New Jersey is a funny place. It's not very large, and a significant portion of the northern part of the state is essentially a suburb of New York City, while a significant portion of the southern part is a suburb of Philadelphia (with all the good and bad that comes along with that).

But it's fundamentally beautiful and varied temperate coastal land. Because of how things are, though, you can drive from a warm sandy beach to a mountaintop surrounded by productive farmland in an hour and a half, while stopping in a handful of crime ridden ghettos AND a few of the richest counties in the country along your way.

I live on the opposite side of the country, but I’m pretty sure New Yorkers just like to pretend to hate NJ for some reason. Like a rivalry. I think there are plenty of perfectly good parts of NJ to live in. It’s not Mississippi!