12@reddit
It was awhile back, but for real, Jersey Shore did not help.
Murderhornet212@reddit
They weren’t even from here!
Sallyfifth@reddit
They weren't? I didn't know that! I never watched, I just know about it from the general zeitgeist.
Murderhornet212@reddit
Most of them were from New York and Rhode Island.
lumpiaandredbull@reddit
Rhode Island is basically New England's New Jersey.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Parts of RI are lovely. The state is so small that the nice parts are not far from the dumpy ones.
lumpiaandredbull@reddit
Oh, for sure. I didn't mean that as an insult to RI or NJ, just making a comparison.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
The casino my dance competition nationals was held in was fucking gorgeous.
Trick-Property-5807@reddit
Rhode Island is new englands greater Philly/delaware
Trick-Property-5807@reddit
Rhode Island is new englands greater Philly/delaware
Turdposter777@reddit
Hah, I didn’t watch a single episode so I had same assumption they’re all from Jersey
recoveringcanuck@reddit
I only watched the it's always sunny in Philadelphia episode but it's one of my favorites.
Trick-Property-5807@reddit
THEY WERE ALL FROM FUCKING RHODE ISLAND
devilbunny@reddit
I dated a girl from the Toms River burbs in college (mid 90s, so 30-ish years ago). Her younger sister worked as a lifeguard at Seaside.
Apparently, one evening there was a riot that blocked the main road, which led to the only bridge off the island to the mainland. Her sister said screw it, I'm a lifeguard, and walked/swam home (the lagoon side of the island is mostly quite shallow) and got a ride to get her car the next morning.
21stCenturyJanes@reddit
So many crazy stories came out of Seaside Heights
devilbunny@reddit
You misspelled “Sleazeside” there. I forgive you.
dragonsteel33@reddit
Yes I believe part of it is that “screaming white ethnics” is also the popular view of New Jersey
Pugilist12@reddit
aka Guidos lol
Successful_Guess_@reddit
TIL New Jersey isn't just an enclave of screaming Guidos!
OriginalSilentTuba@reddit
And all of them were from NY.
CG20370417@reddit
Truly, The Jersey Shore is to New Jersey what Al Qaeda is to Afghanistan.
jetloflin@reddit
At least one of them was from Rhode Island.
firesquasher@reddit
Just one grew up in NJ, and he was like 45 minutes from where the show aired.
Atlas7-k@reddit
Which if unfair, most of them were New Yorkers
OkTackle5132@reddit
Funnily enough, only one of them was actually from NJ.
Trick-Property-5807@reddit
20 years ago, sure. In 2026, significant portions of Bergen/hudson counties are at least as urban as the outer boroughs of NYC. Fort Lee, Hoboken, and jersey city (as examples) are all the more urban/more easily accessible from Manhattan than Staten Island. Just as accessible and urban as outer Queens and areas of the Bronx like Riverdale
macoafi@reddit
There are Philadelphia suburbs too! Cherry Hill is lovely.
Sufficient_Cod1948@reddit
I knew a lot of people from New Jersey when I went to college, and I concluded that half of the state considers itself a part of NYC, and the other half is part of Philly. Both halves hate the other half.
OriginalSilentTuba@reddit
And then there’s a death in the middle, that like to pretend “Central Jersey” is a thing.
KevrobLurker@reddit
That's where you can't decide if it is Pork Roll or Taylor Ham......?
Candid-Math5098@reddit
I entered NJ at age two. I never heard of pork roll/Taylor ham for 20 years. I tried it once out of curiosity. It's not as proudly beloved as folks insist.
shelwood46@reddit
Pork roll comes from Central Jersey (Taylor in Trenton, Case in, well, also now Trenton), we know the truth.
firesquasher@reddit
Obviously the Taylor ham crowd are trying to lay the ground work for getting disability benefits through the state.
ehhhhhhwatevs@reddit
It's actually pretty nice there in the middle and kind of northwest, just from what I saw as a visitor. The thing is, it's a tiny state compared to most others, and it's not far from one part to the other, so it's easy to assume that what you see in one spot is representative. People assume that all of Texas is desert, all of Louisiana is swamp, all of California is LA and San Franciso, all of New York is NYC.
SymphonicStorm@reddit
Central Jersey is the strip of NJ that the north claims is part of the south, and the south claims is part of the north.
firesquasher@reddit
You kiss your mother wit that mouth?
whorlando_bloom@reddit
Accurate. I went to college in NJ where pretty much everyone was from in state. The question you asked when meeting new people was "you from north or south?" North Jersey supports all the NY sports teams and South is Philly all the way.
aurorasearching@reddit
I know one south Jersey guy who’s a Devils fan because “at least they’re actually from fuckin Jersey.”
Flurb4@reddit
I’m sure most of the Philly suburbs are lovely, but I went to a concert in Camden once and . . . yikes.
kbivs@reddit
This was the phrase that stood out to me too.
First of all, the vast majority of the state is definitely NOT an NYC suburb (just look at a freaking map sometime). Although I can understand how someone's perspective on that can be skewed if that's the part of the state they most frequently visit or interact with.
