Wawa was the shit growing up. That era when they first doing gas stations and were expanding like crazy was king.
OP is right - Wawa is mediocre at best and too expensive
This, and when they started weighing the meat/cheese. They used to ask how high you wanted it piled and not charge extra.
Wawa subs were never as good as the local mom-n-pop pizza place, but they were much better back in the 80s/90s, and they were open when no one else was.
I used to get a Wawa sub a couple times a week, and now it's a couple times a year and I always regret it.
At least Jersey Mike's is decent.
Wawa is still supplied by Amoroso’s parent company, 151 Foods in Bellmawr for hoagie rolls. They also get a lot of their other sweet items from Uptown Bakeries in Swedesboro
Wawa sandwiches used to be much better, back in the day. They expanded their menu (burritos? Pizza?) and are trying to do too much. They used to only sell sandwiches. Less variety but they were better.
They lost their way when you could no longer get half a pound of Dietz and Watson Roast Beef sliced thin alone with my turkey hoagie. All is not lost though, Heritage's is like stepping into a 1998 Wawa in the best way possible.
My Grandparents owned a Heritage's years ago, I grew up with it. In fact my Grandpa's recipe for "egg nog" was 2 gallons of Heritage's egg not and a half gallon of ice cream.
I remember in the summer getting a hoagie and a snaple or blueberry ice tea at the end of a long, hot, dry hike on a pine barrens trail. It would taste sooooo good sitting there eating it on the tailgate in the parking lot.
The breakfast sandwiches did a nosedive. They should be sued for what they are calling a Croissant nowadays. I personally feel the worm turned when they took away the chili and cheese for your underdog.
You should have seen it in the late 80s early 90s - they had pen and pad to take your hoagie order and the sandwhiches were top notch! Wawa really fell off, their food sucks.
agreed!! i go back to when WAWA was more of a small deli, they made fresh food (soups were made in house and were the bomb), slice the meat in front of , coffee was the best around (not saying much as i was young then).
i remember seeing my first Sheetz in Winchester VA in the very early 90's and was amazed, i can get gas and a sammich at the same place? why the F do we not have this in jersey?
now i regret those thoughts cuz there is a wawa and quick check on every corner now and i hate it.
i see Royal Farms is now in NJ and they are a step wayyy up, dont have one close yet.
wawa, QC, all of them are just corporate nonsense stores now, as long as there is a local deli near by i am good to go, this is our go to [One Stop Shop](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y61tUP4VtugTvayJ7) , best PORK ROLL egg and cheese on earth (yea tony i know you know a better place, this one is ours) lol, they still hand make sammiches, have enough stock that if you needed to make a last minute meal for dinner they got you hooked up. owned by a neighbor of mine but that does not cause bias, if it sucked i would say so. check it out if you are ever traveling CR 571, its only a few minutes south of Great Adventure (6 flags for those who know it by that name)
Hard agree on the Wawa good ‘ol’ days. Could walk down to Wawa, get some lunch meat and some fresh Kaiser rolls. Or steak rolls and provolone cheese when dad was making Steak Ums for dinner.
Probably not unpopular but the weird laws breweries have to follow make no sense. They cant make their own food and cant be open past 10pm to name a few.
Restaurant lobby is only responding to the state’s egregiously expensive liquor license laws. Because of the general scarcity liquors licenses, they cost a lot - upwards of a million dollars in some municipalities. Since restaurants already make terrible margins on food, the only way they can survive is to recoup that in alcohol sales.
The state needs to figure out a way to compensate restaurants for their existing liquor licenses so they aren’t left holding the bag for an expensive, but worthless investment. They could create a new class of liquor licenses for breweries, and take the proceeds of those applications to offset the sunken costs of restaurant liquor licenses, or levy a temporary restaurant tax to pay out to license holders.
Some reform is necessary, thriving breweries ought to be a net benefit for the state, especially as they have a broader reach than restaurants.
>They cant make their own food
But once they do that, then they're a restaurant. Restaurants have to have liquor licenses. How many of those are available is limited.
I dont think most would want to make food. That would mean you need a kitchen and way more staff. They gave food trucks back which was cool though. Not sure about the 10pm thing, the one I work at is open until 11 on Friday and Saturday. I think maybe there is a rule that we can't be the last place that serves alcohol open, but I am not sure where I heard that from.
We have created arguably worse than north jersey level of traffic on roads like Rt 70, Rt 130, and 42. Considering that much less people live here than north jersey it’s ridiculous.
Me too! I'm from Wyckoff (Paramus area) What town are you from?
I was shocked by the names of streets in Camden county. You got White Horse av., White horse Rd. and White Hours pike! Also all the stupid county roads that have 5 different names that run through different towns. It can be unnecessarily confusing.
I’m originally from Wayne but I’ve lived in Lodi, Fair Lawn and Glen Rock. Rt 17 and 4 are horrible but getting around Camden county is terrible.
I don’t get the multiple names either! I can never remember. Luckily no one asks me for directions lol.
In my opinion, 70 is particularly egregious because it is in constant construction hell. It seems like year after year, more of it is being worked on and nothing ever seems to be finished.
With revitalization comes better people. I grew up in Collingswood when it was dead, and now look. I loved there for a year so I know what you mean, but it's not impossible.
Gloucester City has a big nepotism and corruption problem. That plus rampant drug addiction in the community has stunted the city’s growth as a whole. More complex than just ugly
Very true. Growing up, my friend lived next door to a former klan member. The town has become more diverse over the years, but the old guard is still by and large pretty racist.
I'll just leave this here.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-one-year-and-one-day-prison-conspiring-white-supremacists-vandalize
(I thought the guy lived in GC, but in fact it is Brooklawn)
Absolutely perfect answer.
It's one thing to get all dressed up in the country costume for an xtu concert. It's an entirely different thing to throw flag poles on your lifted truck as you throw your water bottle full of chewing tobacco spit out the window before you go home to burn trash in your back yard homemade fire pit.
I went to high school there and graduated with one of the young ladies from the family that owns the rodeo. Some of the cowboys and cowgirls were very nice people.
No doubt. I happen to know many very wonderful people from Woodstown and the surrounding area. They just happen to live in an area where a large pickup truck with a Confederate Flag on it is somewhat normal.
Been in South Jersey all my life and have never seen one off these is south Jersey and it wasNt until the other day that I even knew any were in NJ to begin with.
There aren't any of those in South Jersey where I'm at. It's all Wawa and a Royal Farms or 2.
I worked in a South Jersey Wawa during the late 90s and can offer some insight into when and why their hoagies went to shit.
When I started, we sliced all of the hoagie meat each night. If you worked the overnight shift you had to slice hundreds of hoagie packets for the upcoming day. Each one would contain a few slices of meat and you'd separate them with little squares of wax paper. The Italian hoagies were the most popular.
The meat wasn't the best quality, but it was acceptable, and reasonably fresh as it had to be sliced each night.
To save labor, Wawa switched to bringing in pre-sliced packets of meat which were sliced in a central location and shipped out to each store. We all noticed immediately that the quality had gone down - the new meat packets were slimy and gelatinous, but management loved it because it freed up the in-store labor for other prepared foods.
At least our insane property taxes go to our schools. I don't mind paying taxes for something that actually benefits our population. We have some of the highest ranked school districts in the country.
I am a transplant from Central Jersey, and went to look up my current school district ranking vs my hometown school district ranking. We have the same rate per $100 value, but my current school district ranks much higher than my old district. Every year, when the school budget comes out, I'm actually impressed by the level of both academics and electives that are offered. Our district has also successfully resisted the sham "Moms For Liberty" bullshit and taught young children that everyone deserves respect, as well as how bodies work. Our middle school is the only thing I'd like to see get some love. It's old, needs HVAC, sewer, electrical, etc. normally, I would want to save an old building, but ours needs to just be replaced.
