A funny look at our beautiful home state, and I think not too far from the crude explanation I gave some time ago.
This made the rounds on email some time ago.
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Saturday, March 10, 2012
New Jersey Dissected
Did we add this to the blog before?
A funny look at our beautiful home state, and I think not too far from the crude explanation I gave some time ago.
This made the rounds on email some time ago.
A funny look at our beautiful home state, and I think not too far from the crude explanation I gave some time ago.
This made the rounds on email some time ago.
Friday, December 31, 2010
New Jersey - Ethnic Minorities
This map is from the latest NJEA (New Jersey Educator's Association) magazine showing the counties of our great Garden State by ethnic minority percentage. Surprising numbers.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Hating on the Nyets and New Jersey
People hate the NJ Nets! Why? I don’t know for sure, but I do have theory. New Jersey has something like 9 million people who live in a dense area but the Nets are hard pressed to fill half the arena playing one of the most popular US sports. I think the reason is, people love to hate on New Jersey, even people from New Jersey, and the Nets get the shit end of the stick because of that.
Fact: The Nets have been a much better franchise than the Knicks for the past decade. The fact is the Nets have made the NBA Finals twice in the past decade. They have also made the playoffs seven times in the past decade. The Knicks, by comparison, have not had a winning record in the past 10 years and only made the playoffs once, as the 8th seed, at which time ironically they were swept by the Nets.
So, the Nets have obviously been better, for a long time than the Knicks. Yet, even in Northern New Jersey, the Knicks are the team to root for. Why? The Knicks have made one bad move after another, yet, even at the height of Knicks suckdom, they sell out games. By contrast, during the Jason Kidd years in which they made the NBA finals twice, the Nets were hard pressed to fill the arena.
I have attended some Nets games over the past 10 years and it has been a sad sight. Even when they were good, the arena was half empty and, of those in attendance, only a small percentage were cheering for the Nets. Often times, shopping in NJ over the past decade, at Models or Foot Locker, Nets tickets were given away with crappy shirts and shoes, yet people still would not go to the games, and if they did, it was to see the opposing team.
The Nets are like the fat kid that lost weight, but still gets picked on for being the fat kid. People picked on them when they sucked, yet, even when they got good, people in NJ still viewed them as the easy target to hate.
The past summer should have been the time that Nets made the big dive into the free agent market. Last summer a Russian billionaire (hence the Name Nyets) became the principal owner of the team. This Russian dude seems mad cool, billionaire playboy type, who travels in a private jet with hot chicks. Also, Jay-Z is a partial owner, which is obviously mad cool. They also have cap space and young talent, yet they can’t attract any big name free agents because they play in Jersey.
It breaks down like this; if you live in North Jersey you falsely identify yourself as a New Yorker. If you live in South Jersey, you falsely identify yourself as Philadelphian. Hence, if you live in North Jersey you root for the Knicks. If you live in South Jersey you root for Sixers. Nowhere in NJ is Net country, because people from NJ hate their own state. As an aside, I think this self-hatred and desire to latch onto a big city for identity shows in our feelings towards Rutgers Football as well. When I used to meet people, especially when I was younger, I would advise people I lived “right outside New York.” I don’t even think I used the words “New” or “Jersey.” I guess the Nets need to move to Brooklyn to get some love because New Jerseyeans will never embrace a sports team as their own because of their own NJ identity issues.
Fact: The Nets have been a much better franchise than the Knicks for the past decade. The fact is the Nets have made the NBA Finals twice in the past decade. They have also made the playoffs seven times in the past decade. The Knicks, by comparison, have not had a winning record in the past 10 years and only made the playoffs once, as the 8th seed, at which time ironically they were swept by the Nets.
So, the Nets have obviously been better, for a long time than the Knicks. Yet, even in Northern New Jersey, the Knicks are the team to root for. Why? The Knicks have made one bad move after another, yet, even at the height of Knicks suckdom, they sell out games. By contrast, during the Jason Kidd years in which they made the NBA finals twice, the Nets were hard pressed to fill the arena.
I have attended some Nets games over the past 10 years and it has been a sad sight. Even when they were good, the arena was half empty and, of those in attendance, only a small percentage were cheering for the Nets. Often times, shopping in NJ over the past decade, at Models or Foot Locker, Nets tickets were given away with crappy shirts and shoes, yet people still would not go to the games, and if they did, it was to see the opposing team.
The Nets are like the fat kid that lost weight, but still gets picked on for being the fat kid. People picked on them when they sucked, yet, even when they got good, people in NJ still viewed them as the easy target to hate.
The past summer should have been the time that Nets made the big dive into the free agent market. Last summer a Russian billionaire (hence the Name Nyets) became the principal owner of the team. This Russian dude seems mad cool, billionaire playboy type, who travels in a private jet with hot chicks. Also, Jay-Z is a partial owner, which is obviously mad cool. They also have cap space and young talent, yet they can’t attract any big name free agents because they play in Jersey.
It breaks down like this; if you live in North Jersey you falsely identify yourself as a New Yorker. If you live in South Jersey, you falsely identify yourself as Philadelphian. Hence, if you live in North Jersey you root for the Knicks. If you live in South Jersey you root for Sixers. Nowhere in NJ is Net country, because people from NJ hate their own state. As an aside, I think this self-hatred and desire to latch onto a big city for identity shows in our feelings towards Rutgers Football as well. When I used to meet people, especially when I was younger, I would advise people I lived “right outside New York.” I don’t even think I used the words “New” or “Jersey.” I guess the Nets need to move to Brooklyn to get some love because New Jerseyeans will never embrace a sports team as their own because of their own NJ identity issues.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
New Jersey Dissected
Typical things said by New Jerseyans:
In South Jersey: "Where did you go to college?"
Me: "Rutgers - New Brunswick."
Them: "Oh, wow, all the way up in North Jersey, huh?"
In North Jersey: "I want to go to go to Six Flags, but it's all the way in South Jersey."
etc...
I am now 34 years old. I lived in North Jersey for the first 18 years of my life, in Central Jersey for the next 10 or 11, and South Jersey for the last 5 or so. People who have not lived in different parts of our great state, specifically in North and South Jersey, could generally use some clarification about the different regions of the state. So, I attempt to do so here. My ideas are open to suggestions and modifications.
I have divided the state into three regions which I will define: North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. Then, I have further subdivided each region into 3 sections, for a total of 9 sections of New Jersey. Each has characteristics which I will attempt to describe as I define each region below.
