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Thursday, August 28, 2008

The essence of New Jersey
They may seem like a bunch of numbers, but newly released Census figures show in statistical terms the essence of New Jersey.
 
The data paint a picture of what anyone who grew up in New Jersey knows intuitively: that it is a state of vast differences constantly rubbing in contact with one another - some of the richest communities in the country, and the second highest median household income, it is also home to some of the poorest cities in America, including Camden.
 
But the differences packed tightly into so small a space are not limited to economics. Pick a spot virtually anywhere on a map of New Jersey, and you are sure to find, within roughly an hour’s drive, each of the following: an urban center, a wealthy suburb, a blue-collar enclave, the Shore or Delaware river and the mountains, countryside or farmland. It’s all there for you.
 
Geography, skylines, attitude, demographics, television markets, dominant sports teams, language - they all change, sometimes within a matter of a few highway exits. The variation is immense within the fourth smallest state in the nation.
 
It’s something that Tricia Mueller, the head of Barack Obama’s New Jersey campaign, discussed with me in a recent interview. Mueller, who grew up in Oaklyn and lives in Merchantville, said working on previous Democratic campaigns showed the breadth of the Garden State, and will inform her work on Obama’s behalf.
 
“Essex County, it’s much different from, you know, Mercer County,” Mueller said. “You sort of learn to appreciate the different make ups of the state. Though it’s so small, right, it’s a small state, but in that state is an incredibly diverse group of people.”
 
It’s this proximity of character and community, and the ease of moving from one to the other, that makes New Jersey a fascinating place in which to live.
 
It’s also what makes the political debates on some of the states’ most intractable issues - school funding, affordable housing, open space preservation - so fraught with tension. With communities of widely differing interests practically side-by-side geographically, major policy changes create ripple effects and nuances, largely lost in public debates, that lend credence to both sides of most issues and make them all the harder to resolve.
 
Here is a link to our story that captures the contrast in Gloucester County, where the median income and poverty rate both increased:
 
The Star-Ledger had this statewide take:
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Garden State Grapevine covers news in South Jersey and Trenton.

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