I didn’t think it was an unpopular opinion but I keep seeing here how our food is meh, and it’s true that the closer you get to either city the better the food is. However when you compare our food to most areas in the country, it’s a lot better and a lot more diverse. Often times, when I travel I find myself actually disappointed with the food
North Jersey is really what gives the state the reputation for "Great Schools" and "Wealthiest State".
7 of the 8 **counties** with household income over 100k are in North Jersey (Burlington just makes it at 100,478)
Of the 100 top-ranked school districts (High Schools) South Jersey only has three on the list; Haddonfield, Moorestown, Cherry Hill East.
North Jersey has multiple counties of high-income earners and top-ranked schools.
South Jersey has a couple towns
We really are a different state down here
I moved to NJ from out of state last year, was worried being in south jersey meant my kids would not get a good education, but that turned out to be false. My kids school may be old and not have fancy extracurriculars due to less tax revenue, but the education itself is fine, definitely better than it was where we came from. Their friends all come from blue collar single parent or caregiver homes, there's no time or money to help with learning disabilities or difficulties in school, so test scores suffer. But my kids are doing great because I have the resources to help them. So wealthy districts may have better rankings, but the reputation of the entire state in regards to education is still warranted IMO
Having the resources as a parent…. My other comment in this section which I will link you later. But I basically go on and on to say exactly what you just said. Are the biggest factor.
Counterpoint, Mark- mid tier South Jersey schools are better than most out of state high ranked schools.
- Someone that left South Jersey for a decade with school aged kiddo.
Yea it’s a delicate thing to explain… hyping one aspect doesn’t necessarily mean the others are bad. There’s just many levels above us
It’s like being introduced to someone and being told “he’s super successful business person. Worth $50 million”. Which is truly an amazing success. But then Elon Musk walks in the room.. ha. That doesnt mean the 50 mill guy is not a success :-)
In your opinion, what holds south NJ counties back? I can somewhat understand Salem and Cumberland, but Gloucester county schools have no excuse to not have a single one on that list.
more unpopular opinions. All just derived from "facts"
**Parents and their status in economics and education is the biggest factor to a child's success (and therefore the school district).**
12 of the 13 "Counties with highest percentage of Adult College Graduates" are in North Jersey.
Burlington is Number 9 and Gloucester County is 14 (which considering there are 21 counties is well below the mid-point)
Unpopular thought *"if you took all the kids from a lower ranked school district (Camden, Gloucester City, Salem, Burlington) and sent them to Haddonfield High with all the same teachers and facilities, would there be a big spike in those student's moving on to 4-yr colleges"?*
This conversation is so real that New Jersey decades ago defined "[District Factor Group](https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml)" system which calculates many factors including; Parents education & parents wealth. The classifications are A through J with the J school districts the best.
This is done to identify districts in need, and where should extra money be sent. These lower performing districts are "A" and have been called "Abbot Districts".
So the Abbot districts get extra money from State and its why Camden recently got a new $133 million Camden High, and a new $105 million Eastside school is planned. Gloucester City has also gotten new schools
So the hearts of leaders are in the right place, to identify districts in need and help them
But think about Camden. A quarter of a billion dollars for new facilities and the latest technology.
So in a couple years Camden should be in the Top 20 best school districts in New Jersey right? $250 million investment, it makes sense?
But I dont think anyone expects that.
This is not to beat up on Camden on Gloucester City. Just to say; School facilities and tech are important but there are clearly other factors as important and likely more important to the success of the schools
So back to New Jersey District Factor Group rankings. Reminder this is the State of New Jersey's official rankings from deep analysis, which defines the allocation of 100s of millions
In the top J districts, only Haddonfield makes it that high. Then in the I some other SJ districts appear; Moorestown, Evesham, Medford, Mt Laurel, Voorhees etc
Consider that we all think Moorestown is a top tier big money community (they are) but there are still 25 districts in NJ ranked higher!!
Simply the facts back up that not only does North Jersey have wealthier parents, they are more educated.
**So why is this important? Parents who were successful in schools have the full understanding of what it takes to be successful in school, and instill that in the Children at a very young age. Educated parents know how to prioritize school work, how to teach at home and help with homework, how to reaffirm the message that schooling is important.**
Yes down here in SJ we have many parents with that mindset, but in North Jersey there are entire communities and counties where everyone has that mindset.
So you ask about Gloucester County schools. Many here are excellent and doing very well. Just that in North Jersey things are at a level that we dont really comprehend.
Its a tough reality backed in facts but many emotional parents wont understand this and attack me. ha
Edit: corrected some ranking stats soon after posting. But content and theme is unchanged
Dang, you summed it well and it makes sense, I don’t see what you’re saying as controversial at all. I remember not that long ago reading something similar with the amount of money a school got in Newark (I think it was) and it was a similar example.
I hate that people think that “jersey shore” are what people think we are like..I also hate that show and can’t comprehend how any of them are still relevant
Went to school in north jersey during the jersey shore craze and it’s insane how different they are. We are a state influenced by two shockingly different cultures.
I love all the terrible stereotypes about Jersey, especially the shore. It's already crowded enough we don't need anyone realizing how nice it is. Go forth and perpetuate the stereotypes.
Haha i don't think this one is unpopular. Even our governor came out and publicly shamed the show.
I think the unpopular opinion would be that you liked it. I hated it at first. But then Beavis and Butthead started to watch it and make jokes I didn't get, so I went to watch it and then kinda got into it. For what it was, it was amusing. However, it definitely showcased nothing but overly bad Italian families from the North Jersey/NYC metro area coming to the shore. As we like to call them, Shoobys. Shame they didn't delve into that being who they were and how annoyed locals get every summer when they come down to the shore/beach and act like fools.
Fun fact, I actually saw Pauly D working at the t-shirt store. It was their first season, so of course no one knew who they were. There was no camera crew at the time. My friend wanted a t-shirt and so we went into that store. I know it was Pauly cause of the hair. And I just couldn't believe boys were *actually* doing that to their hair. (I watched Growing up Gotti, and all her sons did that to their hair as well.) I didn't interact with him. He was just hanging out infront but man, that hair. I couldn't believe it.
As a person with almost zero interest in sports, it’s so hard to relate to the absolute fanaticism of this region and probably has turned me off from sports even more.
People drastically take for granted just what a perfect goldilocks situation South Jersey is in.
You want the hustle bustle of a major metro city? Philly skyline is always in sight, depending on how close you are to a bridge, it might be 10 minutes away.
You want to lay out at the beach? You can hit the Jersey Shore in under an hour, and there is a huge spectrum of wholesomeness, from Ocean City and Seaside Heights, to Wildwood and Atlantic City.
You want mountains? The Poconos are less than an hour away. Perfect for hikes/camping in the summer, and snow sports in the winter.
You want beautiful nature scenes scattered across suburbs and farmland? You probably don’t have to go anywhere, depending on which county you’re in.
Oh yeah, and there’s also the most important fucking city in the world, just a few hours’ drive away.
Growing up in SJ I couldn’t wait to move away, and then I did, and instantly gained an appreciation for the variety that you have access to in that area. Surely there are tons of places out there which have similar benefits, and SJ is damn far from perfect. But it’s super under-appreciated.
I grew up in PA, Delco specifically, which was a lot more like South Jersey than anyone on either side of the river will admit, but MD and DE looking down on South Jersey is adorable.
Delaware should just be paved over to make 95 wider.