Yes, there are most certainly parts of the state that are essentially NYC and Philly suburbs, but the state is so much more than that. Both in quantitative geography and in what it has to offer.
macoafi@reddit
I grew up going to Ocean City, NJ for vacation. I don't think I knew there was an Ocean City, MD until I went to college in DC.
tex8222@reddit
Yeah, most of the state is NOT a suburb of NYC by land area.
But by population it might be.
WeirdTalentStack@reddit
At one time, New Jersey did not exist on Monster.com - you were either looking for a job in the Philly suburbs or the NYC suburbs. True story. I’m from here - mods this is without ill intent. Straight facts.
macoafi@reddit
Meanwhile, LinkedIn considered everything from like Mannassas, VA to Havre de Grace, MD to be a single job searching area. I really don’t think anyone living in Fairfax wants to commute to Baltimore.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
Third reason: Jersey shore. Never actually watched the show, but what I did see/hear about didn’t exactly give me a great impression of the state, and that was before I was even old enough to hear NYCer’s shit on it.
Zadojla@reddit
My daughter is a native-born Jersey girl. She asserts that NJ has very nice versions of all the standard tourist attractions that other states have, and all of them are only a day trip away. Her favorite visitor story was her out-of-state friend who chose to drive through the Flemington circle after it had been paved, and before the lines were repainted.
KevrobLurker@reddit
When I was a kid Palisades Amusement Park was the best in the greater metro area.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=PAuc1sDmXwARKDcN&v=fQBcGaUxIr8&feature=youtu.be
Superman approved!
https://www.supermansupersite.com/Rare_1968_Superman_Palisades_Amusement_Park_Poster_Sells_for_17K_After_Expert_Restoration.html
kibblesandbeer@reddit
Great explanation. This comes from someone who has lived in NJ for most of my life. Lots of people have only seen the part of NJ between Newark Airport and NYC. As you pointed out, it's not the nicest area. I live in Warren County. The folks who think that NJ is all industrial wasteland would probably have a stroke if they saw the farms and forests that I drive by everyday.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Jersey has to grow those 'maters somewhere!
BlueDandellion@reddit (OP)
Why do New Yorkers like making fun of suburbs? Suburbs usually have gardens, from what I understand, right? Which means more nature. Is that what they make fun of?
I remember going to New York on vacation once. It was... pretty hectic, but cool as well! I'll have to look for those good things you told me of New Jersey on google.
rawbface@reddit
New Jersey is known as "The Garden State", so you would be correct.
WeirdTalentStack@reddit
Old George Carlin bit: “What does it say now, the Garden State? Haha, sure - if you’re growing smokestacks, yes.”
Proof of that Newark Airport mindset.
WhichSpirit@reddit
Fun fact: Encyclopedia Britannica called us the eggplant capital of the world once.
WeirdTalentStack@reddit
True story. Last I saw we are still one-third of domestic eggplant production.
rawbface@reddit
Totally understandable for Carlin to have such a Brooklyn mindset. He gets a pass.
Honestly everyone gets a pass. We're overcrowded enough without people in other states realizing how great it is.
Arleare13@reddit
First off, I said some New Yorkers.
And it's just a thing among all people. Some urbanites think that suburbs and rural areas are boring. Some people from rural areas think that cities are cramped and dirty. Everyone has preferences, and some people look down on those whose preferences don't match their own.
It happens everywhere, I'm sure in your country as well.
OriginalSilentTuba@reddit
I always assumed it was to make themselves feel better about paying more for a lower quality of life, while we have the same access to all the good cultural stuff NY offers. Also our pizza is just as good, but don’t tell them that…they get really defensive.
shelwood46@reddit
Also a lot of them actually live in NJ these days. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is set in Alpine, which is also where Tracy Morgan actually lives, as do a bunch of other rich celebrities.
Arleare13@reddit
My quality of life is just fine, thanks.
The New Yorkers who look down on NJ are obnoxious, but it’s just as obnoxious in the reverse direction.
OriginalSilentTuba@reddit
Of course it is. I love NYC. But the fact remains living in NY costs a hell of a lot more, for less living space and privacy than you get on this side of the Hudson. That’s just a fact.
But the smug superiority some people have about living in NYC is ridiculous. NY is cool, but we have it pretty good over here too.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Doesn't stop dwellers in the boroughs from heading out on Long Island, down the Jersey Shore, up to the Catskills or into Connecticut, come summertime.
Really, the whole greater NY metro area visits the other parts when a change of pace is desired.
mdavis360@reddit
We have that here in the Bay Area. People who live in San Francisco look down on people who live in the East Bay because it’s not “The City”.
spintool1995@reddit
And I would guess the group of NYCers who disdain suburbs probably includes nearly all of the creative types and it's their biases that are reflected in TV and movies.
macoafi@reddit
To be fair, NYers do have Central Park, which is absolutely nothing like the National Mall, which was what I expected. It has cliffs and wildlife!
KevrobLurker@reddit
Central is only NYC's 6th largest park.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parks_in_New_York_City
My cousins from Brooklyn loved to visit us out in the country. We lived halfway between Times Square & Montauk Point. We enjoyed Prospect Park.
PowerfulFunny5@reddit
I think residents of most cities make fun of suburbs. It’s also super common around Chicago for city residents to look down at those in a suburb and complain about “stolen valor” of a suburban resident says they are from Chicago. (And many only do that because it’s exhausting explaining what suburb you live in when talking to someone else)
KevrobLurker@reddit
That's why Chicagoland was invented.