North Jersey
Region 1: Northeast New Jersey
Includes: Bergen County, most of Passaic County through Paterson and Paterson's western suburbs.
Characteristics: Closely identifies with New York City and being New York suburbs. Most of area upper-middle class. Most ghetto area is Paterson but that isn't as bad as other ghetto areas of New Jersey. People tend to be suburban dwellers, liberal, and while being somewhat multi-cultural, most of the people with money are white. People are fairly ambitious and having your kids get into a good college is a necessity.
Region 2: Northwest New Jersey
Includes: certain portions of Western and Northern Passaic counties, Morris, Sussex, and Warren Counties. Certain portions of Northern Hunterdon County.
Characteristics: Area still pretty rural. Some suburban sprawl has sprouted up in various regions along Route 80 as people who work in New York City want more for their money, but still primarily small townie. Mainly working class, white, and more conservative than Region 1. De facto capital of Region 2: Morristown. Politically more conservative than Region 1.
Region 3: Urban Northeast New Jersey
Includes: Primarily Hudson, Union, and Essex Counties: cities like Newark, Elizabeth, Jersey City, and working class towns like West New York, Garfield, and Belleville.
Characteristics: Generally ranges from ghetto to working class. Area somewhat urban and faux urban like all the towns along Bergenline Avenue. Racially very mixed. Politically - liberal.
Central Jersey
Region 4: The Hub of New Jersey
Includes: Most of Middlesex County and Somerset County, small parts of Northern Mercer County. New Brunswick, and large suburban towns like Edison, Piscataway, North / South / East Brunswick are all included.
Characteristics: Large suburban towns (Edison is much larger than any town in Bergen County, for example). The Rutgers Campus New Brunswick is almost like the hub of New Jersey, geographically. People here lean more towards New York City over Philadelphia in terms of sports teams. People also ambitious and into getting into good colleges, etc..., but not as "Type-A" as Bergen County. A bit more of a mix of liberal and conservative people than Region #1. A surprising amount of local industry in the Somerset County area creates a middle-class environment.
Region 5: Trenton Area
Includes: Princeton, Trenton, most of Mercer and most of Hunterdon Counties.
Characteristics: Ranges from nice, less developed areas in Hunterdon County (surprisingly expensive to live there), to the historic area of Princeton, and the developed area of Trenton. People here don't identify with North Jersey or South Jersey - in that regard, this is truly Central New Jersey. Mixed between conservative and liberal people. Surprisingly a large amount of local industry, like Region 4.
Region 6: The Jersey Shore, North
Includes: Northern Jersey towns near shore like Sayreville, Marlboro, Freehold, shore towns like Asbury Park, Long Branch, etc... down to LBI. Toms River area. Primarily Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Six Flags (Jackson) also included here. Belmar, Sleazeside... you get the idea.
Characteristics: More blue collar than region 4. Many people are working class and don't go to college. While some towns are not on the shore per se, people identify with the shore area, bars that Bruce Springsteen sings about, etc...
South Jersey
Region 7: Philly Suburbs
Includes: Burlington and Camden Counties, Northern Gloucester County.
Characteristics: Your typical South Jersey people. Loyal, salt-of-the-earth people, mostly working class with some rich exceptions. Love their Philly teams ferociously. Some newer suburban areas, some old towns near Philadelphia. Not as type-A as Region 1, despite its proximity to a big city.
Region 8: Rural South Jersey
Includes: Southern Gloucester County, Salem, Cumberland, and Western Atlantic County, small parts of Cape May county.
Characteristics: One of the poorer regions of the state. Biggest towns are Hammonton and Vineland. Lots of working farms, lots of small towns that look like they are in Deliverance.
Region 9: The Jersey Shore, South
Includes: Southern Ocean County, Eastern Atlantic County, most of Cape May County.
Characteristics: Includes Ocean City, Atlantic City, and Wildwood. Had to be separated from Region 6 as the shore cultures are distinctive. Ocean City boardwalk has exclusively Philadelphia gear, for example. Also included here are shore towns like Hamilton Township, Egg Harbor, etc... Casinos a source of income, but most people are working class and small-townie.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Sports Squads Sellout?
As at least three-quarters of you readers know (which I'm confident is at least 6 people), I grew up in North Jersey, which is part of the New York City media market. As such, myself and most of the people I grew up with became fans of the New York-area teams. With all of the major sports, you had your option of two or three teams. Fun debates then arise: Mets vs. Yankees, Giants vs. Jets, Knicks vs. Nets, Rangers vs. Devils vs. Islanders. In each of the major sports, I find myself aligning myself as such:
Baseball: Personally, I found myself preferring the Yankees over the Mets, though I never truly thought of myself as a die-hard "Yankees fan". I've found it hard to be a die-hard fan of a sport where there is a 162 game regular season. Furthermore, I find it hard to get behind a team who buys success by outspending all the other teams. Now, I don't blame the Yankees for doing so - they should use their resources - it's just hard to get enthusiastic about a system where one team has all-star level talent at every position while others are forced to continuously auction off all of their promising young players for economic reasons. But I digress.
The biggest my level of fandom got for the Yankees probably came during my senior year of high school (1993-1994). My friend Chahifquoy would come by from time to time, we'd order a pizza and watch the Yankees play. This was when they were becoming resurgent again after years of being mediocre. I even had a Matt Nokes replica jersey (though, in retrospect, this was really random, I had to be the only guy who had a Matt Nokes jersey, and nobody but hardcore Yankees fans would even know who that is, as the Yankees didn't but names on their jerseys then (and still don't). He was the catcher
The aforementioned Matt Nokes. How many people could possibly have a Matt Nokes card? He caught for the Yankees during the early 90s.
Anyway...
Football: I was never really a "fan" of either NYC team, though if pressed on the issue, I probably slightly preferred the Giants over the Jets. Most Sundays if I sat down to watch football growing up, I would watch the Jets at 1 and the Giants at 4 (or vice-versa), and would want both teams to do well. My father grew up in Chicago and thus was indoctrinated as a Bears fan. Thus, whenever the Bears came on TV, and especially when they were good in the mid 80s, I'd watch them play and root for them. I still have my Walter Payton replica jersey in the closet somewhere. But I was pretty open about football, and just liked the games in general regardless of who was playing.
Hockey: I didn't know dick about hockey. I do wonder how people that we grew up with were Rangers fans, as opposed to Devils fans, when the Devils were good all of our lives, and were in our backyard. Though, I suppose somebody from another part of the country would ask the same thing about the Nets. Speaking of those Nets...