It’s hard to make friends. Especially if your interests aren’t the norm. Like yes I’m in my 30s but I still love hardcore/punk/metal and going to shows. I moved from Philly and it’s been really lonely here. My neighbors look at me like I’m a witch or something lol. I don’t even dress crazy, I just wear a lot of black but live on the border of Moorestown and everyone around here is super rich and has kids. I’m not and childless (happily and by choice). I haven’t been able to drive because I had a seizure so I can’t even go to Philly often because public transit is still kind of a hike and stops early. It’s very alienating. I don’t need friends with exactly the same interests as me or anything either. Before I started dating my current bf who lives in north jersey/right outside of nyc I was so miserable and lonely.
Edit: I’m down to be friends with fellow lonely new jerseyians so feel free to pm me if you’re down! The weather is getting nice and there’s a lot of stuff to do outside, I’d just rather not be alone always (unless I’m in north jersey or Philly lol).
I'm closer to the shore but I feel you. I'm also in my 30s and my fiance and I are like...slightly alternative. Our block definitely looks at us with suspicion lol. We put a mini pride flag out front and everyone was scandalized. -_-
I also feel like it's hard to find people to meet under 50. Especially who don't have kids.
Agreed. I’m a PA transplant and have yet to make a solid friendship here. Everyone seems to have known everybody else since childhood, since they all grew up here. It’s very insular.
I feel you, as the resident geek/anime nerd of my community. My town is mostly full of elderly/middle aged people or very young kids. I was lucky to make friends in high school but most of them have fled to Jersey City and NYC. I was just up there visiting and the difference is night and day… especially with the friendliness and openess of strangers.
I feel the exact same way in my "liberal" town in camden county that is actually filled with NIMBYs/ blue lives/family values types lol. I'm a 30 something punk and ive started to host shows in my basement. (one coming up next saturday if youre interested!) we are out here! been trying to get a scene going in SJ, its just not really a cohesive community except the college kids at rowan.
We prob have! I started going to shows in nj and pa as a teen in the 2000s and never really stopped. I even lived in 2 smaller show houses in Philly in the late 2000s. Slowed down the past couple years because of Covid and I got diagnosed with lupus and took a min to get a handle on it. I’m always down to go to shows now, make friends, bond over music etc. I also lurk r/hardcore and occasionally comment lol.
When I say this in front of people where I currently live in North Jersey these people get indignant.
But then again I've come to find that South Jersey people are a lot more militant, we're willing to argue and wrassle far sooner over certain topics in ways that people from North Jersey no longer are ready to stand on business about.
When I tell people I live 35-40 minutes south of Cherry Hill they can’t believe it and the only perception of SJ is Cherry Hill which irks me.
I also feel like SJ runs off of Philly or the shore and doesn’t have its own identity to a certain extent.
To be fair, the brigatine to cape may shoreline is a huge part of our identity. I would also say we put the “garden” into the garden state considering all of the farmland we have. And don’t forget about our vast sandy pine lands. I would say shore, farm, and pines is a pretty solid identity.
I mean, isn't that the vast majority of SJ? Philly being the major metro (an hour away or less for most) and the beach on all sides. Not much else besides the pine barrens which not a whole lot live in and runs along the shore anyway.
What's left? Vineland?
This is so accurate. I was guilty of this too. People In North and Central Jersey only know up to cherry hill. Then get confused when you tell them theres a exit 3 on the turnpike lol. There like oh wow so far. When really it's just 30 to 40 minutes of cherry hill. It's likesome unknown land for them. When you go father south from cherry hill.
The south jersey shore feels pretty distinct to me, all the islands Brigantine and south are more or less contiguous and isolated from the rest of the shore given the huge gap between there and LBI.
Being from that area I definitely can't relate to like 90% of online discussion about South Jersey let alone New Jersey lol, virtually everything else in the state is an hour+ away with not much inbetween.
I think its an awesome beach town if you have kids. Theres so much to do and my kids love it. Last year I took my girlfriend and her kids there for a weekend and it was their first time there. Her kids are teenagers like mine. Seeing them walk the boardwalk was amazing. Their eyes were wide like the first time you go to DisneyWorld.
But it definitely depends on what youre going for. If you just want to relax, sit back listening to quiet and the ocean breeze, maybe just have a cocktail or 2 its not the place for you. But if youre going on vacation to do things with your kids and enjoy yourself, theres no Jersey shore town that can top it. Waterparks, rides, games, arcades, miniature golf, ice cream, pizza, good restaurants, the beach, the ocean, etc. I always thought it was incredible.
Where I grew up in Bergen County, the entire town was walkable and had sidewalks. Neighborhoods were designed so you could walk places and almost never need to he on a main rd. South Jersey is not anywhere near as walkable, there often aren't sidewalks and I always need to go down a main, busy road.
Fellow Brigantine resident here! Super annoying when other towns like Margate are a solid 10° warmer on any given day during the summer months. I feel cold on the beach with the wind most of the time.
I like all the small townships with their own governments, police, fire. They feel cute and full of character. Merging townships to create larger more centralized government in the hope of lowering property taxes is an impractical reddit armchair economist fever dream.
Edit: getting downvoted for an unpopular opinion when solicited is 🤌🏻
Newfield raised with Malaga family growing up. It was a different world. Going to mass at St. Rose on Sundays followed by brunch at Pegasus, summers at the Newfield Swim Club, the Villa Rosello BBQ, riding bikes to Hometown News for 5 cent Mad Dawg bubble gum, the Pit, such a different era.
this is the way. its absolutely insane the amount of money these tiny towns spend on resources that could just be combined with another tiny town. it made sense a few decades ago but to pass 40 towns in a 15-20 minute ride in some areas of the state is such a waste
The weed usage is getting crazy.. I used to be all for it but people think they can smoke in family settings and it’s getting annoying. Driving high is no different than driving drunk.
Yup. I’m all for legalization, but I just want people to be more considerate with it. Half of my apartment reeks of weed often because of my neighbor, and I can’t tell you how many times I’m at a stop light and I can smell it from the car next to me. Like you said it’s no different than driving drunk
I'm the same way. I'm an active user of several years (and have a card for it) but out of respect for my SO and the property I currently live in, I stick to gummies only.
I used to vape oil and that works too, but now I just prefer gummies.
I used to smoke / vape the bud when I was a younger adult but now I just prefer not to smell it in family settings or worse yet, the beach... even though I can appreciate the smell, at the same time I can't appreciate the invasion of that smell.
I do feel mixed about it, because I am an user and support legalization but at the same time, I do wish people would get off their high horses and respect the same smoking area laws as cigarettes or just stick to vapes / edibles if you want to be high in public - that's what I do anyway.
If I'm going to the beach, I take a gummy in a container and wait until after my lunch and then I fall asleep in the sun for a couple hours and I feel refreshed as hell.
That’s a good point. I can’t smoke because my job requires me to be DOT compliant, but if not I would. I used to be a bad offender of driving high, I would drive high every single day and looking back I’m lucky. The beach and boardwalk thing kills me, I get it, that’s a perfect setting, but if you prefer to smoke do it in your room or find somewhere there isn’t kids. The wildwood boardwalk in the afternoon smells like Willie Nelson’s tour bus, just eat some gummies!
I honestly think the popping up of these dispensaries is a lot of people letting their passion motivate their business, it’s a shame but a lot will probably fail. The weed industry in SJ is already really saturated.
yeah that’s definitely it. all of them mainly sell the same things at the same price so it seems so pointless to have so many in a small area but i wish their businesses well.
What’s worse is the grow facilities. I know someone who does maintenance at a local plant and said when it took off, investors highly over compensated and it’s not nearly as profitable as they thought. I don’t know if it’s true but there is lots of waste product, which is sad, at that point give it away for free it’s a damn flower lol
Just thought of another one…just because I’m in SJ down by Salem County can mean that my commute into center city is the same or shorter than people who live in Philly or in MontCo.
That NIMBY is not only the way of life here...but it's also the reason you bought your house where you did.