GandalfTheGrey46@reddit
I've seen that phenomenon not just about New Yorkers but among a portion of people living in downtown or more urban parts of metros around the country. There is a certain element with a snobby attitude of thinking they live a better life than those in the suburbs. Part of their identity centers around "not living in the suburbs". I think they are frequently if not usually from the suburbs themselves and subconsciously rebelling against their parents. It's quite childish and immature most of the time. Most people I've met who actually grew up in urban cores don't think that way at all.
MovieSock@reddit
For many of the kinds of people who do make fun of suburbs - yes, that's part of it.
But speaking as someone who grew up in a suburb - there isn't anywhere near as many cultural and social things to do in the suburbs. In New York City you can be seen at a trendy night club and get yourself famous that way - in the suburbs your only option for nightlife is that one bar with the broken juke box.
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
Because urbanites like to portray themselves as sophisticated, cultured, and surrounded by creativity, whereas in their opinion the suburbs are plebian, boring, and bland.
WhichSpirit@reddit
Adding that another aspect is good old fashioned xenophobia towards New Jersey's diverse population. People forget that two of the three ways off Ellis Island went to New Jersey and even today 1 out of 5 residents were born outside the US. We also never had laws forbidding interracial marriage which really upset certain people.
rawbface@reddit
Most of what you can see from the City. Not even close to most of the state as a whole.
Quartia@reddit
Officially, Mercer, Ocean, Monmouth, and all counties north of them are part of the New York City metro area.
shelwood46@reddit
When I lived in northern Mercer/Southern Somerset, the media areas overlapped, NYC and Philly. We got local stations from both in our cable packages, though of course NJ didn't have a real tv station of their own at all. Now I live on the border between NYC & Scranton stations, which is a much bigger gap with the local news. I miss when I lived in Montgomery and was right on the crossroads. Lovely part of the state, too, of course.
rawbface@reddit
I cannot in good conscience agree that Trenton is a suburb of New York City. That is a bonkers take. Warren county isn't even suburban, let alone a suburb of New York City.
Quartia@reddit
The reason for Warren County being included is that if any one part of a county is within a metro area, ie Hackettstown being reachable by NJ transit, then the entire county is by definition. I agree with you tbh. However, it would NOT be inaccurate to say that most people in New Jersey live in areas that are suburbs of NYC.
rawbface@reddit
This is total arbitrary nonsense... NJ transit trains run from Mercer, through Burlington, to the City of Camden in Camden County, and through Atlantic County to Atlantic City, NJ.
North Jersey people really can't comprehend that we have trains down here too. NJ transit reachability has nothing to do with anything. It's NJ TRANSIT, not New York Metro transit.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Trenton makes, the world takes was long a motto.
tex8222@reddit
I lived in northern Ocean County, and folks would be getting off the bus from NYC at 8pm.
Then they had to drive home from there. It’s just not practical.
The latest figures I have seen is that only 2% of Ocean County workers commute to NYC.
OneAndDone169@reddit
Agreed. It’s mostly because the turnpike near NYC and Newark Airport are in industrial areas so when most people pass through, all they see is the industrial parks of that specific area.
Relax007@reddit
I've always thought that one of the reasons people make fun of New Jersey is because they can hold their own. It doesn't feel like punching down the way it does with some of the more poverty stricken or dysfunctional states. A lot of the NJ jokes are about their attitude and makes them sound both funny and tough.
KevrobLurker@reddit
As a kid my Long Island-based family used to visit a relative who was a religious sister. We sometimes went to the mother house at Ringwood. It was gorgeous there!
ubiquitous-joe@reddit
The part you are leaving implicit is that a lot of media (writing, comedy, TV, movies) comes out of New York City, so it contains this bias.
Ironically, New Jersey started out as the early cinema capital in America. Fort Lee was the place to be. But many filmmakers left for Hollywood, largely to get the hell away from Thomas Edison, who enforced film equipment patents with an iron fist. So aside from Southern California having better weather year-round, it also had the advantage of being close enough to Mexico to make a run for the border when necessary.
Arleare13@reddit
I believe I was entirely explicit about that:
ubiquitous-joe@reddit
Yeah sorry; it was the last line of the middle paragraph in a chunky post; you buried the lede.
TokyoDrifblim@reddit
This must be what it is, I've only been to New Jersey by way of flying into Newark and then going up to NYC from there, so I have literally only seen that area as representative of the whole state
Muroid@reddit
The only thing I would add is that a lot of people who work in New York-based television live in New Jersey and commute into the city for work, so there is often a bit of a self-deprecating inside joke to some of the humor that is lost in translation when the shows are broadcast nationally.
Cool-Bunch6645@reddit
The last paragraph is your definitive answer and I approve this message as a North Jersey lifer.
Trick-Property-5807@reddit
As a jersey girl: because they’re jealous of a superior state that pretty much has the best of everything.
