Where do you draw the line....of NJ?

I grew up in Morristown while my husband grew up in Moorestown. Most Jerseyains pronounce "Morristown" like "Moorestown" and then confusion ensues. But that's where the similarities end. What else differs between our upbringings? Our dividing line of New Jersey. When I think"North Jersey," Bergen, Morris, and Hudson counties come to mind. Rob, my husband, always considered Trenton to be the line where North Jersey began and New Brunswick to be North Jersey. To me, Trenton and New Brunswick are Central NJ...definitely NOT North Jersey.



So this morning I was browsing NJ.com for my daily dose of news and saw a writeup on a new documentary being filmed about New Jerseyians opinions on the dividing line of New Jersey. In addition, the filmmaker (who is Ewing born, but teaches in Millburn) is aiming to capture the loyalties of North Jersey residents (i.e. Devils, Giants, Rangers) vs South (Eagles, Flyers) as well as the impression each have of the other's domain. For many South Jerseyians, North Jersey is Soprano land and factories while they hold claim to the beautiful open lands of the Pine Barrens and the Jersey Shore. North Jerseyians will argue that they have a lot of beauty to boast in addition to greater wealth, mass transit and culture.



This topic has definitely been in the back of my mind ever since I moved to the Princeton area in 2002. When I taught in Montgomery Township, I did notice a divide particularly in the sports alliance. It seemed as though the Giants/Eagles division was about 1/2. In terms of music, I was surprised to find that some kids also listened to Z100 (it was hard for me to give that up) which is definitely more of North Jersey station while 94.5 WPST dominated most of the radio play.



The story also mentioned the news exposure of North and South. North Jerseyians follow NY stations while South Jersey receives Philly news. I felt especially bummed when our Comcast package no longer carried the New York NBC and I was stuck with NBC 10. It was more the loss of my morning news anchors that pained me the most. I loved watching Rob Morrison and Darlene Rodriguez in the morning. Terry Ruggles and Lori Delgado are growing on me, but it's just not the same! My husband knew no different since he grew up with the Philly stations.



I'm not intending this to become a tirade on Philly stations or even the Philly influence. I do, however, prefer living in Central Jersey to North or South. I think there is a nice balance of the two. It's not as busy here as it is in Morristown. The pace of life just seems more calm. When I worked for a year in Glen Rock, I really felt the NY influence on the area and for some reason I just didn't feel like I could settle there. I didn't want to stay in Morristown either (I love the town, but I wanted to make my own roots somewhere else) and South Jersey was just too rural. So, Princeton it was.



The only other noticeable difference between North and South Jersey or Rob and me? I put "sprinkles" on my ice cream and he gets "jimmies." Thank goodness he doesn't use "gumbands" instead of "rubberbands" or drink "pop" instead of "soda." That would be a deal breaker. Just Kidding Rob!!!! (he reads my blog)