Communities
Jersey City boasts itself as a city of neighborhoods, each with a different aesthetic and architectural style. Downtown includes the Waterfront, Hamilton Park, Grove Street, Harsimus Cove and Van Vorst Park, Liberty State Park, Jersey City Heights, Western Slope, Journal Square, West Bergen, Lincoln Park, West Side, Bergen, Greenville, Lafayette and Marion.
Newport and Exchange Place is the redeveloped waterfront areas comprised mostly of residential towers, hotels and office buildings. Newport is a planned mixed-use community, built on old rail yards, made up of residential rental towers, condominiums, office buildings, a marina, schools, restaurants, hotels, Newport Centre Mall, waterfront walkway, transportation facilities and on-site parking for more than 15,000.
Newport had a hand in the renaissance of Jersey City, though much of the downtown area had already started a steady climb back up before this.
Exchange Place, the first part of Jersey City to redevelop, was built on the grounds of the old Jersey City Penn Station, ferry and shipping terminals. It is now a burgeoning and busy business and financial district.
To the west are the three historic brownstone protected districts Hamilton Park, Van Vorst Park and Harsimus Cove separated from the waterfront by older infrastructure, big-box development and old warehouses still waiting to be redeveloped.
Paulus Hook is another neighborhood with a historic designated zone that borders Exchange Place and Liberty State Park on the waterfront, and blends older brownstone streets with newer luxury developments. The area has become increasingly more active with development, the construction of the light rail and many streets lined with shops and restaurants with outdoor seating.
In Jersey City Heights’ Central Avenue is the primary commercial strip, with residential districts flanking the street on both sides. The Heights area is comprised mostly of two- and three-family houses and remains traditionally middle-class. Blocks away there are breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline. Many stately Victorian and Edwardian homes contribute to the attractiveness of the Heights, particularly along Summit Avenue and Sherman Place. The Palisade, a condominium on Palisade Avenue at Fleet Street, is one of the few Art Deco buildings in the city.
Pershing Field is a park in the center of this district, offering green space, baseball fields, a swimming pool and ice skating.
Parts of this neighborhood are experiencing gentrification, largely due to the relative affordable housing and the variety of transportation options.
Once the commercial heart of Jersey City, Journal Square has become rather derelict in recent years, but is in the process of rehabilitation, in part because of the efforts of the Journal Square Restoration Corporation and the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation.
The Stanley Theater and Loews Theatre on Kennedy Boulevard are among the city's most noted landmarks, and two of the best preserved movie palaces in the Tri-State area. Directly across Kennedy Boulevard from the Loews is the Journal Square Transportation Center which houses the Journal Square railway station and the city's largest bus terminal.
The West Bergen/Lincoln Park has neighborhoods dominated by single-family houses with some of the best preserved Victorian and early 20th century mansions in the city. Lincoln Park, one of the largest parks in the area, is a county park which includes recreational facilities for tennis, track, athletic fields, golf range, biking, running and picnic areas.
Port Liberté used to be one of the many ports on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. It was filled with industrial buildings until 1990 when developers began to transform the neighborhood into an upscale residential complex and has become Venice on the Hudson. The only golf course, Liberty National Golf Course, is 15 minutes and is scheduled to open here in the summer of 2006.
WALDO is a neighborhood in downtown Jersey City that has been transitioned from a purely industrial zone to include more residences. Half of the buildings in the eight block neighborhood must go to artists. The area is referred to as the arts district. In addition to the attempts to bring in more housing and studios for artists, the area also is planning to make the area more pedestrian friendly and bringing in art schools or museums.
As for taking in the sights, Jersey City has a lot to offer including the center of the city's artistic life, Jersey City Museum in the Historic Downtown district. The museum has eight galleries, a collection of more than 20,000 works and a theater, gift shop and café, the results of an $11 million renovation completed at the end of 2000.
Creativity lives in the arts district, where artists live, work and exhibits the fruits of their artistic labors. Together with the local artist community, Jersey City is redeveloping these eight blocks of former warehouse buildings as an entertainment and tourism center, with galleries, theaters, restaurants, entertainment centers and shops all within easy walking distance.
Also, the Statue of Liberty actually calls Jersey City home. A ferry ride from Liberty State Park quickly takes one to her feet on Ellis Island.
Additionally, there’s the Liberty Science Center, a high-tech science space undergoing a $104 million expansion and renovation project. It will re-open July 2007.
Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 240,055 people living here.
The median income of its households is $37,862, and the median income of its families is $41,639. Men had a median income of $35,119 versus $30,494 for women.