MobileInevitable8937@reddit
Honestly, I really don't get it either. New Jersey is an excellent state with a really high quality of life. You can take a train and be in New York or Philly in an hour. The Mountains are a 2 hour drive away. The beach is a 30 minute drive, and there are even some trains that go there. It's got it all
whitedogz@reddit
Just drive the Garden State Parkway. That should explain it 😃
stiletto929@reddit
Everything is legal in New Jersey. ;)
(Not a diss on NJ, Hamilton reference, because I couldn’t resist.)
Wingnut2029@reddit
Every country has a state or region like New Jersy that everyone makes fun of. For instance, in Russia, it's New Jersey.
With apologies to Yakov Smirnoff. :)
_pamelab@reddit
We had a new girl at school one year from New Jersey. She introduced herself saying “we all know what they say about New Jersey…” and we had no idea what she was talking about.
lithomangcc@reddit
Almost all of New Jersey is a suburb of a city in another state. Those other states make fun of them.
Current-Photo2857@reddit
But as I said elsewhere, the same is true of CT (wedged between Boston & NYC), but CT doesn’t get anywhere near the flack Jersey gets.
bit_shuffle@reddit
Connecticut is buffered from insults because Rhode Island is drawing the negative attention away from it.
CinderGazer@reddit
New Jersey was integral in the Revolutionary War with many key victories involving coming and going through the state. But everyone thinks of Massachusetts and New England over New Jersey for that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_in_the_American_Revolution
Mitchford@reddit
It’s because everyone who writes for those shows is from New York and it’s a local New York thing to shit on Jersey.
gkohn1799@reddit
There’s a reason you’re not allowed to pump your own gas in Jersey. The whole state would burn down if they allowed them to
codenameajax67@reddit
Because the media center of the us used to be New York.
And new Jersey is their younger brother. So they make fun of them.
That's all.
claudiatiedemann@reddit
I grew up in PA near the NJ border. My mom worked in NJ and some of my relatives lived there. I always thought it was pretty, at least the parts of Mercer County my family lived in. Tomatoes and apples from NJ were popular in the summer/fall. We went to the Jersey Shore several times each summer. I love the beaches there and the boardwalks are the best! NJ has a bad rap because there are some ugly industrialized areas and that’s unfortunate. There are places in every state that aren’t so great. I no longer live in PA and I miss visiting NJ.
Ravenna178@reddit
All I can say is, I've met 6 people from New Jersey, and I didn't like any of them (before I knew where they were from).
North81Girl@reddit
NY....
signedupfornightmode@reddit
An underrated thing about being a school kid in NJ is that you got all the Catholic AND Jewish holidays off.
WhichSpirit@reddit
And now some school districts are giving students Islamic and/or Hindu holidays off too!
grandma-activities@reddit
Learning this made me so envious of my Jersey cousins when I was younger.
DPetrilloZbornak@reddit
Yup! Was confused when my kids in PA didn’t get all those days off. I just assumed everyone did.
smurphy8536@reddit
Haha same with parts of CT
firerosearien@reddit
Can confirm. I am Jewish and almost everyone i went to (public) school with was catholic or Jewish
CupBeEmpty@reddit
My personal hot take is jersey shore got a shit ton of negative press from the TV show.
If you actually go there it’s lovely.
Now my buddy from there will spike his hair and wear a gold chain some times but he’s about the nicest guy ever.
BlueDandellion@reddit (OP)
I'm sorry, but what TV show are you talking about? You think it got a lot of bad rep 'cause of a popular show?
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Jersey Shore. It was a scripted reality TV show about people visiting or living in the Jersey Shore area of the state.
It got really popular in the US and people hated most of the characters so for years people would just hate on Jersey because their only experience with it was through that show and jokes online.
I personally hated Jersey because I had only been to the worst most run down parts. Then I grew up and got to visit some places my friends lived that were absolutely beautiful.
Just like any state it has good and bad parts and people will joke about it. The reality is there’s great and difficult people in every state so it’s sad when people get way too far into the banter between states and regions especially when they are coming from a place of ignorance.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Benjamin Franklin called NJ "a barrel tapped at both ends."
His Loyalist son was Royal governor during the revolution.
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2014/08/new_jersey_350_years_young_was_weird_from_the_start.html
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Franklin was known for being a bit salty
crazycatlady331@reddit
The cast of Jersey Shore was mostly from NY (Staten Island to be specific).
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Exactly. They were also scripted characters. Way too many people took it as a face value depiction of that part of New Jersey.
Pro tip, don’t ever believe reality TV it all fiction.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Nicer show, a sitcom, about summer people Down the Shore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_the_Shore
crazycatlady331@reddit
I dated someone who lived in Seaside Heights (where the show was filmed) at the peak of the show's popularity. We went to many a bar featured on that show (never while filming).
Let's just say parts of the show were not wrong.....
CupBeEmpty@reddit
He was from not too far from there and more inland. Not on the islands.
He’s well aware there’s some truth mixed in the fiction.
Chickadee12345@reddit
I was just in Seaside Heights last Saturday. It looks like a nice town. I've never stayed there overnight, but it looked like a typical Jersey shore town and a fun boardwalk. It's still off-season so it was really quiet and not crowded yet. We even got to see a giant buoy that washed up on the beach.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Coming from a guy who lives near a shit ton of touristy beach towns I get it.
They’re awesome to visit in the off season. I tourist season you’re rolling the dice.