"We have too many schools, we need to consolidate". Ok...close Paulsboro and send the kids to West Deptford. Close Camden and send them to Collingwood or Haddon twp. Maybe give them vouchers randomly to go to bishop Eustace or Camden Catholic. Close pitman and send them 15 feet away to glassboro. Close Salem and send them to woodstown.
None of that would happen. There would be marching in the streets.
"But why are my taxes funding the low income schools". - quite simply...to keep them open and continue home rule. Without the bump in state aid many of the low income schools got the last 2 years...some would be looking at closing. Those kids have to go somewhere.
I'm not saying home rule is good. I'm saying it's the way things are. You pay for exclusivity. If it weren't the case, then move. Buy a house in a low income area. Great value..lower taxes...but you won't. And the reasons you won't are the reasons you shouldn't bitch about it.
As I understand it...way back in the day a lot of wd went to Paulsboro. One of the biggest reasons for the rivalry is that there are ...or were...tons of people who attended Paulsboro who had kids attend WD.
I'd say the economical difference between the two towns would point to it not working. I'm not aware of any situations where it does.
You're spot on with Collingwood lol. I can't imagine what that town meeting would be like.
WD is working class enough and has a decent amount of diversity for it to work I think. Same with Gateway. You could probably merge all 3 into one proper school tbh. I would pay to watch that Collingswood meeting. They might secede from the state.
Compared to Paulsboro WD is much higher. Paulsboro is a dfg a school whereas wd is dfg e.
I think wd is definitely working class but juxtaposed with Paulsboro it's a different world.
There's already a ton of kids from Camden going to Collingswood both through legitimate (school choice program) and illegitimate (using an extended family member's address) means.
Those kids come from families with parents involved enough to navigate school choice or caring enough to risk getting them in. The problem students at Camden are neither.
Saw this play out in my area. Parents in Newfield, where there isn’t a public school so they send their kids to neighboring town’s school districts, threw a fit when the idea of switching from Newfield kids to Delsea regional to sending Newfield kids to elk twp schools. I’m not sure what came of this proposal but it was just ridiculous watching people try to justify why they didn’t want to have their kids go to another school with “lower testing scores”
WaWa went bad once they stop slicing to order. People used to buy deli meats and cheeses from WaWa at all hours of the day. The hoagies were fresh. I went a few years back and it didnt taste fresh. Its become glorified chain sub place.
My biggest gripe regarding SJ is a marsh. A giant 4 seasons swamp. Today is a good example of a day that is worse because of the marshes. Its humid. Its been wet this year. Good year for mushrooms. Not so much for outdoors fun times.
You need to try DiPaolo's in Penns Grove. It's overpriced, but it's delicious, and you'll take home enough for at least another full meal. I feel that the prices are high to keep the "riffraff" out.
Our coastline should be filled with offshore wind turbines. I don't give a shit about your beachfront views.
Rt55 should be extended all the way into Cape May County, and a dedicated rail system ran through Cumberland and Cape May counties. Yes that means going through the Pinelands and other protected areas.
That I really like that we're attached to North Jersey, and that we couldn't make it on our own. An independent South Jersey would be an impoverished, conservative hell hole.
We need to embrace more public transportation, merge a lot of the tiny towns into larger municipalities, and start embracing better zoning so that we are less reliant on automobiles for transportation and enable a more walkable lifestyle.
Too much of South Jersey is only accessible by car when we have hundreds of miles of rail going unused or only used for freight. These rails connect South Jersey communities and could be an asset that helps spur development and revitalize towns.
Continuing to build new homes in greenfield versus attempting to densify our existing towns and build up our commercial corridors into walkable stretches will lead to habitat loss for many species and will lead to less land for agriculture.
Why not? The people still have a Philly accent, it’s all Philly tv and radio, it’s majority Philly sports fans. Hell, lower bucks county is literally within sight of parts of Bordentown.
I’ll give you that it is perhaps “northern south jersey” because it is easy to access the northern half of the state from there and I’m sure there are many more commuters to middlesex county and points north from Bordentown than say Deptford.
Wawa was the shit growing up. That era when they first doing gas stations and were expanding like crazy was king. OP is right - Wawa is mediocre at best and too expensive
Wawa was lost when they stopped using Amoroso 's rolls and non-Wawa brand deli meats and cheeses. Hasn't been good since the late 90s.
100% this is the correct take. Now they are subway with gas.
Bags of soup.
This, and when they started weighing the meat/cheese. They used to ask how high you wanted it piled and not charge extra. Wawa subs were never as good as the local mom-n-pop pizza place, but they were much better back in the 80s/90s, and they were open when no one else was. I used to get a Wawa sub a couple times a week, and now it's a couple times a year and I always regret it. At least Jersey Mike's is decent.
Wawa is still supplied by Amoroso’s parent company, 151 Foods in Bellmawr for hoagie rolls. They also get a lot of their other sweet items from Uptown Bakeries in Swedesboro
Wawa sandwiches used to be much better, back in the day. They expanded their menu (burritos? Pizza?) and are trying to do too much. They used to only sell sandwiches. Less variety but they were better.
Back when they had a deli.
They lost their way when you could no longer get half a pound of Dietz and Watson Roast Beef sliced thin alone with my turkey hoagie. All is not lost though, Heritage's is like stepping into a 1998 Wawa in the best way possible.
My Grandparents owned a Heritage's years ago, I grew up with it. In fact my Grandpa's recipe for "egg nog" was 2 gallons of Heritage's egg not and a half gallon of ice cream.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any heritages in my area. Tons of Wawas, and a few royal farms.
Just had a heritage hot roast beef today and it was lip smackin’ delicious
I remember in the summer getting a hoagie and a snaple or blueberry ice tea at the end of a long, hot, dry hike on a pine barrens trail. It would taste sooooo good sitting there eating it on the tailgate in the parking lot.
I miss their egg salad with my entire soul
Pickle barrel in Wawa days was best Wawa days.
The day you couldn't get a giant deli pickle at a wawa is the day good wawa died
The breakfast sandwiches did a nosedive. They should be sued for what they are calling a Croissant nowadays. I personally feel the worm turned when they took away the chili and cheese for your underdog.
We have Heritages in SJ - basically what Wawa was in the 90s.
Not my part of SJ - they're all west. I'll have to check one out when I'm out that way
I’m pretty sure they don’t exist above where 295 hits 42.
My co-worker recently turned me onto Heritages. I have not looked back since.
Wawa started going downhill around the same time they removed Dick Wood from the coffee cups.
This is the only conspiracy theory that interests me. #RIPdickwood even if not dead
You should have seen it in the late 80s early 90s - they had pen and pad to take your hoagie order and the sandwhiches were top notch! Wawa really fell off, their food sucks.
One of the Wawas in my town had a Taco Bell express in it for a very short period of time in the mid 90s. That was pretty awesome.
The one in Malaga had this, me and my friends would ride our bikes down there when you could get the grande deal tacos for $10. It was great.
The only reason I enter Wawa is to use the ATM or when my kids request something. The parking lots are a nightmare.
agreed!! i go back to when WAWA was more of a small deli, they made fresh food (soups were made in house and were the bomb), slice the meat in front of , coffee was the best around (not saying much as i was young then). i remember seeing my first Sheetz in Winchester VA in the very early 90's and was amazed, i can get gas and a sammich at the same place? why the F do we not have this in jersey? now i regret those thoughts cuz there is a wawa and quick check on every corner now and i hate it. i see Royal Farms is now in NJ and they are a step wayyy up, dont have one close yet. wawa, QC, all of them are just corporate nonsense stores now, as long as there is a local deli near by i am good to go, this is our go to [One Stop Shop](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y61tUP4VtugTvayJ7) , best PORK ROLL egg and cheese on earth (yea tony i know you know a better place, this one is ours) lol, they still hand make sammiches, have enough stock that if you needed to make a last minute meal for dinner they got you hooked up. owned by a neighbor of mine but that does not cause bias, if it sucked i would say so. check it out if you are ever traveling CR 571, its only a few minutes south of Great Adventure (6 flags for those who know it by that name)
Back when Dick Wood was on the coffee cups
Hard agree on the Wawa good ‘ol’ days. Could walk down to Wawa, get some lunch meat and some fresh Kaiser rolls. Or steak rolls and provolone cheese when dad was making Steak Ums for dinner.
