Central Jersey
Central Jersey is a common colloquial term used to describe the region in the middle of state of New Jersey in the United States of America.
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[edit] Geography
As there is no official one, there are varying definitions as to what comprises Central Jersey. All tend include Middlessex and the region radiating from New Brunswick including much of Monmouth and Mercer counties. Inclusion of adjacent areas in Somerset and Hunterdon, Union, and Ocean counties is subjective and a source of debate.[1] [2][3][4]
[edit] Overlapping areas and definitions
Other colloquial and official terms are used to describe overlapping areas for the counties in the mid-section of the state.
"North Jersey" and "South Jersey" are used to describe the northern and southern halves of New Jersey. While there is agreement that their border is somewhere in the middle third of the state, there is no official definition.[1]
While the region is considered part of the New York metropolitan area in its greatest extent, Mercer County is constitues a separate Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Metropolitan Statistical Areas of New Jersey further subdivides the middle third of the state into into smaller groups of counties.
The New Jersey Department of Tourism places Middlesex and Union in the Gateway Region and Mercer in the Delaware Valley. Monmouth and Ocean are considered part of the Jersey Shore, while Somerset and Hunterdon are part of Skylands Region.[5]
The term Raritan Valley is used for the region along the middle reaches of the Raritan River, and it's North Branch and South Branch. Branchburg, Bridgewater, Somerville, Raritan, Green Brook, North Plainfield, Bound Brook, and South Bound Brook, which are all in Somerset, and Piscataway, South Plainfield, New Brunswick, Highland Park, Edison, Middlesex, Dunellen, and Metuchen, which are all in the northern and central portions of Middlesex County, New Jersey and Plainfield in southwestern Union County.[6][7][8][9][10]
The Raritan Bayshore is used to describe the region in Monmouth County along the coast of the Raritan Bay from South Amboy to Sandy Hook.[11]
[edit] Colonial era
Between 1674 and 1702, in the early part of New Jersey's colonial period, the border between West Jersey and East Jersey ran diagonally across the middle part of the state. The borders remained important in determining ownership and political boundaries until 1745. Remnants of that division are seen today, notably as the Hunterdon-Somerset, Ocean-Burlington, and Monmouth-Burlington county lines.[12] The Keith Line, as the demarcation is known, ran through the center of what is now Mercer.[13]
New Jersey position's between the major cities of New York and Philadelphia led Benjamin Franklin to call the state "a barrel tapped at both ends".[14][15]
Travel between New York and Philadelphia originally included a ferry crossing. Due to the obstacles created by the Meadowlands and the Hudson Palisades passengers from New York would cross the North River (Hudson River) and the Upper New York Bay by boat and then transfer to stagecoaches to travel overland through what is now Central jjersey. One route from Elizabethtown to Lambertville was known as Old York Road. Another route, from Perth Amboy through Kingston to Burlington ran along a portion of the Kings Highway, These roads followed Lenape paths known respectively as the Naritcong Trail and the Assunpink Trail.
Raritan Landing, across from New Brunswick in today's Piscataway became an important inland port and commercial hub for the region.[16]
[edit] Media and sports
Depending on the location, different parts of Central Jersey fall into overlapping spheres of influence from New York media market and Philadelphia media market. While the Star-Ledger is has the largest circulation of all newspapers in New Jersey, four regional newspapers - Asbury Park Press, Home News Tribune and two Trenton dailies, The Trentonian, and The Times- and several local papers are published in Central Jersey. New Jersey On-Line, CentralJersey.com and MyCentralJersey.com are web based news services.
Identification with sports teams is also affected by the region's location, and it is not uncommon to to find fans of major sports teams of either city. For example, while residents of northern New Jersey tend to favor the New York Giants who play at Met Life Stadium, those in the southern part of the state are Philadelphia Eagles fans. The distinction is less clear in Central Jersey.
[edit] Transportation
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Apart from Mercer County all counties in the region are part of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, a government partner which approves transportation projects for the state.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey once connected New York City with many Central Jersey towns. Much of that system is now included in New Jersey Transit rail operations to the Raritan Valley.
Once part of the PRR, NJT's Northeast Corridor Line and the North Jersey Coast. Amtrak also serves the commuter hub at Metropark and the Trenton Transit Center.
The Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 287, U. S. Route 1, U. S. Route 9, New Jersey Route 18, and New Jersey Route 35 are major automobile routes through Central Jersey that pass over the Raritan River at Perth Amboy and New Brunswick. Interstate 195 travels through Central Jersey (hence the name "Central Jersey Expressway") from the Trenton area towards Belmar.