Basketball: This was the one sport I was very passionate about. In high school I became a die-hard Knicks fan. I taped many of their games from 1992 - 1995 or so when I wasn't home watching them. This was back in the days of Ewing and Oak, Mase, Starks, SWISH! Those gritty Knicks fighting against Jordan every year, finally making it in 1994 only to lose to Hakeem and the Rockets.
1994 did seem like the year, though, until the end. Check out this video:
Wow, haven't the 90s become dated quickly?
Anyway, it is interesting how people in North Jersey and NYC pick their teams to be loyal to. Most people who are, say, Yankees fans can justify it to you, can tell you when they became a fan and why, and why they prefer the Yankees over the Mets.
But, I think that it's generally accepted that people choose a team in their local media market to become a fan of. After all, the local team is the one that has all of their games aired and is discussed in one's immediate surroundings. And, if you choose to be a "fan" of a team that is not shown and covered locally, you almost have to have some other reason, like a family member who grew up a hardcore fan of some other team.
(Side note: Has that changed with the introduction of the major sports having sports packages where you can view any team's game in any part of the country? In other words, let's say you're a kid who grows up being able to watch any NBA team play because you have the direct access cable package, and you elect to watch Lebron James instead of your local team and you consequently become a Cavaliers fan, is that somehow less valid than being a fan of your local team? Does this need to be justified to one's peers?)
Ok, so what's the point of all this? Well, you see, I've been getting a lot of shit for switching allegiance in my sports teams. I lived in Northern New Jersey for the first 23 years of my life, then lived in the New Brunswick area, which I would describe as somewhere between Northern and Central New Jersey, for the next 6 years, and have spent the last 4 years living near Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey. Since I've set up shop down here, I've gotten into the local professional teams as follows:
Baseball: I'm still not a huge fan of the sport, but I do find myself now rooting for the Phillies, feeling sorry for the Mets, and having disdain for the Yankees and their ridiculous payroll. I don't feel like this is selling out in any way. I find the Phillies to be an easy team to root for.
Football: South Jersey is crazy for their Eagles. I have gotten swept on in this and watch a decent percentage of the Eagles games, hoping (futilely, so far) for their success and for an eventual championship.
Hockey: Still don't know dick about hockey.
Basketball: This is the big issue. I have completely lost my loyalty for the Knicks and thus, almost by default, have found myself lightly rooting for the Sixers. The Knicks have become a joke of an organization, and I found myself having no problem ditching them and moving on, especially when my local media covers the Sixers and they have become more interesting. I would say that I'm a bigger fan of the NBA, in general, than any one team, though it used to be I would say that I was a "Knicks Fan".
The point of this long post, though, is not to inform you of the history of which teams I like and don't like. Here is the question that I do want a serious answer to:
If you move from one city to another, how much time has to pass before you are allowed to switch your sports allegiance to the new city's teams? Are you ever allowed? Does it depend on other factors other than time passing? If so, what are these factors?
Baseball: Personally, I found myself preferring the Yankees over the Mets, though I never truly thought of myself as a die-hard "Yankees fan". I've found it hard to be a die-hard fan of a sport where there is a 162 game regular season. Furthermore, I find it hard to get behind a team who buys success by outspending all the other teams. Now, I don't blame the Yankees for doing so - they should use their resources - it's just hard to get enthusiastic about a system where one team has all-star level talent at every position while others are forced to continuously auction off all of their promising young players for economic reasons. But I digress.
The biggest my level of fandom got for the Yankees probably came during my senior year of high school (1993-1994). My friend Chahifquoy would come by from time to time, we'd order a pizza and watch the Yankees play. This was when they were becoming resurgent again after years of being mediocre. I even had a Matt Nokes replica jersey (though, in retrospect, this was really random, I had to be the only guy who had a Matt Nokes jersey, and nobody but hardcore Yankees fans would even know who that is, as the Yankees didn't but names on their jerseys then (and still don't). He was the catcher
The aforementioned Matt Nokes. How many people could possibly have a Matt Nokes card? He caught for the Yankees during the early 90s.
Anyway...
Football: I was never really a "fan" of either NYC team, though if pressed on the issue, I probably slightly preferred the Giants over the Jets. Most Sundays if I sat down to watch football growing up, I would watch the Jets at 1 and the Giants at 4 (or vice-versa), and would want both teams to do well. My father grew up in Chicago and thus was indoctrinated as a Bears fan. Thus, whenever the Bears came on TV, and especially when they were good in the mid 80s, I'd watch them play and root for them. I still have my Walter Payton replica jersey in the closet somewhere. But I was pretty open about football, and just liked the games in general regardless of who was playing.
Hockey: I didn't know dick about hockey. I do wonder how people that we grew up with were Rangers fans, as opposed to Devils fans, when the Devils were good all of our lives, and were in our backyard. Though, I suppose somebody from another part of the country would ask the same thing about the Nets. Speaking of those Nets...
Basketball: This was the one sport I was very passionate about. In high school I became a die-hard Knicks fan. I taped many of their games from 1992 - 1995 or so when I wasn't home watching them. This was back in the days of Ewing and Oak, Mase, Starks, SWISH! Those gritty Knicks fighting against Jordan every year, finally making it in 1994 only to lose to Hakeem and the Rockets.
1994 did seem like the year, though, until the end. Check out this video:
Wow, haven't the 90s become dated quickly?
Anyway, it is interesting how people in North Jersey and NYC pick their teams to be loyal to. Most people who are, say, Yankees fans can justify it to you, can tell you when they became a fan and why, and why they prefer the Yankees over the Mets.
But, I think that it's generally accepted that people choose a team in their local media market to become a fan of. After all, the local team is the one that has all of their games aired and is discussed in one's immediate surroundings. And, if you choose to be a "fan" of a team that is not shown and covered locally, you almost have to have some other reason, like a family member who grew up a hardcore fan of some other team.
(Side note: Has that changed with the introduction of the major sports having sports packages where you can view any team's game in any part of the country? In other words, let's say you're a kid who grows up being able to watch any NBA team play because you have the direct access cable package, and you elect to watch Lebron James instead of your local team and you consequently become a Cavaliers fan, is that somehow less valid than being a fan of your local team? Does this need to be justified to one's peers?)
Ok, so what's the point of all this? Well, you see, I've been getting a lot of shit for switching allegiance in my sports teams. I lived in Northern New Jersey for the first 23 years of my life, then lived in the New Brunswick area, which I would describe as somewhere between Northern and Central New Jersey, for the next 6 years, and have spent the last 4 years living near Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey. Since I've set up shop down here, I've gotten into the local professional teams as follows:
Baseball: I'm still not a huge fan of the sport, but I do find myself now rooting for the Phillies, feeling sorry for the Mets, and having disdain for the Yankees and their ridiculous payroll. I don't feel like this is selling out in any way. I find the Phillies to be an easy team to root for.