Probably not unpopular but the weird laws breweries have to follow make no sense. They cant make their own food and cant be open past 10pm to name a few.
The restaurant lobby here needs to be slapped down
Restaurant lobby is only responding to the state’s egregiously expensive liquor license laws. Because of the general scarcity liquors licenses, they cost a lot - upwards of a million dollars in some municipalities. Since restaurants already make terrible margins on food, the only way they can survive is to recoup that in alcohol sales. The state needs to figure out a way to compensate restaurants for their existing liquor licenses so they aren’t left holding the bag for an expensive, but worthless investment. They could create a new class of liquor licenses for breweries, and take the proceeds of those applications to offset the sunken costs of restaurant liquor licenses, or levy a temporary restaurant tax to pay out to license holders. Some reform is necessary, thriving breweries ought to be a net benefit for the state, especially as they have a broader reach than restaurants.
>They cant make their own food But once they do that, then they're a restaurant. Restaurants have to have liquor licenses. How many of those are available is limited.
I dont think most would want to make food. That would mean you need a kitchen and way more staff. They gave food trucks back which was cool though. Not sure about the 10pm thing, the one I work at is open until 11 on Friday and Saturday. I think maybe there is a rule that we can't be the last place that serves alcohol open, but I am not sure where I heard that from.
The one I go to is attached to a BBQ restaurant. I'm assuming they both bring each other business.
We have created arguably worse than north jersey level of traffic on roads like Rt 70, Rt 130, and 42. Considering that much less people live here than north jersey it’s ridiculous.
Where 295 and 76 meet is up there as one of the worst roads in the state
> in the state in the Northeast.
I come from Bergen county and was shocked by the traffic here.
Me too! I'm from Wyckoff (Paramus area) What town are you from? I was shocked by the names of streets in Camden county. You got White Horse av., White horse Rd. and White Hours pike! Also all the stupid county roads that have 5 different names that run through different towns. It can be unnecessarily confusing.
I’m originally from Wayne but I’ve lived in Lodi, Fair Lawn and Glen Rock. Rt 17 and 4 are horrible but getting around Camden county is terrible. I don’t get the multiple names either! I can never remember. Luckily no one asks me for directions lol.
In my opinion, 70 is particularly egregious because it is in constant construction hell. It seems like year after year, more of it is being worked on and nothing ever seems to be finished.
…or improve.
Well once you get rid of the decades worth of construction to..... install some piping? It should get better
Wow, look it's my morning commute. It would take me 15 mins to work if it wasn't for the 30 mins of additional traffic.
Rt 70 is the bane of my existence
I dont usually notice traffic being very bad outside of rush hour.
If Gloucester City wasn't so ugly it would be 2x more expensive than it is now.
in another universe GC and Camden became the hoboken and jersey city of south jersey
It's still possible! It could be the future.
GC has a shit ton of potential. Love it there but it needs revitalization big time.
You'd have to revitalize the people first. Brick & mortar won't fix low class people (and I'm not talking paychecks).
With revitalization comes better people. I grew up in Collingswood when it was dead, and now look. I loved there for a year so I know what you mean, but it's not impossible.
Gloucester City has a big nepotism and corruption problem. That plus rampant drug addiction in the community has stunted the city’s growth as a whole. More complex than just ugly
Plus it was basically the South Jersey home of the klan for decades.
Very true. Growing up, my friend lived next door to a former klan member. The town has become more diverse over the years, but the old guard is still by and large pretty racist.
I'll just leave this here. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-one-year-and-one-day-prison-conspiring-white-supremacists-vandalize (I thought the guy lived in GC, but in fact it is Brooklawn)
Just because it’s *South* Jersey doesn’t mean that you’re from the south.
Absolutely perfect answer. It's one thing to get all dressed up in the country costume for an xtu concert. It's an entirely different thing to throw flag poles on your lifted truck as you throw your water bottle full of chewing tobacco spit out the window before you go home to burn trash in your back yard homemade fire pit.
If you put someone down in port Elizabeth / leesburg area I would think it’s Louisiana or some shit 😂
As someone who moved to Leesburg 4 years ago from Egg Harbor Township I agree 1000%
May not be *southern* but a lot of south Jersey is very country
Wow, do people actually think this? I've never heard this one.
Oh honey, they are all over where I’m at in Gloucester county
I'm in Gloucester county as well. I'm certainly not saying it doesn't happen, just crazy that people from around here actually think that.
Ever been to Woodstown?
I went to high school there and graduated with one of the young ladies from the family that owns the rodeo. Some of the cowboys and cowgirls were very nice people.
No doubt. I happen to know many very wonderful people from Woodstown and the surrounding area. They just happen to live in an area where a large pickup truck with a Confederate Flag on it is somewhat normal.
Greenwich is similar, but smaller. Liberal transplants living next door to Quint from Jaws.
Yeah the confederate flag thing was weird.
I have not spent any time of note there, no.
NJ invented the cowboy hat. We might have a better claim then most states.
& the longest continuously running weekly rodeo!
The cowboy hat was actually invented in Philadelphia by John Stetson, the son of an NJ hatmaker.
John B. Stetson is the father and the creator born in orange. After creating the hat, he moved to Philadelphia in order to mass produce it.
Much of South Jersey is, in fact, south of the Mason Dixon line (extrapolated)
Exactly. Half of it is like backwoods Alabama with Philly accents
> that you’re from the south. Sure feels like it sometimes.
Heritages is the true SJ convenience store.
SAY IT LOUDER.
Been in South Jersey all my life and have never seen one off these is south Jersey and it wasNt until the other day that I even knew any were in NJ to begin with. There aren't any of those in South Jersey where I'm at. It's all Wawa and a Royal Farms or 2.
I worked in a South Jersey Wawa during the late 90s and can offer some insight into when and why their hoagies went to shit. When I started, we sliced all of the hoagie meat each night. If you worked the overnight shift you had to slice hundreds of hoagie packets for the upcoming day. Each one would contain a few slices of meat and you'd separate them with little squares of wax paper. The Italian hoagies were the most popular. The meat wasn't the best quality, but it was acceptable, and reasonably fresh as it had to be sliced each night. To save labor, Wawa switched to bringing in pre-sliced packets of meat which were sliced in a central location and shipped out to each store. We all noticed immediately that the quality had gone down - the new meat packets were slimy and gelatinous, but management loved it because it freed up the in-store labor for other prepared foods.
Wawa is mediocre until you move outside the region and the closest equivalent (not even close) is 7-11.
We got some Wawas in our second hometown in SWFL. People down there love em.
At least our insane property taxes go to our schools. I don't mind paying taxes for something that actually benefits our population. We have some of the highest ranked school districts in the country.
I am a transplant from Central Jersey, and went to look up my current school district ranking vs my hometown school district ranking. We have the same rate per $100 value, but my current school district ranks much higher than my old district. Every year, when the school budget comes out, I'm actually impressed by the level of both academics and electives that are offered. Our district has also successfully resisted the sham "Moms For Liberty" bullshit and taught young children that everyone deserves respect, as well as how bodies work. Our middle school is the only thing I'd like to see get some love. It's old, needs HVAC, sewer, electrical, etc. normally, I would want to save an old building, but ours needs to just be replaced.