Monmouth Executive Airport, formerly known as Allaire Airport, is a public-use airport located near Allaire State Park not far from Farmingdale.
[edit] Economy
While Central Jersey partially serves as a bedroom community for New York City commuters, it also has robust local economies of its own. Headquarters and/or major corporate campuses of many pharmaceutical (Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Johnson and Johnson, Schering-Plough, Merck and Sanofi-Aventis) and telecommunications companies (Verizon Wireless, AT&T Communications, Vonage, and Avaya) are located in the region. Regional tourist attractions include Six Flags Great Adventure, Gateway National Recreation Area, Monmouth Park Racetrack and Asbury Park's boardwalk. The Raritan Bayshore offers marinas, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and beaches. There are 48 fishable lakes in Monmouth County alone.[17] All of the region's counties are ranked among the highest income counties in the United States, as measured by median household income.[18]
Major shopping centers include Woodbridge Center, Menlo Park Mall, Bridgewater Commons, Monmouth Mall, Brunswick Square Mall, Quaker Bridge Mall, Princeton Market Fair and Freehold Raceway Mall.
Both Rutgers University and Princeton University are located in Central Jersey.
[edit] Notable Central Jerseyans
- People from Hunterdon County
- People from Mercer County
- People from Middlesex County
- People from Monmouth County
- People from Ocean County (some consider this South Jersey)
- People from Somerset County
- People from Union County
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Jean Mikle (March 31, 2008). "An invisible boundary divides N.J.". Home News Tribune. http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080331/NEWS/803310347/1001. Retrieved January 12, 2010.("Of course, part of the problem with understanding New Jersey's enduring regional tension is that few residents can agree on where the northern half of the state ends and the southern half begins.")
- ^ North Versus South, Jersey Style A shared sense of place hard to find in the Garden State, Monmouth University Polling Institute, March 8, 2008, http://www.monmouth.edu/assets/0/84/159/2147483694/b267a2bc-780c-4c96-85e7-16b3a523ce94.pdf
- ^ Spivey, Mark (January 30, 2012), "Central Jersey: Hard to define, easy to love Online debate persists over where, what it is", Asbury Park Press, http://www.app.com/article/20120130/NJNEWS/301300018/Central-Jersey-Hard-define-easy-love, retrieved 2012-02-05
- ^ Hiembuch, Jeff (May 19, 2009), "North Vs South Vs Central - Where Do YOU Live?", nj.com, http://www.nj.com/shore/blogs/party/index.ssf/2009/05/north_vs_south_vs_central_wher.html, retrieved 2012-02-05
- ^ "Visitor Information - Regional Tourism". Archived from the original on 2011-02-03. http://www.state.nj.us/travel/regional.html.
- ^ http://www.optimum.com/lineup.jsp?regionId=38 Optimum Online Television Service. Channel lineup for the Raritan Valley region, consisting of, "Bridgewater, Edison, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, Piscataway"
- ^ http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/r0060.pdf Raritan Valley Line operated by NJ Transit. Covers Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties
- ^ http://www.raritanval.edu/ Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch
- ^ http://www.scarletknights.com/crew/camp/camp.asp Raritan Valley Rowing Camp. A program sponsored by Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
- ^ http://www.raritanvalleyconference.com/index.php Raritan Valley Conference. A Pop Warner league covering Somerset and Middlesex Counties.
- ^ Bowes, Karen E. (August 30, 2006). "Blueprint complete for improved Rt. 36: County to vote on Bayshore Regional Strategic Plan". Holmdel Independent. http://independent.gmnews.com/news/2006/0830/Front_Page/003.html. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ^ http://westjersey.org/wj_line.htm
- ^ "A Brief History of Princeton Early Roads And Boundries". Historic Preservation in Princeton Township. Princeton Township. http://www.princetontwp.org/histofpt.html. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ Fairall, Herbert (1885). The World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, New Orleans, 1884-1885. p. 225. Google Book Search. Retrieved on December 4, 2009. "Dr. Benjamin Franklin once perpetrated the witticism 'that New Jersey was like a beer barrel tapped at both ends, with all the live beer running into Philadelphia and New York.'"
- ^ http://www.jstor.org/pss/30030707
- ^ "Recovering Raritan Landing The Archeology of a Forgotten Town". New Jersey Department of Transportation. 2002. http://www.raritanlanding.com/. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
- ^ Fishingworks
- ^ 250 Highest Per Capita Personal Incomes of the 3111 Counties in the United States, 2006, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Accessed May 2, 2008.
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