Chickadee12345@reddit
We are really into birding. When there are a ton of people around there are generally no birds. So we rarely visit the beach towns in the summer. However, the NJ shore is one of the best places for birding in the country. I've only visited most of these towns in the winter/off season months.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Do you ever come up north?
I’m not a crazy birder but I know a few folks that are. They have some spots that are super awesome. I love going somewhere and it just me and a couple birders even if I stand out because I don’t have binoculars.
Chickadee12345@reddit
We usually don't go more north than Point Pleasant. Though I know there are some great spots beyond that. I've been to some crazy places chasing a rarity. Birding does not require binoculars. It just requires that you enjoy looking at pretty birds. LOL.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
I know. I can just usually spot the birders with binoculars.
Chickadee12345@reddit
I don't usually use the bins to spot the other birders. /s
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Oh good lord… love it.
Kellzy1212@reddit
I grew up in Tampa Bay. This tracks. Anytime during spring break to summer is a roll of the dice. There were so many times we’d head to the islands just to turn around because it was a shit show. That’s still only a few months a year, so the rest is generally peaceful.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Never been in the Tampa area but I feel that. I have been to off season beaches in the gulf coast and fort myers area with family. If it was in season it’d be a no for me.
An8thOfFeanor@reddit
It'sh a shtereotype and it'sh offenshive!
getElephantById@reddit
Anti-Jersey hate predates The Jersey Shore by a loooong time, so this definitely is not the source.
macoafi@reddit
Keeping the stereotype going through the generations requires periodic renewal, though. That show introduced those stereotypes to a new generation.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
I’m well aware. I just think it fed the online hate meme culture. At least in my social cohort.
Dmbender@reddit
That and a lot of people only ever visit NJ because they're flying into EWR. So people are immediately greeted with the most industrialized part of our state that smells gross. Go anywhere else and you quickly learn why we're The Garden State.
Arleare13@reddit
My NJ relatives are still angry about that show. It's particularly unfair because most of the cast wasn't even from NJ!
CupBeEmpty@reddit
I was living in Providence at the time and DJ Paul was a local to RI.
I just laughed when people began associating him with Jersey.
My Jersey buddy did do up his hair like that when he “dressed up.”
It was the weirdest thing because day to day he was a pretty standard PhD student in my wife’s department dressing about like you’d expect a PhD candidate to dress.
Then we would go to something event and he’d dress up which meant spiked hair and a gold chain and a collared shirt. Nicest dude you’d ever meet. His name was Paul too so he hated DJ Pauly as an “ambassador” for Jersey.
Super-Yam2286@reddit
Best food and access to almost anything all hours of the day or night
Frenchitwist@reddit
I think a lot of people here may also be forgetting Springsteen, a man who made most of his career singing about getting out of his crap, New Jersey town.
shelwood46@reddit
But who chooses to still live in New Jersey. Just in a way different town.
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
New Jersey does kind of play along with it. Like someone posted something like "Virginia is for Lovers, we need a state for haters" (I may be misremembering the exact quote), and the official State of New Jersey Account retweeted "You called?"
Parts of NJ are really pretty. But if you've only driven from Newark Airport into Manhattan, you will think the nickname "The Garden State" is sarcasm.
shelwood46@reddit
I lived in the Princeton area for about 30 years. About 10 years ago, I moved about 10 miles over the border in the Poconos. I still have relatives in Burlington County (I am visiting right now), and that drive through the Delaware Water Gap on I80, crossing from PA to NJ and back, is just jaw droppingly beautiful (I make the drive every couple months). There's an entrance to the Appalachian Trail, just on the Jersey side. It is soaring cliffs & mountains and a river, just beautiful. It always pissed me off that on The Office, they had Jim make fun of Michael for enjoying that crossing -- and made it seem like it was just residential (Los Angeles!) streets. It's not, it's so gorgeous.
managedbycats@reddit
As a CT native New Jersey has great parts, it is just the parts that are not so great happen to be very visible.
I spent a week in Downtown Trenton and it was decent enough. I've been to Wildwood and Cape May and very different vibes but both cool.
I've also been to Asbury Park and i get why Bruce sang so much about wanting out. It has cool history but what young person wants to be rooted to a vacation centeted community, I lived in Daytona for a bit and it can feel economically stifling when most jobs are tied to just a few industries especially when those industries are all struggling.
You have to drive through almost 45 minutes of i95 to hit Bridgeport and East Haven which has a very ssimilar Italian Culture to alot of New Jersey stereotypes is over an hour from the border.
bh4th@reddit
Two main reasons come to mind:
There is a small part of the state, very close to New York City, with a lot of petrochemical refineries. If that’s the only part of New Jersey that you see on a regular basis, you’ll conclude it’s pretty gross.
New Jersey has cities, but no major metropolises on the scale of its neighboring states. As a result, the northern part of the state is generally considered part of the New York metropolitan area, and the southern part is considered part of the Philadelphia metro area. This contributes to a sense among outsiders that New Jersey doesn’t have a distinct local culture of its own.
Current-Photo2857@reddit
As to your second point, the same can be said of CT: the eastern/northern half is tied to Boston, the southern/eastern half is tied to NYC, and while CT does get some flack from the rest of New England, it doesn’t get anywhere near the level of NJ.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Old McDonald's commercial called CT Newyorkachusetts. People still go to Dunkln' for their coffee.