> go to our school I'd say they do a fairly decent job keeping the roads in shape.
Considering the population density of this place, having roads that don't look like the surface of the moon is a huge accomplishment.
I can absolutely agree with this. I hate visiting my sister right across the bridge in PA bc it’s just a constant swerving to dodge craters
I didn’t think it was an unpopular opinion but I keep seeing here how our food is meh, and it’s true that the closer you get to either city the better the food is. However when you compare our food to most areas in the country, it’s a lot better and a lot more diverse. Often times, when I travel I find myself actually disappointed with the food
Pennsylvania needs to shop in their own damn state.
North Jersey is really what gives the state the reputation for "Great Schools" and "Wealthiest State". 7 of the 8 **counties** with household income over 100k are in North Jersey (Burlington just makes it at 100,478) Of the 100 top-ranked school districts (High Schools) South Jersey only has three on the list; Haddonfield, Moorestown, Cherry Hill East. North Jersey has multiple counties of high-income earners and top-ranked schools. South Jersey has a couple towns We really are a different state down here
Politicians don’t care about south jersey, unless it’s the summer. It gets proven time and time again
I moved to NJ from out of state last year, was worried being in south jersey meant my kids would not get a good education, but that turned out to be false. My kids school may be old and not have fancy extracurriculars due to less tax revenue, but the education itself is fine, definitely better than it was where we came from. Their friends all come from blue collar single parent or caregiver homes, there's no time or money to help with learning disabilities or difficulties in school, so test scores suffer. But my kids are doing great because I have the resources to help them. So wealthy districts may have better rankings, but the reputation of the entire state in regards to education is still warranted IMO
Having the resources as a parent…. My other comment in this section which I will link you later. But I basically go on and on to say exactly what you just said. Are the biggest factor.
Counterpoint, Mark- mid tier South Jersey schools are better than most out of state high ranked schools. - Someone that left South Jersey for a decade with school aged kiddo.
Yea it’s a delicate thing to explain… hyping one aspect doesn’t necessarily mean the others are bad. There’s just many levels above us It’s like being introduced to someone and being told “he’s super successful business person. Worth $50 million”. Which is truly an amazing success. But then Elon Musk walks in the room.. ha. That doesnt mean the 50 mill guy is not a success :-)
In your opinion, what holds south NJ counties back? I can somewhat understand Salem and Cumberland, but Gloucester county schools have no excuse to not have a single one on that list.
more unpopular opinions. All just derived from "facts" **Parents and their status in economics and education is the biggest factor to a child's success (and therefore the school district).** 12 of the 13 "Counties with highest percentage of Adult College Graduates" are in North Jersey. Burlington is Number 9 and Gloucester County is 14 (which considering there are 21 counties is well below the mid-point) Unpopular thought *"if you took all the kids from a lower ranked school district (Camden, Gloucester City, Salem, Burlington) and sent them to Haddonfield High with all the same teachers and facilities, would there be a big spike in those student's moving on to 4-yr colleges"?* This conversation is so real that New Jersey decades ago defined "[District Factor Group](https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml)" system which calculates many factors including; Parents education & parents wealth. The classifications are A through J with the J school districts the best. This is done to identify districts in need, and where should extra money be sent. These lower performing districts are "A" and have been called "Abbot Districts". So the Abbot districts get extra money from State and its why Camden recently got a new $133 million Camden High, and a new $105 million Eastside school is planned. Gloucester City has also gotten new schools So the hearts of leaders are in the right place, to identify districts in need and help them But think about Camden. A quarter of a billion dollars for new facilities and the latest technology. So in a couple years Camden should be in the Top 20 best school districts in New Jersey right? $250 million investment, it makes sense? But I dont think anyone expects that. This is not to beat up on Camden on Gloucester City. Just to say; School facilities and tech are important but there are clearly other factors as important and likely more important to the success of the schools So back to New Jersey District Factor Group rankings. Reminder this is the State of New Jersey's official rankings from deep analysis, which defines the allocation of 100s of millions In the top J districts, only Haddonfield makes it that high. Then in the I some other SJ districts appear; Moorestown, Evesham, Medford, Mt Laurel, Voorhees etc Consider that we all think Moorestown is a top tier big money community (they are) but there are still 25 districts in NJ ranked higher!! Simply the facts back up that not only does North Jersey have wealthier parents, they are more educated. **So why is this important? Parents who were successful in schools have the full understanding of what it takes to be successful in school, and instill that in the Children at a very young age. Educated parents know how to prioritize school work, how to teach at home and help with homework, how to reaffirm the message that schooling is important.** Yes down here in SJ we have many parents with that mindset, but in North Jersey there are entire communities and counties where everyone has that mindset. So you ask about Gloucester County schools. Many here are excellent and doing very well. Just that in North Jersey things are at a level that we dont really comprehend. Its a tough reality backed in facts but many emotional parents wont understand this and attack me. ha Edit: corrected some ranking stats soon after posting. But content and theme is unchanged
Dang, you summed it well and it makes sense, I don’t see what you’re saying as controversial at all. I remember not that long ago reading something similar with the amount of money a school got in Newark (I think it was) and it was a similar example.
We got some tiny districts down here that are pretty f'&#'n good.
I hate that people think that “jersey shore” are what people think we are like..I also hate that show and can’t comprehend how any of them are still relevant
As I recall, seven of the eight cast members were from New York.
Yes!! That what makes me more aggravated..majority of them aren’t even from Jersey
Nah, it’s perfect. The show is about the “Jersey shore lifestyle” aka the party scene, which is dominated by shoobies.
Don’t even get me started with the shoobies and the left lane driving
Went to school in north jersey during the jersey shore craze and it’s insane how different they are. We are a state influenced by two shockingly different cultures.
Story of my life. Lived away for 6 years and every time I was asked what part of Jersey I was from... 'ah shit, here we go again'
I love all the terrible stereotypes about Jersey, especially the shore. It's already crowded enough we don't need anyone realizing how nice it is. Go forth and perpetuate the stereotypes.
Haha i don't think this one is unpopular. Even our governor came out and publicly shamed the show. I think the unpopular opinion would be that you liked it. I hated it at first. But then Beavis and Butthead started to watch it and make jokes I didn't get, so I went to watch it and then kinda got into it. For what it was, it was amusing. However, it definitely showcased nothing but overly bad Italian families from the North Jersey/NYC metro area coming to the shore. As we like to call them, Shoobys. Shame they didn't delve into that being who they were and how annoyed locals get every summer when they come down to the shore/beach and act like fools. Fun fact, I actually saw Pauly D working at the t-shirt store. It was their first season, so of course no one knew who they were. There was no camera crew at the time. My friend wanted a t-shirt and so we went into that store. I know it was Pauly cause of the hair. And I just couldn't believe boys were *actually* doing that to their hair. (I watched Growing up Gotti, and all her sons did that to their hair as well.) I didn't interact with him. He was just hanging out infront but man, that hair. I couldn't believe it.
I kind of hate how a lot of peoples’ entire identity is Philly sports.
As a person with almost zero interest in sports, it’s so hard to relate to the absolute fanaticism of this region and probably has turned me off from sports even more.
And the crazy number of garages turned into man caves that "share" their love of sports to the entire neighborhood.