Football: South Jersey is crazy for their Eagles. I have gotten swept on in this and watch a decent percentage of the Eagles games, hoping (futilely, so far) for their success and for an eventual championship.
Hockey: Still don't know dick about hockey.
Basketball: This is the big issue. I have completely lost my loyalty for the Knicks and thus, almost by default, have found myself lightly rooting for the Sixers. The Knicks have become a joke of an organization, and I found myself having no problem ditching them and moving on, especially when my local media covers the Sixers and they have become more interesting. I would say that I'm a bigger fan of the NBA, in general, than any one team, though it used to be I would say that I was a "Knicks Fan".
The point of this long post, though, is not to inform you of the history of which teams I like and don't like. Here is the question that I do want a serious answer to:
If you move from one city to another, how much time has to pass before you are allowed to switch your sports allegiance to the new city's teams? Are you ever allowed? Does it depend on other factors other than time passing? If so, what are these factors?
Sunday, July 26, 2009
New Jersey Highway Driving
From the New Jersey Driver's Manual:
On a multi-lane roadway, motorists must drive in the lane nearest to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway when the lane is available for travel, except when overtaking another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn.
(from N.J.S.A. 39:4-88, which elaborates:
"Upon a highway which is divided into 3 lanes, a vehicle shall not be driven in the center lane except when overtaking or passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or unless the center lane is at the time allocated for traffic moving in the direction the vehicle is proceeding and is signposted to give notice of that allocation.")
Now, any of you who have ever driven on the New Jersey Turnpike know that what the law says and what people do in this regard are very, very different. Troopers who are parked on the side of the turnpike, watching for traffic violators, do not stop people strictly for unnecessarily driving in the left lane.
Infact, I would argue that there seems to be an written but widely accepted set of rules for driving on the Turnpike (and the Parkway, 295, 80, etc...) that most motorists seem to abide by. They go something like this:
- The right lane is the "slow lane". If you feel like actually obeying the speed limit (i.e. driving slower than it) you go to the right lane. You also go here when you are getting ready to exit the highway. If you are in the right lane and you want to pass somebody, it is expected that you will go to the middle lane to do so.
- The middle lane is the "cruising lane". People in the middle lane should be going either at the speed limit or slightly above it. You don't feel like going slow to the right. If you are on a 65-mph highway, the accepted speed for the middle line is probably something between 62 and 72 miles per hour. If you are in this speed range, and somebody wants to go faster than you, it is expected that they will go to the left to pass you.
- The left lane is the "fast lane". People in the left lane are in a constant state of passing people in the middle lane, and are taking the risk of getting a speeding ticket. If you are in the left lane you should be doing at least 75 on a 65-mph highway. Also, even if you are doing 75, if somebody comes up behind you and wants to go faster, it is expected that you will go over to the middle lane at the next opportunity to let them by. Then, you are allowed to return to the left lane.
So, let us posit that I am more or less accurate about these unwritten rules. Furthermore, let us agree that these are not the actual driving laws. I do not abide by one of these rules. And consequently, I receive glares, middle fingers, etc... by irate drivers (and almost always, in North Jersey. Don't get me started on the vast difference between the human beings that drive south of Trenton and the stress-inducing lunatics that drive north of New Brunswick. I should have elaborated on this difference more the last time I meditated on this topic.)
Here's the way I usually drive: I am ok with the unwritten rules about the right and middle lanes. When I cruise in the middle lane, I drive at about 65 (or 55 if that's the speed limit) or slightly below that speed. However, when I'm too impatient to cruise in the middle lane (usually when the driver in front of me is not doing 60 (or 55)), I cruise in the left lane. However, I obviously want to minimize my chances of getting a ticket. Therefore, I obey another unwritten rule of driving - which is you should never go more than 10 mph over the speed limit. The thought process behind this, I suppose, is that police won't bother writing you a ticket for speeding by under 10 mph over the limit, as you can plead down in traffic court.
So, anyway, when I cruise the left lane, I do so at about 72 mph (in a 65) or 62 mph (in a 55).
When I do this, before long, somebody is inevitably riding right up my ass. I don't move over for them, nor do I speed up or slow down. Essentially, I pretend that they aren't there. This usually leads to them getting dangerously close to me and high-beaming me. Finally, they give up, swerve around me to the right, match my speed to glare at me, give me the finger, and yell at me. Then, they swerve in front of me, dangerously close, go slow for a couple of seconds (I suppose to show me the size of their dick), then peel away.
Now, Walt, why don't you obey rule #3 about the left lane? Is it passive-aggressive behavior which is a form of road rage? Are you trying to prove a point? No, none of the above. I feel that this is an appropriate way to drive. I do not want to let the behavior of maniacs alter or dictate the way I drive. I understand that when I'm in the left lane, I technically shouldn't be there. However, neither should any of the other drivers. Therefore, their rules are no more valid than mine. We are all breaking the law by being there at all. If you need to go 85 or 90 miles per hour, the onus is on you to swerve through the lanes as you feel necessary, not on me to placate you and implicitly condone your insanity by moving for you.
Ironically, I brought this up at a dinner in North Jersey with my North Jersey family a few months ago, and asked them how they felt. Every single one of them, including my own mother and brother, said that I was being a dick for not moving out of the way in the left-hand lane. I concluded that living in North Jersey makes one a maniacal driver and warps one's otherwise rational perspective on the driving issue. Then again, if I had to fight the crazy traffic up there for the past four years in addition to the previous 11 that I already had done, I'd have lost my fucking mind too.
On a multi-lane roadway, motorists must drive in the lane nearest to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway when the lane is available for travel, except when overtaking another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn.
(from N.J.S.A. 39:4-88, which elaborates:
"Upon a highway which is divided into 3 lanes, a vehicle shall not be driven in the center lane except when overtaking or passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or unless the center lane is at the time allocated for traffic moving in the direction the vehicle is proceeding and is signposted to give notice of that allocation.")
Now, any of you who have ever driven on the New Jersey Turnpike know that what the law says and what people do in this regard are very, very different. Troopers who are parked on the side of the turnpike, watching for traffic violators, do not stop people strictly for unnecessarily driving in the left lane.