GooseinaGaggle@reddit
I agree with you. It's wedged between two cities of seemingly more historic and modern importance without seeming to have anything of its own
Optimistbott@reddit
Because the Jersey turnpike is a hellscape on purpose.
VonPaulus69@reddit
As a native Virginian, I have always had a very low opinion of NJ, like most Americans I think of a post industrial wasteland, soulless suburbia surrounding NYC, or the grittiness of Atlantic City, and while some of this is certainly true, driving the Jersey Turnpike and seeing the chemical factories and refineries is stark, many parts of the state are beautiful, it’s not called the Garden State for nothing. Rural southern NJ is charming, and the campus of Princeton is stunning. NJ has a reputation that isn’t fully deserved.
ScamperPenguin@reddit
It is more of a stereotype that people from New York, especially New York City, hate people from New Jersey. Since a lot of shows and movies take place in New York, they play into that stereotype.
Technical-Bath9108@reddit
A lot of what you see in American movies is heavily influenced by New York. I think it's about issues between New York and New Jersey that led to all the jokes.
JimTheJerseyGuy@reddit
Jersey has always been a punchline for people who have experienced it only on the drive along the Turnpike or flying in or out of Newark Airport. Those are some of the most industrially blighted areas of the entire Northeast.
Me? I live in the northwest corner of the state. My neighbors include horses, chickens, cows, and the occasional water buffalo. It's farming country. The motto "The Garden State" isn't messing around. Deer, wild turkey, fox, coyote, bear, and bobcats are on the prowl.
This doesn't sell in the media as well as a rough, gritty cesspool so guess which one gets depicted more frequently.
LastCookie3448@reddit
Because it’s not New York. NJ is Jan to NY’s Marcia.
Frenchitwist@reddit
Marcia Marcia Marcia!
DPetrilloZbornak@reddit
Because they never lived there. I’ve lived in multiple states. NJ is a great state. Rich and beautiful but you have to get off the highway to know that. Most people only drive through it via the highway.
CG20370417@reddit
You know how Londoners pitch a little shit towards Essex? Its like that.
You know how before Trump we had this like really good natured banter and rivalry with Canadaa? Its like that.
The irony is talking shit about NJ primarily comes from people who live in NYC--not exactly a city known for its cleanliness and pleasant aesthetic. Meanwhile NJ once youre inland from Newark is lowkey gorgeous. Go to Penn grab the Morristown line. Summit, NJ and further west? Gorgeous. Morris county? Beautiful.
Though I gotta say, as someone not from there but whose parents moved out that way after I left the house--what the fuck is up with the turns in that state? Did the cars just not turn left when the roads were built out there?
Creepy_Wash338@reddit
Since Jersey is kinda made fun of, people from there have a lot of defensive state pride, which invites further abuse. Also snobby Manhattanites look down on the "bridge and tunnel" crowd that comes into the city to party on the weekends just because they are trashy and annoying.
malinagurek@reddit
I’m from the Philadelphia suburbs, but I’ve lived in New York for the past 30 years. My perspective may be colored by the time period and age group I was in while experiencing both, but my perspective is that the Philly kids were relentless against NJ—“armpit of the USA” and all that—and that New Yorkers express their friendliness with gentle jabs, not serious at all, and not even the thing that it was back in the ‘90s.
As a suburban Philly kid, your main experience of NJ is likely the beaches, which are mostly beautiful, but yes, there are select areas that are a straight representation of the Jersey Shore stereotypes. That show and all the mafia shows don’t help with the reputation.
Getting to the shore, you experience all the no-left-turn highways with loop-de-loops and have likely negotiated with a traffic cop. Crossing the state line is a culture shock when you’re used to the wild west of Pennsylvania, where the speed limit is more of a suggestion and left turns are normal.
Other people have mentioned the industrial parts of NJ, which maybe impacts the impression of visitors, but NJ’s neighbors are well aware of the high-end parts of New Jersey. I’ve never been to “horse country,” but we all know about it.
This might all come down to a culture gap. What’s normal neighborly teasing in the Northeast, might be taken the wrong way somewhere else.
sharkycharming@reddit
I love New Jersey. I've been to every state except AL, LA, NM, AK, and NE, and I can honestly say that New Jersey is a top 10 state for me.
That said, driving into NYC on I-95, you see some yucky parts of New Jersey from the turnpike. But they're no worse than the industrial parts of other place. You just happen to see these on your way into the most populated city, so more people see it.
jafnharri@reddit
The area around Newark is pretty ugly and smelly bc of industry. And the traffic sucks, and most people only see that part of NJ. As a New Yorker I feel the need to rib NJ, it's like sibling rivalry. We don't really hate em that much. They're not sophisticated enough to pump their own gas tho 😄
JointsMcdanks@reddit
North Jersey is dumb and shouldn't exist but our boys down the Delaware they have better cheesesteaks and pizza than us. Wildwood rules and Atlantic City is a paradise. Jersey appreciation.