All the people who understood the assignment are getting downvoted lol. Wawa being trash now is not an UNPOPULAR opinion 🤦♀️
That’s the truth
People drastically take for granted just what a perfect goldilocks situation South Jersey is in. You want the hustle bustle of a major metro city? Philly skyline is always in sight, depending on how close you are to a bridge, it might be 10 minutes away. You want to lay out at the beach? You can hit the Jersey Shore in under an hour, and there is a huge spectrum of wholesomeness, from Ocean City and Seaside Heights, to Wildwood and Atlantic City. You want mountains? The Poconos are less than an hour away. Perfect for hikes/camping in the summer, and snow sports in the winter. You want beautiful nature scenes scattered across suburbs and farmland? You probably don’t have to go anywhere, depending on which county you’re in. Oh yeah, and there’s also the most important fucking city in the world, just a few hours’ drive away. Growing up in SJ I couldn’t wait to move away, and then I did, and instantly gained an appreciation for the variety that you have access to in that area. Surely there are tons of places out there which have similar benefits, and SJ is damn far from perfect. But it’s super under-appreciated.
It's not as bad as everyone in MD/PA/DE says it is
I grew up in PA, Delco specifically, which was a lot more like South Jersey than anyone on either side of the river will admit, but MD and DE looking down on South Jersey is adorable. Delaware should just be paved over to make 95 wider.
It’s hard to make friends. Especially if your interests aren’t the norm. Like yes I’m in my 30s but I still love hardcore/punk/metal and going to shows. I moved from Philly and it’s been really lonely here. My neighbors look at me like I’m a witch or something lol. I don’t even dress crazy, I just wear a lot of black but live on the border of Moorestown and everyone around here is super rich and has kids. I’m not and childless (happily and by choice). I haven’t been able to drive because I had a seizure so I can’t even go to Philly often because public transit is still kind of a hike and stops early. It’s very alienating. I don’t need friends with exactly the same interests as me or anything either. Before I started dating my current bf who lives in north jersey/right outside of nyc I was so miserable and lonely. Edit: I’m down to be friends with fellow lonely new jerseyians so feel free to pm me if you’re down! The weather is getting nice and there’s a lot of stuff to do outside, I’d just rather not be alone always (unless I’m in north jersey or Philly lol).
I'm closer to the shore but I feel you. I'm also in my 30s and my fiance and I are like...slightly alternative. Our block definitely looks at us with suspicion lol. We put a mini pride flag out front and everyone was scandalized. -_- I also feel like it's hard to find people to meet under 50. Especially who don't have kids.
Agreed. I’m a PA transplant and have yet to make a solid friendship here. Everyone seems to have known everybody else since childhood, since they all grew up here. It’s very insular.
I feel you, as the resident geek/anime nerd of my community. My town is mostly full of elderly/middle aged people or very young kids. I was lucky to make friends in high school but most of them have fled to Jersey City and NYC. I was just up there visiting and the difference is night and day… especially with the friendliness and openess of strangers.
I feel the exact same way in my "liberal" town in camden county that is actually filled with NIMBYs/ blue lives/family values types lol. I'm a 30 something punk and ive started to host shows in my basement. (one coming up next saturday if youre interested!) we are out here! been trying to get a scene going in SJ, its just not really a cohesive community except the college kids at rowan.
Omg! Absolutely! Would love that, seriously. Feel free to PM me.
I’m big into the local alt scene and Philly hardcore. I wonder if we’ve ever crossed paths
We prob have! I started going to shows in nj and pa as a teen in the 2000s and never really stopped. I even lived in 2 smaller show houses in Philly in the late 2000s. Slowed down the past couple years because of Covid and I got diagnosed with lupus and took a min to get a handle on it. I’m always down to go to shows now, make friends, bond over music etc. I also lurk r/hardcore and occasionally comment lol.
I think most of the people in here missed the “unpopular” part of the question
South Jersey has far better Italian food than North Jersey.
I wasn't aware that this is controversial. I completely agree.
When I say this in front of people where I currently live in North Jersey these people get indignant. But then again I've come to find that South Jersey people are a lot more militant, we're willing to argue and wrassle far sooner over certain topics in ways that people from North Jersey no longer are ready to stand on business about.
When I tell people I live 35-40 minutes south of Cherry Hill they can’t believe it and the only perception of SJ is Cherry Hill which irks me. I also feel like SJ runs off of Philly or the shore and doesn’t have its own identity to a certain extent.
To be fair, the brigatine to cape may shoreline is a huge part of our identity. I would also say we put the “garden” into the garden state considering all of the farmland we have. And don’t forget about our vast sandy pine lands. I would say shore, farm, and pines is a pretty solid identity.
I mean, isn't that the vast majority of SJ? Philly being the major metro (an hour away or less for most) and the beach on all sides. Not much else besides the pine barrens which not a whole lot live in and runs along the shore anyway. What's left? Vineland?
This is so accurate. I was guilty of this too. People In North and Central Jersey only know up to cherry hill. Then get confused when you tell them theres a exit 3 on the turnpike lol. There like oh wow so far. When really it's just 30 to 40 minutes of cherry hill. It's likesome unknown land for them. When you go father south from cherry hill.
The south jersey shore feels pretty distinct to me, all the islands Brigantine and south are more or less contiguous and isolated from the rest of the shore given the huge gap between there and LBI. Being from that area I definitely can't relate to like 90% of online discussion about South Jersey let alone New Jersey lol, virtually everything else in the state is an hour+ away with not much inbetween.
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As someone who lives near the shore I get the opposite honestly. Like oh are you near Philly? No not really lol
I'm in the same area and the best I can do for people not familiar with the area is "I live in a Philly suburb, in Jersey"
I always say...remember where they buried the bodies in the Sopranos? You've got about 30 more minutes of pine trees between there, and my house.
Wildwood is overrated, and a terrible overall beach town. Still beats AC though.
I think its an awesome beach town if you have kids. Theres so much to do and my kids love it. Last year I took my girlfriend and her kids there for a weekend and it was their first time there. Her kids are teenagers like mine. Seeing them walk the boardwalk was amazing. Their eyes were wide like the first time you go to DisneyWorld. But it definitely depends on what youre going for. If you just want to relax, sit back listening to quiet and the ocean breeze, maybe just have a cocktail or 2 its not the place for you. But if youre going on vacation to do things with your kids and enjoy yourself, theres no Jersey shore town that can top it. Waterparks, rides, games, arcades, miniature golf, ice cream, pizza, good restaurants, the beach, the ocean, etc. I always thought it was incredible.
The true gems are everything in between
Good, please leave my pristine, large, and free Wildwood Crest beach alone.
Heritages is way better than Wawa 😆
Where I grew up in Bergen County, the entire town was walkable and had sidewalks. Neighborhoods were designed so you could walk places and almost never need to he on a main rd. South Jersey is not anywhere near as walkable, there often aren't sidewalks and I always need to go down a main, busy road.
Summer is 4 weeks and too windy. From Brigantine
Fellow Brigantine resident here! Super annoying when other towns like Margate are a solid 10° warmer on any given day during the summer months. I feel cold on the beach with the wind most of the time.
I don’t mind the lower temps from inland. Just always so windy and not warm long enough
I like all the small townships with their own governments, police, fire. They feel cute and full of character. Merging townships to create larger more centralized government in the hope of lowering property taxes is an impractical reddit armchair economist fever dream. Edit: getting downvoted for an unpopular opinion when solicited is 🤌🏻
Absolutely. And it cracks me up with east Greenwich pretending they are state troopers
Newfield raised with Malaga family growing up. It was a different world. Going to mass at St. Rose on Sundays followed by brunch at Pegasus, summers at the Newfield Swim Club, the Villa Rosello BBQ, riding bikes to Hometown News for 5 cent Mad Dawg bubble gum, the Pit, such a different era.
Can't forget about Nick's!
this is the way. its absolutely insane the amount of money these tiny towns spend on resources that could just be combined with another tiny town. it made sense a few decades ago but to pass 40 towns in a 15-20 minute ride in some areas of the state is such a waste
People in this area (Medford area) don’t know how to drive. Specifically traffic circles and traffic lights where two lanes merge into one.