Infact, I would argue that there seems to be an written but widely accepted set of rules for driving on the Turnpike (and the Parkway, 295, 80, etc...) that most motorists seem to abide by. They go something like this:
- The right lane is the "slow lane". If you feel like actually obeying the speed limit (i.e. driving slower than it) you go to the right lane. You also go here when you are getting ready to exit the highway. If you are in the right lane and you want to pass somebody, it is expected that you will go to the middle lane to do so.
- The middle lane is the "cruising lane". People in the middle lane should be going either at the speed limit or slightly above it. You don't feel like going slow to the right. If you are on a 65-mph highway, the accepted speed for the middle line is probably something between 62 and 72 miles per hour. If you are in this speed range, and somebody wants to go faster than you, it is expected that they will go to the left to pass you.
- The left lane is the "fast lane". People in the left lane are in a constant state of passing people in the middle lane, and are taking the risk of getting a speeding ticket. If you are in the left lane you should be doing at least 75 on a 65-mph highway. Also, even if you are doing 75, if somebody comes up behind you and wants to go faster, it is expected that you will go over to the middle lane at the next opportunity to let them by. Then, you are allowed to return to the left lane.
So, let us posit that I am more or less accurate about these unwritten rules. Furthermore, let us agree that these are not the actual driving laws. I do not abide by one of these rules. And consequently, I receive glares, middle fingers, etc... by irate drivers (and almost always, in North Jersey. Don't get me started on the vast difference between the human beings that drive south of Trenton and the stress-inducing lunatics that drive north of New Brunswick. I should have elaborated on this difference more the last time I meditated on this topic.)
Here's the way I usually drive: I am ok with the unwritten rules about the right and middle lanes. When I cruise in the middle lane, I drive at about 65 (or 55 if that's the speed limit) or slightly below that speed. However, when I'm too impatient to cruise in the middle lane (usually when the driver in front of me is not doing 60 (or 55)), I cruise in the left lane. However, I obviously want to minimize my chances of getting a ticket. Therefore, I obey another unwritten rule of driving - which is you should never go more than 10 mph over the speed limit. The thought process behind this, I suppose, is that police won't bother writing you a ticket for speeding by under 10 mph over the limit, as you can plead down in traffic court.
So, anyway, when I cruise the left lane, I do so at about 72 mph (in a 65) or 62 mph (in a 55).
When I do this, before long, somebody is inevitably riding right up my ass. I don't move over for them, nor do I speed up or slow down. Essentially, I pretend that they aren't there. This usually leads to them getting dangerously close to me and high-beaming me. Finally, they give up, swerve around me to the right, match my speed to glare at me, give me the finger, and yell at me. Then, they swerve in front of me, dangerously close, go slow for a couple of seconds (I suppose to show me the size of their dick), then peel away.
Now, Walt, why don't you obey rule #3 about the left lane? Is it passive-aggressive behavior which is a form of road rage? Are you trying to prove a point? No, none of the above. I feel that this is an appropriate way to drive. I do not want to let the behavior of maniacs alter or dictate the way I drive. I understand that when I'm in the left lane, I technically shouldn't be there. However, neither should any of the other drivers. Therefore, their rules are no more valid than mine. We are all breaking the law by being there at all. If you need to go 85 or 90 miles per hour, the onus is on you to swerve through the lanes as you feel necessary, not on me to placate you and implicitly condone your insanity by moving for you.
Ironically, I brought this up at a dinner in North Jersey with my North Jersey family a few months ago, and asked them how they felt. Every single one of them, including my own mother and brother, said that I was being a dick for not moving out of the way in the left-hand lane. I concluded that living in North Jersey makes one a maniacal driver and warps one's otherwise rational perspective on the driving issue. Then again, if I had to fight the crazy traffic up there for the past four years in addition to the previous 11 that I already had done, I'd have lost my fucking mind too.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Pumping Gas in New Jersey
The other day I pulled up to a gas station. The attendant was having an animated cell phone conversation, which apparently was more important to him than giving service like the young men who darted over to the car in Back to the Future when Marty first hits downtown Hill Valley in 1955. Anyway, I waited for a little while patiently, and finally said to myself something like, "I'll count to 20 and then I'll get out of the car and say something." Fortunately, he promptly hung up, jogged over and apologized (at least I think he did, his English was a bit unclear) and then we proceeded with our transaction ("Fill it, regular, cash." "Ok, boss.")
But, it got me thinking: it's silly that I can't just get out of the car and start pumping my own gas. As I'm sure you know, it is legal to pump your own gas in other states. I've filled my own gas before while travelling, as I'm sure we all have, and I seem to have the hang of the whole process. Must be some insurance thing, I wondered. If somehow I was to injure myself while pumping the gas, the gas station must be liable.
So later, our of curiousity, I consulted Google. Turns out, NJ is one of just two states where it is *illegal* to pump your own gas. Yahoo! Answers, umm... answers below:
The Garden State is one of two states where it's illegal to fill 'er up yourself. Only gas station owners or employees can pump gas in New Jersey and Oregon -- "the only two states atavistic, sadistic, and masochistic enough to still require thousands of 'professionals' to waste time, money, and inconvenience customers," according to one columnist.
The ban on self-service gas stations is a highly combustible issue and makes for some heated debates. New Jersey passed the law making it illegal to pump your own gas in 1949. At the time, legislators felt it was too dangerous to have untrained people dispensing such a flammable liquid.
That may have been sensible at the time, but pumping gas is much safer today, and some motorists feel the ban is outdated and needs to go. Opponents of the law argue that removing it would lower the cost of gas and make refueling much quicker and more convenient. Proponents of the ban argue that it creates jobs and customers like full service.
Ahh. So it creates jobs. But wait, doesn't that cost the gas companies money to have people manning the pumps? And if it does, would they just charge the higher amount anyway and pocket the profits? Or would it be cheaper for us? This article from three years ago addressed these issues (as well as containing the awesome Beavis-and-Butthead-esque line "Fear of putting it in the wrong hole?"), pointing out that elderly or less mobile motorists rely on not having to get out of their cars. Maybe true, but how do they manage in the other 48 states where they must pump themselves? Why don't New Jersey gas station offer two lanes, "pump your own" and "full service" and charge people like 3 cents more per gallon for "full service"?
I wonder what the real deal is, and why this has not been rectified yet.
But, it got me thinking: it's silly that I can't just get out of the car and start pumping my own gas. As I'm sure you know, it is legal to pump your own gas in other states. I've filled my own gas before while travelling, as I'm sure we all have, and I seem to have the hang of the whole process. Must be some insurance thing, I wondered. If somehow I was to injure myself while pumping the gas, the gas station must be liable.
