“South Jersey sucks!”
That’s the unsolicited, oh-so-subtle and completely nuanced opinion of my son Ben, who is 14 years old and basing that assessment on his vast experience and wealth of worldly knowledge.
Sarcasm aside, I do get where he’s coming from. Having grown up in South Jersey, I’m sure I felt that way at some point in my life too.
South Jersey and the state in general, especially to a young person, could be seen as too boring, too pedestrian.
There’s not enough to do here, some might say, while longing for the excitement of a big city. In that view, the entire state is just one big suburb, with the northern half a fiefdom for New York, and our area playing the bench behind Philadelphia.
But over the course of growing up here, I know my opinion gradually changed over the years, and now that I’m raising my own family here, I’m certain there’s no place better.
So it may not have been our original intent for South Jersey Local, but I think the mission going forward will be to convince our young son just how wrong he is, and maybe convince some others along the way.
In fairness though, if you’re reading this, you’re probably already on team “South Jersey Does Not Indeed Suck,” or at least fairly close to joining.
For many people who don’t really know the state, images of smokestacks along the Turnpike, or maybe Tony Soprano’s drive during his namesake show’s opening credits come to mind.
But as Tony’s beleaguered nephew Christopher once reminded a half-frozen Paulie Walnuts, this place is different – this is “SOUTH JERSEY!”
I’m sure it wouldn’t be a difficult argument to convince anyone of South Jersey’s heaping helpings of natural beauty. Our hundreds of miles of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay and River, our vast expanse of untouched wilderness in the Pine Barrens, and our rolling hills and bucolic farms, especially in Cumberland and Salem counties, where the Garden State truly earns its name, are enough to sway any naysayer.
I mean, come on, we have a rodeo in South Jersey! A rodeo! Here. In New Jersey. A rodeo, for the love of Bob! Neither New York nor Philly have a rodeo. Yee-ha!
And we have such diversity not only in geographic features, but in architecture and the types of communities in which to live here. We have the above-mentioned suburbs and farms for sure, but we also have such a great mix of towns, many with
bustling, newly-revitalized downtowns, and even cities.
Do those bigger towns like Atlantic City and Camden have their problems? For sure.
But there are, and have always been, people fighting to create a thriving city life. We will be there to cheer on those individuals and groups and celebrate their successes.
The true wealth of South Jersey, though, its greatest strength, is in its people.
It’s through their stories that we’ll share here in our pages that we know will change the mind of any South Jersey detractors – even that of a 14-year-old expert on what sucks and what doesn’t.
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