Maxorus73@reddit
New Jersey and New York have a lot of historical beef over land disputes, among other things. There are a lot of American shows and movies made in New York and/or by New Yorkers. If Michigan was where everything was set instead, then y'all'd be wondering why American shows and movies rag on Ohio so much
Exact-Truck-5248@reddit
Your mother told me to kiss her where it smells, so I drove her to New Jersey
nowhereman136@reddit
Long story short. NJ is just over the river from NYC and Philly, two of americas largest cities. Since they like to make fun of NJ and they control the media narrative, NJ jokes make it into pop culture.
Friends, Seinfeld, Futurama, Sex in the City, Law and Order, and a ton of other shows are set in NYC, so they like to make fun on NJ
Der-Candidat@reddit
I like going to the Jersey Shore
Euphoric_Loquat_8651@reddit
The Boss. 'Nuff said
LetterheadClassic306@reddit
i feel you on this. new jersey gets a weirdly rough edit in movies and tv. the joke mostly comes from areas near newark and the turnpike which have factories and refineries plus the whole 'what exit?' thing. it's partly an inside joke among east coasters who live near nyc. the irony is nj has beautiful beaches and farms too but the joke stuck because it's easy shorthand for 'industrial mess.' tbh most americans don't actually think it's that bad.
bender1_tiolet0@reddit
Because it's Jersey
ThePickleConnoisseur@reddit
NJ is in a weird limbo land between two major cities of NYC and Philly. So it often gets dunked on because of that
Decent-Caramel-2129@reddit
New Jersey itself is like most states- mostly ok but with high highs and low lows. The issue are state rivalries. Just about every state has some sort of rival that is supposed to be faux friendly but can turn really ugly. New York and New Jersey are two such rivals but New York has the size and media exposure for its New Jersey ribbing to go mainstream. Also, the reasons in the first comment. Other rivalries include Michigan and Ohio, and the North and South states. I can definitely say going through New Jersey was far more pleasant than New York though.
Revolutionary-Ad3648@reddit
Jersey Tomatoes are the best Ive ever had. Ive lived all over The States, and i do not care for raw tomato all that much. I could eat them like an apple with a lil salt on the side. Maybe that's why it's the Garden State?
Jersey clams and lobsters are great (or were? It's been a while.). Easy to catch and buy
The Turnpike is so fun to drive for me. I remember going ~90mph+ and getting easily passed! American autoban, imo.
Finally, scrapple!
GlitterRiot@reddit
New Jersey got 99% less amazing after my partner left the state.
TipsyBaker_@reddit
I don't think that's a fair assessment. We also make fun of Ohio. A lot.
For real though, new jersey has a long history and varied landscape. The pine barrens alone are worth the visit. Just be nice to the local woodland creatures while you're there. For reasons.
freedraw@reddit
A lot of television and movie creatives work, went to school in, or live/have lived in NYC. New Jersey, being extremely close to the city and where a lot of suburban NYC workers live and having a fairly distinct (if NYC adjacent) culture is just kind of a go-to reference/punching bag for New Yorkers. You'll also notice Connecticut referenced quite a bit for similar reasons with the jokes pointing slightly more to its reputation for wealthy white suburbs and being boring.
AVDLatex@reddit
They’re jealous because they’re not us.
EgoSenatus@reddit
Have you been to New Jersey?
tracygee@reddit
New Jersey is actually stunning. There are a few areas (mostly near NYC) where it’s a bit questionable, but it’s full of horse farms and beaches and lovely towns for the most part.
rhb4n8@reddit
The part of it that's near NYC is the part most people experience. People have homes under overpasses and there ARE landfills everywhere
LinuxLinus@reddit
Jersey gave us Springsteen, that's good enough for me
New-Process-52@reddit
Self deprecatiom
Amockdfw89@reddit
New Jersey is actually cool.
The problem is being an older urban area of the USA means it’s kind of rough around the edges and full of fast paced people who can come off as pushy
Also I forgot, but one of the main airports that serve NYC is in Jersey. From the airport NYC is in a very industrial area so for many people there first and only impression of Jersey is through a ugly and bleak industrial wasteland
marchmay@reddit
I got vending machine cake in New Jersey so that's cool.
RedLegGI@reddit
New Jersey? Definitely not. Ohio? 100%
Talkin_Out_My_Ass@reddit
They just want to pump their own gas! Is that too much to ask?!
Critical-Patient-235@reddit
People who live in New York City like to make fun of New Jersey. It’s mostly just a joke that we’re better than the outsiders from across the river. It’s nothing really serious. Jersey in reality is a perfectly fine place to live with great people.
DonJota5@reddit
They hate us cuz they aint us
VirginiaLuthier@reddit
Q: Why are New Yorkers always so sad?
A: Because the light at the end of their tunnel is in New Jersey
Frosty_Employment171@reddit
Smug NYers need to feel superior to something, someplace, anything.
DessertFlowerz@reddit
Big city city snobs shitting on what they see as uncool suburbs or whatever. A stupid TV show. Some of the bigger cities actually do suck (Newark, Trenton, Camden).
The jersey shore legitimately has some of the best beaches on the planet.
Weightmonster@reddit
It’s the most densely populated state.
Original_Tune_5630@reddit
I live in Jersey and I don’t mind it bc it keeps people from wanting to move here and it’s crowded enough as it is lol I love where I live and I think Jersey offers a lot - access to NYC (and I guess Philly too 😒), beach, mountains, great colleges, strong public schools.