So later, our of curiousity, I consulted Google. Turns out, NJ is one of just two states where it is *illegal* to pump your own gas. Yahoo! Answers, umm... answers below:
The Garden State is one of two states where it's illegal to fill 'er up yourself. Only gas station owners or employees can pump gas in New Jersey and Oregon -- "the only two states atavistic, sadistic, and masochistic enough to still require thousands of 'professionals' to waste time, money, and inconvenience customers," according to one columnist.
The ban on self-service gas stations is a highly combustible issue and makes for some heated debates. New Jersey passed the law making it illegal to pump your own gas in 1949. At the time, legislators felt it was too dangerous to have untrained people dispensing such a flammable liquid.
That may have been sensible at the time, but pumping gas is much safer today, and some motorists feel the ban is outdated and needs to go. Opponents of the law argue that removing it would lower the cost of gas and make refueling much quicker and more convenient. Proponents of the ban argue that it creates jobs and customers like full service.
Ahh. So it creates jobs. But wait, doesn't that cost the gas companies money to have people manning the pumps? And if it does, would they just charge the higher amount anyway and pocket the profits? Or would it be cheaper for us? This article from three years ago addressed these issues (as well as containing the awesome Beavis-and-Butthead-esque line "Fear of putting it in the wrong hole?"), pointing out that elderly or less mobile motorists rely on not having to get out of their cars. Maybe true, but how do they manage in the other 48 states where they must pump themselves? Why don't New Jersey gas station offer two lanes, "pump your own" and "full service" and charge people like 3 cents more per gallon for "full service"?
I wonder what the real deal is, and why this has not been rectified yet.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Classic Posts: The Central NJ Explorers
On my previous blog, I posted this anecdote. After driving back and forth many times between North and South Jersey, and getting continuously stuck in the Exit 7 area, it reminded me of times when it didn't happen very often - back in the glory days of the early 90s... Thanks to Goldman who helped me put the memories back together, back when I originally posted it.
It was 1995 and 1996, and Teaneck High School had spring break a week off from the week that most schools had off. I was still around town in Teaneck.
Also, around this time, I was getting closer with my brother, Evan. I wound up driving him places as was not yet 17, and through this I remember us getting much closer during this time than we had been before.
So one of Evan's friends mentioned to him that Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ had opened for the season, even though it was early in the spring. A trip which now at age 31 would seem relatively small to take to get to a big theme park like Six Flags seemed like an adventure at the time, especially for teenagers with little to no driving experience or with no experience taking trips like these without their parents.
So I forget if we had off of school on a weekday, or if it was a Saturday, but off we went, not thinking to call the park ahead of time (looking up their website was probably not a viable option back then). I had last been there for our 8th grade trip, where myself and somebody else (I forget who) rode the then-unbelievable and new Great American Scream Machine over and over until we almost missed the bus back.
This day, it was myself (I was 18 or 19) and my brother (15 or 16), and several of his friends: Goldman, Jay Koeppel, and Seth Kriegel (all 15 or 16).
Sure enough, after making our way all the way down the turnpike, it was too early in the season, and the park hadn't opened yet for the spring/summer.
Rather than be discouraged, we made the best of the situation. I felt like we were in the middle of a new world. It seemed very rural down there to us suburbanites. We decided to wander around and see what we came across. We drove around and soon came across a paintball place. The place was abandonded. We ran around there and stole some random shit (like beat up bowling pins). We marveled at the fact that paintball ranges existed, and that it was seemingly a bunch of random shit spread around some field somewhere. We stopped and grabbed food somewhere. We eventually came across a place called "Horse Park of New Jersey". We again marveled at the fact that we were apparently "in the country" and checked out the festivities, and chatted with some "locals". All the time we had a good time. Eventually we made our way home.
Dan Goldman has remembered and added on to the story:
The funniest part of the trip, as I recall, was a) when we started doing the rhyming couplets about each other's Moms (we were in the middle of a sonnets lesson in English at the time and I told Korean Shawn I would write a sonnet about his Mom) and b) when we got off the Turnpike and stopped at a McDonald's and people just looked at us like we were from another planet.
Even in a state as small as NJ, there are vast cultural differences between north and south, east and west, urban, suburban and rural and I guess, with our sunglasses and baggy shorts, we didn't fit the Jackson, NJ resident profile.
Right away, someone in a McDonald's uniform came up to ask us what we were doing there and when we told them we were going to Great Adventure, they laughed and told us the park was closed.
The reason we goofed was because Teaneck's spring break was a different week than the rest of NJ and Great Adventure had been open the week before when the rest of the civilized world took a week off from school. That was the root of our mistake.
Also, the best part of the horse park was not the smell, which was awful, but when Skip or Jay or someone asked some random girl whether they could get a ride...on the horse!
And don't forget the detour into Trenton when we asked some random guy on the street what there was to do in Trenton and he couldn't come up with any ideas, except "DRINK!"
Now, in retrospect, we were certainly not out in the middle of the country. In the 12 and a half years since then, I have lived all over New Jersey and taken trips to many of the corners of my state. Infact, once in my early 20s I interviewed for a teaching position at Jackson High School, where Great Adventure was. (They didn't offer enough money.) And certainly, I have been down rural roads much more rural than central New Jersey. I have taken road trips of a lot longer than an hour and a half. In short, this little excursion is in perspective now. But what is not lost on me was the feeling of exploration of that day. The feeling of being somewhere entirely new, unknown, and out of your element is one that is prominent in childhood, and can become lost as you become an adult. What seems like a silly anecdote remains in my mind as one of many fond memories of that time of my life.
It was 1995 and 1996, and Teaneck High School had spring break a week off from the week that most schools had off. I was still around town in Teaneck.
Also, around this time, I was getting closer with my brother, Evan. I wound up driving him places as was not yet 17, and through this I remember us getting much closer during this time than we had been before.
So one of Evan's friends mentioned to him that Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ had opened for the season, even though it was early in the spring. A trip which now at age 31 would seem relatively small to take to get to a big theme park like Six Flags seemed like an adventure at the time, especially for teenagers with little to no driving experience or with no experience taking trips like these without their parents.
So I forget if we had off of school on a weekday, or if it was a Saturday, but off we went, not thinking to call the park ahead of time (looking up their website was probably not a viable option back then). I had last been there for our 8th grade trip, where myself and somebody else (I forget who) rode the then-unbelievable and new Great American Scream Machine over and over until we almost missed the bus back.