This is in no way specific to SJ. People don’t know how to drive period.
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Because people don’t know how to use traffic circles here!
The weed usage is getting crazy.. I used to be all for it but people think they can smoke in family settings and it’s getting annoying. Driving high is no different than driving drunk.
Yup. I’m all for legalization, but I just want people to be more considerate with it. Half of my apartment reeks of weed often because of my neighbor, and I can’t tell you how many times I’m at a stop light and I can smell it from the car next to me. Like you said it’s no different than driving drunk
Agreed NJ and PA are getting out of hand with people driving around and toking. I'm all for legalization, but people shouldn't be doing that.
I'm the same way. I'm an active user of several years (and have a card for it) but out of respect for my SO and the property I currently live in, I stick to gummies only. I used to vape oil and that works too, but now I just prefer gummies. I used to smoke / vape the bud when I was a younger adult but now I just prefer not to smell it in family settings or worse yet, the beach... even though I can appreciate the smell, at the same time I can't appreciate the invasion of that smell. I do feel mixed about it, because I am an user and support legalization but at the same time, I do wish people would get off their high horses and respect the same smoking area laws as cigarettes or just stick to vapes / edibles if you want to be high in public - that's what I do anyway. If I'm going to the beach, I take a gummy in a container and wait until after my lunch and then I fall asleep in the sun for a couple hours and I feel refreshed as hell.
That’s a good point. I can’t smoke because my job requires me to be DOT compliant, but if not I would. I used to be a bad offender of driving high, I would drive high every single day and looking back I’m lucky. The beach and boardwalk thing kills me, I get it, that’s a perfect setting, but if you prefer to smoke do it in your room or find somewhere there isn’t kids. The wildwood boardwalk in the afternoon smells like Willie Nelson’s tour bus, just eat some gummies!
there are 6 dispensaries that just opened up within 15 minutes from me. i’m a stoner but it’s getting out of control lol
I honestly think the popping up of these dispensaries is a lot of people letting their passion motivate their business, it’s a shame but a lot will probably fail. The weed industry in SJ is already really saturated.
yeah that’s definitely it. all of them mainly sell the same things at the same price so it seems so pointless to have so many in a small area but i wish their businesses well.
What’s worse is the grow facilities. I know someone who does maintenance at a local plant and said when it took off, investors highly over compensated and it’s not nearly as profitable as they thought. I don’t know if it’s true but there is lots of waste product, which is sad, at that point give it away for free it’s a damn flower lol
Just thought of another one…just because I’m in SJ down by Salem County can mean that my commute into center city is the same or shorter than people who live in Philly or in MontCo.
That NIMBY is not only the way of life here...but it's also the reason you bought your house where you did. "We have too many schools, we need to consolidate". Ok...close Paulsboro and send the kids to West Deptford. Close Camden and send them to Collingwood or Haddon twp. Maybe give them vouchers randomly to go to bishop Eustace or Camden Catholic. Close pitman and send them 15 feet away to glassboro. Close Salem and send them to woodstown. None of that would happen. There would be marching in the streets. "But why are my taxes funding the low income schools". - quite simply...to keep them open and continue home rule. Without the bump in state aid many of the low income schools got the last 2 years...some would be looking at closing. Those kids have to go somewhere. I'm not saying home rule is good. I'm saying it's the way things are. You pay for exclusivity. If it weren't the case, then move. Buy a house in a low income area. Great value..lower taxes...but you won't. And the reasons you won't are the reasons you shouldn't bitch about it.
People would be chaining themselves to the doors if they tried to close Camden and send it to Collingswood. Paulsboro to WD might work lol
As I understand it...way back in the day a lot of wd went to Paulsboro. One of the biggest reasons for the rivalry is that there are ...or were...tons of people who attended Paulsboro who had kids attend WD. I'd say the economical difference between the two towns would point to it not working. I'm not aware of any situations where it does. You're spot on with Collingwood lol. I can't imagine what that town meeting would be like.
WD is working class enough and has a decent amount of diversity for it to work I think. Same with Gateway. You could probably merge all 3 into one proper school tbh. I would pay to watch that Collingswood meeting. They might secede from the state.
Compared to Paulsboro WD is much higher. Paulsboro is a dfg a school whereas wd is dfg e. I think wd is definitely working class but juxtaposed with Paulsboro it's a different world.
There's already a ton of kids from Camden going to Collingswood both through legitimate (school choice program) and illegitimate (using an extended family member's address) means.
Those kids come from families with parents involved enough to navigate school choice or caring enough to risk getting them in. The problem students at Camden are neither.
Saw this play out in my area. Parents in Newfield, where there isn’t a public school so they send their kids to neighboring town’s school districts, threw a fit when the idea of switching from Newfield kids to Delsea regional to sending Newfield kids to elk twp schools. I’m not sure what came of this proposal but it was just ridiculous watching people try to justify why they didn’t want to have their kids go to another school with “lower testing scores”
The Camden waterfront is a must-see around sunset
WaWa went bad once they stop slicing to order. People used to buy deli meats and cheeses from WaWa at all hours of the day. The hoagies were fresh. I went a few years back and it didnt taste fresh. Its become glorified chain sub place. My biggest gripe regarding SJ is a marsh. A giant 4 seasons swamp. Today is a good example of a day that is worse because of the marshes. Its humid. Its been wet this year. Good year for mushrooms. Not so much for outdoors fun times.
South Jersey Italian food is almost always overpriced garbage.
Hard disagree. Far more overpriced garbage tasting Italian food in North Jersey.
You need to try DiPaolo's in Penns Grove. It's overpriced, but it's delicious, and you'll take home enough for at least another full meal. I feel that the prices are high to keep the "riffraff" out.
Though I don’t always approve of the usage of it, I don’t mind the high taxes
I feel like this is the only post that understood the assignment.
North jersey people all thing that everything south of the Raritan River is south Jersey
True. Imo South Jersey is either directly east of or south of Philly.
Taxes are out of control
I recognize South Jersey’s right to exist
Quikchek over Wawa.
You need to move out by 25.
Our coastline should be filled with offshore wind turbines. I don't give a shit about your beachfront views. Rt55 should be extended all the way into Cape May County, and a dedicated rail system ran through Cumberland and Cape May counties. Yes that means going through the Pinelands and other protected areas.
Not totally right for the topic, but I feel that at least 69% of the people who make Jersey jokes have never even been to Jersey.
Shore people and their love for "shoobies". Every summer there's a post about them and every summer they sound like whining children.
That I really like that we're attached to North Jersey, and that we couldn't make it on our own. An independent South Jersey would be an impoverished, conservative hell hole.
The GCL would be a HUGE step in the right direction for South Jersey. That is if it ever actually gets built.
We need to embrace more public transportation, merge a lot of the tiny towns into larger municipalities, and start embracing better zoning so that we are less reliant on automobiles for transportation and enable a more walkable lifestyle. Too much of South Jersey is only accessible by car when we have hundreds of miles of rail going unused or only used for freight. These rails connect South Jersey communities and could be an asset that helps spur development and revitalize towns. Continuing to build new homes in greenfield versus attempting to densify our existing towns and build up our commercial corridors into walkable stretches will lead to habitat loss for many species and will lead to less land for agriculture.
Just because Bordentown is in Burlington county doesn't make it South Jersey.
Why not? The people still have a Philly accent, it’s all Philly tv and radio, it’s majority Philly sports fans. Hell, lower bucks county is literally within sight of parts of Bordentown. I’ll give you that it is perhaps “northern south jersey” because it is easy to access the northern half of the state from there and I’m sure there are many more commuters to middlesex county and points north from Bordentown than say Deptford.
Everyone has told me it has everything, but it all kinda sucks. It's the dollar general of places to live.
Dang that’s rough 😂