I think the bad rap is mostly north Jersey, basically the ugly and stinky industrial wasteland you drive through on the Turnpike.
The Jersey Shore show on MTV didn’t help our PR
FreeStateOfPortland@reddit
The highways. So many fucking highways. But also The Boss so they get a pass in my book.
Peculiar-Interests@reddit
We will now use the power of the continuum transfuctioner to banish you to Hoboken New Jers- OUUGH!
Pomeranian18@reddit
Because New York City has a chip on their shoulder about New Jersey, and most of the writers come from New York. The ones who't, copy the ones who do.
I don't know why they're so obsessed with New Jersey. It's like they have to convince themselves that New Jersey is awful to justify paying 10 times more for a place to live. Their knowledge of NJ usually extends to the freeways.
SnazzleZazzle@reddit
Beats me. I’m from Philadelphia area and have vacationed in Ocean City at the Jersey shore since I was a little kid. Great tomatoes and corn in the summer. Lovely beaches. Lots of fun on the boardwalk for kids. I haven’t been there in a few years since the prices on rentals has gone up significantly, but I’ve spent many a happy vacation there with my family.
AKA-Pseudonym@reddit
It's really more New Yorkers making fun of New Jersey. But a lot of media is made in New York so it get into a lot of media.
___HeyGFY___@reddit
I lived in New Jersey for three years. I would love to say that [Removed by Reddit] and [Removed by Reddit], because that was my experience. But since I like this sub, and this has been declared an effort to defend the Garden State, here's my take.
New Jersey contains a lot of beautiful diversity in nature. Rivers, lakes, woods, rolling hills, a whole lot of small farms, and of course the ocean. Most of the people I encountered were good, decent, hard-working individuals.
TheMuffler42069@reddit
Jealousy
tenehemia@reddit
The proximity to New York City makes all the difference. New Jersey gets made fun of for being blue collar, unrefined, etc. But there's lots of places that have the same reputation. The difference is that a ton of media comes out of NYC and so the opinions of New Yorkers are over represented in media. So when a show features some characters making fun of their blue-collar neighbors, New Jersey is more likely to be the target.
dopefiendeddie@reddit
Because it's the Ohio of the east coast
FezzesnPonds@reddit
My whole life I couldn’t wait to get out of NJ, I hated the place. Turns out I was just an angsty teen who didn’t like having strict parents and associated the location with those negative experiences.
Now that I’m out I miss the bagels, my friends, the local sports culture (granted I root for a ny team but we’re close enough to the city and dad is an old enough legacy fan to warrant it), and general atmosphere. New England is great and all but it’s much more homogenous than NJ. NJ is more diverse in culture and viewpoints which I think many people undervalue.
Emotional_Ad5714@reddit
Most of NJ is beautiful, old stock suburban homes, with nice lawns and it is close to NYC and Philly. You can work in a high earning city, and have backyard BBQs on the weekend. It does have some very poor areas and industrial areas.
When NJ is referenced as a horrible place to live, it's presumed the person lives next to factories with smokestacks, and chemicals being dumped on the river. That industrial trope hasn't been accurate in 40 years with the addition of environmental regulations.
NomadLexicon@reddit
When it’s New Yorkers talking about New Jersey, it’s generally about North Jersey specifically and the highway approaches to NYC (which cross through a lot of heavily industrial areas and usually have heavy traffic). There’s lots of nice suburban towns but there’s not much reason to go to those places unless you live there.
brizia@reddit
My country NJ is the best state. I live in one of the most beautiful parts, Somerset County. There is so much to do in the state, we have awesome food, the best schools, and most importantly, we don’t pump our own gas. So much culture and innovation has its roots in NJ including music, films (including the earliest studios), literature, and scientific discovery.
Basically, other states make fun of us because they’re jealous.
Sinchanzo@reddit
According to Futurama, known for its historical accuracy, Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers named New Jersey the official joke state.
StressorAnxiety@reddit
I don't actually know. I think the only times I've heard people making jokes about New Jersey, is on tv and the people making the joke have been from New York. I've also seen the inverse, with Jersey people making jokes about New Yorkers.
My best guess is it was a local thing, and then New York became a really big spot for TV, and the jokes that a New Yorker would make became very popular because of that.
sourcreamus@reddit
Snobbery from NYC people who dominate media.
Chickadee12345@reddit
I lived in southern NJ for about 15 years. I loved it there. Where I lived was inland enough to not be touristy or crowded. It was in the middle of the Pine Barrens. Things are spread out with the towns not on top of each other. And it was very peaceful with lots of wildlife. I plan to move back when I can.
BlazerFS231@reddit
I have no idea. It’s full of the nicest people. The Eastern and Southern parts of the state smell nothing like an armpit and the Northern and Western parts smell nothing like cow shit.
The taxes and cost of living are fabulous and it’s soooooo nice being barred from pumping my own gas or making left turns.
Dave_A480@reddit
Because so much of the media world is from NYC.
Other than New Yorkers, nobody really remembers Jersey exists unless someone else brings it up
Lucky_Ad2801@reddit
The fact is, New Jersey is a lot more than just the turnpike. It has send beautiful areas.