This day, it was myself (I was 18 or 19) and my brother (15 or 16), and several of his friends: Goldman, Jay Koeppel, and Seth Kriegel (all 15 or 16).
Sure enough, after making our way all the way down the turnpike, it was too early in the season, and the park hadn't opened yet for the spring/summer.
Rather than be discouraged, we made the best of the situation. I felt like we were in the middle of a new world. It seemed very rural down there to us suburbanites. We decided to wander around and see what we came across. We drove around and soon came across a paintball place. The place was abandonded. We ran around there and stole some random shit (like beat up bowling pins). We marveled at the fact that paintball ranges existed, and that it was seemingly a bunch of random shit spread around some field somewhere. We stopped and grabbed food somewhere. We eventually came across a place called "Horse Park of New Jersey". We again marveled at the fact that we were apparently "in the country" and checked out the festivities, and chatted with some "locals". All the time we had a good time. Eventually we made our way home.
Dan Goldman has remembered and added on to the story:
The funniest part of the trip, as I recall, was a) when we started doing the rhyming couplets about each other's Moms (we were in the middle of a sonnets lesson in English at the time and I told Korean Shawn I would write a sonnet about his Mom) and b) when we got off the Turnpike and stopped at a McDonald's and people just looked at us like we were from another planet.
Even in a state as small as NJ, there are vast cultural differences between north and south, east and west, urban, suburban and rural and I guess, with our sunglasses and baggy shorts, we didn't fit the Jackson, NJ resident profile.
Right away, someone in a McDonald's uniform came up to ask us what we were doing there and when we told them we were going to Great Adventure, they laughed and told us the park was closed.
The reason we goofed was because Teaneck's spring break was a different week than the rest of NJ and Great Adventure had been open the week before when the rest of the civilized world took a week off from school. That was the root of our mistake.
Also, the best part of the horse park was not the smell, which was awful, but when Skip or Jay or someone asked some random girl whether they could get a ride...on the horse!
And don't forget the detour into Trenton when we asked some random guy on the street what there was to do in Trenton and he couldn't come up with any ideas, except "DRINK!"
Now, in retrospect, we were certainly not out in the middle of the country. In the 12 and a half years since then, I have lived all over New Jersey and taken trips to many of the corners of my state. Infact, once in my early 20s I interviewed for a teaching position at Jackson High School, where Great Adventure was. (They didn't offer enough money.) And certainly, I have been down rural roads much more rural than central New Jersey. I have taken road trips of a lot longer than an hour and a half. In short, this little excursion is in perspective now. But what is not lost on me was the feeling of exploration of that day. The feeling of being somewhere entirely new, unknown, and out of your element is one that is prominent in childhood, and can become lost as you become an adult. What seems like a silly anecdote remains in my mind as one of many fond memories of that time of my life.
Jackson Whites
(Background articles can be found here and here. Probably also in Weird NJ somewhere.)
The Jackson Whites is the informal name for the Ramapough Mountain People. They are a group of people who have remained largely unassimilated since the 1800s, and are mixed white, black, and Native American descent - more noteworthy in the 1800s than it is today. They have lived, and continue to live, in less developed areas in northern Passaic county and southern New York State, in the Ramapo Mountains. Read the articles if you want a real history on them. The first article contains a number of pictures of them, but they are probably most noteworthy for a strange orangey color to their skin.
Back in the 1980s, they tried to get a gaming license but their status as "Native American" was challenged by a group of people, led by Donald Trump (for obvious reasons - many people go to A.C. from the NYC area and give Mr. Trump a lot of money!) and were ultimately denied. If it hadn't been, many people wouldn't have so far to drive to gamble! When I was up in North Jersey in July, out of curiousity we took a ride up to Ringwood to a less developed area where they live, and indeed many of the Jackson White people were there, staring at us (for being gawking intruders, presumably).
Many people who grew up in Bergen County have heard of the Jackson Whites. I hadn't heard of them until recently. There are occasional news stories involving members of the tribe. I was just surprised that I hadn't heard of them before. I felt compelled to blog post to see if any of my loyal readers has ever heard of them before.
The Jackson Whites is the informal name for the Ramapough Mountain People. They are a group of people who have remained largely unassimilated since the 1800s, and are mixed white, black, and Native American descent - more noteworthy in the 1800s than it is today. They have lived, and continue to live, in less developed areas in northern Passaic county and southern New York State, in the Ramapo Mountains. Read the articles if you want a real history on them. The first article contains a number of pictures of them, but they are probably most noteworthy for a strange orangey color to their skin.
Back in the 1980s, they tried to get a gaming license but their status as "Native American" was challenged by a group of people, led by Donald Trump (for obvious reasons - many people go to A.C. from the NYC area and give Mr. Trump a lot of money!) and were ultimately denied. If it hadn't been, many people wouldn't have so far to drive to gamble! When I was up in North Jersey in July, out of curiousity we took a ride up to Ringwood to a less developed area where they live, and indeed many of the Jackson White people were there, staring at us (for being gawking intruders, presumably).
Many people who grew up in Bergen County have heard of the Jackson Whites. I hadn't heard of them until recently. There are occasional news stories involving members of the tribe. I was just surprised that I hadn't heard of them before. I felt compelled to blog post to see if any of my loyal readers has ever heard of them before.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
On Driving in NJ
Travelling often now from South Jersey to North Jersey, and having lived in different parts of New Jersey since college (going to 10 years, yikes), I wanted to share some thoughts about driving in our great state...
On the Turnpike...
Read up on "the Turnpike". The Turnpike has become increasingly annoying to travel as the years have gone on. It seems like traffic used to be concentrated near exit 18 and near Newark sometimes, and then bunch up at the "merge" going south. However, often these days these are not the worst pockets of traffic. Traffic is worst often going north or south in random pockets anywhere between exit 6 and exit 9. If you clicked on the Wikipedia link, apparently they are thinking of widening the turnpike between exit 6 and exit 8A, so who knows if that will help.
The dashes painted on the road on the turnpike are 25 feet long. I learned this in a math teacher's workshop.
I've stopped in Turnpike rest stops and never been propositioned by a woman, man, or a prostitute. What have I been missing out on?
They need to do something coming north approaching the toll booth at exit 18 about people who wait in the EZ-Pass lane but don't have EZ-Pass, and then wait to cut into the non-EZ-Pass lanes to avoid waiting there. It not only pisses off both EZ-Passers and non-EZ-Passers, but it defeats the purpose of having an EZ-Pass lane. They should either (1) start putting up concrete dividers about half a mile up the Turnpike - although, I guess you'd run into the same problem right before these dividers - or, (2) have police patrol the plaza and give out fines or tickets for these line cutters.
Speaking of the toll booth at exit 18, any thought on this huge ski thing they're constructing there? What's the progress with that?
There are no roads that traverse the entire length of the Turnpike that give you alternate methods to travel. There are several different roads which run almost parallel to the turnpike for strecthes at a time. For instance, one can bypass the turnpike between exit 4 and exit 7 by taking 295 which is an awesome highway, and then if turnpike traffic is really bad one can take the Parkway to bypass the stretch from exit 11 to exit 18. Between exit 7 and exit 11 one can take either Route 1 and Route 130. However, except for 295 none of these other methods are usually quicker than waiting out the traffic.
Which leads me to...
On Traffic...
Has traffic in the NYC / NJ / Philadelphia / CT region reached a point of "crisis"? Obviously not. We all manage to get by and deal with the traffic we have. However, we're not even close to being the worst. According to this link, here's the top 12 worst cities:
1. Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Calif.
2. San Francisco, Oakland, Calif.
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Atlanta
5. Houston
6. Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Tex.
7. Chicago.
8. Detroit
9. Riverside, San Bernardino, Calif.
9. Orlando, Fla.
11. San Jose, Calif.
12. San Diego
I was in L.A. once in my life, and the traffic indeed did suck at all hours.
Anyway, I know that as a Jersey resident, I often feel like have to plan my activities around traffic. It's sometimes worth driving back and forth to North Jersey at weird hours to avoid the extra 30 - 60 minutes I'll have to sit annoyed on the Turnpike (with no traffic, it's about an hour and 40 minutes). And I don't really do errands after school between, say, 4:30 and 6:30. And if I do, I take back roads everywhere.
So, I guess what I'm pondering is, when would traffic reach such a level not only here in NJ, but in general, that a critical mass of our society stood up and decided that serious changes needed to be made (add true incentives to use public transportation, etc...)?
"Cars"
An animated movie called Cars came out a couple of years ago (it was good, worth seeing). Anyway, a theme of the movie is about how major highways / modern conveniences make people forget about small towns / old fashioned America and what's really important. Now that I've traversed South Jersey a little bit, that movie rings true driving these other smaller roads (sometimes to avoid traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway!) that run east-west from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. People have been driving to the shore for a long time from the Philadelphia area, but there is a major road called the Atlantic City Expressway (built in the 60s) that has slowly decreased traffic on these other roads. There are small, run down bars, restaurants, and generally abandonded areas on these smaller roads that families must have taken before everybody just decided to take the Expressway since there are no lights and you can do 65 (at least) instead of having to stop every couple of miles for a light and do 65 (at the most) on these other highways.
On the Turnpike...
Read up on "the Turnpike". The Turnpike has become increasingly annoying to travel as the years have gone on. It seems like traffic used to be concentrated near exit 18 and near Newark sometimes, and then bunch up at the "merge" going south. However, often these days these are not the worst pockets of traffic. Traffic is worst often going north or south in random pockets anywhere between exit 6 and exit 9. If you clicked on the Wikipedia link, apparently they are thinking of widening the turnpike between exit 6 and exit 8A, so who knows if that will help.
The dashes painted on the road on the turnpike are 25 feet long. I learned this in a math teacher's workshop.
I've stopped in Turnpike rest stops and never been propositioned by a woman, man, or a prostitute. What have I been missing out on?
They need to do something coming north approaching the toll booth at exit 18 about people who wait in the EZ-Pass lane but don't have EZ-Pass, and then wait to cut into the non-EZ-Pass lanes to avoid waiting there. It not only pisses off both EZ-Passers and non-EZ-Passers, but it defeats the purpose of having an EZ-Pass lane. They should either (1) start putting up concrete dividers about half a mile up the Turnpike - although, I guess you'd run into the same problem right before these dividers - or, (2) have police patrol the plaza and give out fines or tickets for these line cutters.
Speaking of the toll booth at exit 18, any thought on this huge ski thing they're constructing there? What's the progress with that?
There are no roads that traverse the entire length of the Turnpike that give you alternate methods to travel. There are several different roads which run almost parallel to the turnpike for strecthes at a time. For instance, one can bypass the turnpike between exit 4 and exit 7 by taking 295 which is an awesome highway, and then if turnpike traffic is really bad one can take the Parkway to bypass the stretch from exit 11 to exit 18. Between exit 7 and exit 11 one can take either Route 1 and Route 130. However, except for 295 none of these other methods are usually quicker than waiting out the traffic.
Which leads me to...
On Traffic...
Has traffic in the NYC / NJ / Philadelphia / CT region reached a point of "crisis"? Obviously not. We all manage to get by and deal with the traffic we have. However, we're not even close to being the worst. According to this link, here's the top 12 worst cities:
1. Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Calif.
2. San Francisco, Oakland, Calif.
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Atlanta
5. Houston
6. Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Tex.
7. Chicago.
8. Detroit
9. Riverside, San Bernardino, Calif.
9. Orlando, Fla.
11. San Jose, Calif.
12. San Diego
I was in L.A. once in my life, and the traffic indeed did suck at all hours.
Anyway, I know that as a Jersey resident, I often feel like have to plan my activities around traffic. It's sometimes worth driving back and forth to North Jersey at weird hours to avoid the extra 30 - 60 minutes I'll have to sit annoyed on the Turnpike (with no traffic, it's about an hour and 40 minutes). And I don't really do errands after school between, say, 4:30 and 6:30. And if I do, I take back roads everywhere.
So, I guess what I'm pondering is, when would traffic reach such a level not only here in NJ, but in general, that a critical mass of our society stood up and decided that serious changes needed to be made (add true incentives to use public transportation, etc...)?
"Cars"
An animated movie called Cars came out a couple of years ago (it was good, worth seeing). Anyway, a theme of the movie is about how major highways / modern conveniences make people forget about small towns / old fashioned America and what's really important. Now that I've traversed South Jersey a little bit, that movie rings true driving these other smaller roads (sometimes to avoid traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway!) that run east-west from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. People have been driving to the shore for a long time from the Philadelphia area, but there is a major road called the Atlantic City Expressway (built in the 60s) that has slowly decreased traffic on these other roads. There are small, run down bars, restaurants, and generally abandonded areas on these smaller roads that families must have taken before everybody just decided to take the Expressway since there are no lights and you can do 65 (at least) instead of having to stop every couple of miles for a light and do 65 (at the most) on these other highways.
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