Best/safest places to live
These "best city" and "safest city" rankings have really gotten out of hand. Money magazine has come out with rankings for both in the past week, and several New Jersey towns have fared well in them.
Middletown was ranked the 50th best "small city" in the country, Howell was the 11th safest small city and Toms River - presumably Dover Township - was the 14th safest.
Other New Jersey small cities in the Top 100 nationally were Edison, Cherry Hill, Parsippany-Troy Hills and Wayne.
Middletown's a fine place to live. And there are good things to be said about the other Top 100 New Jersey towns as well. But to compare what are essentially suburban communities to places like Camden, New Brunswick, Jersey City, East Orange and Irvington is silly.
That's particularly true when comparing crime rates. Howell, whose population barely exceeded the 50,000 needed to quality it for consideration as a small city, was ranked 11th safest nationally on the basis of its 2004 violent crime rate, which was low, but not as low as 20 other suburban towns in Monmouth County.
Money magazine's earlier list of Top 100 small towns seemed to have more merit. Included in the list were Moorestown, Chatham and Princeton. But using arbitrary statistical data to rank order "best places to live" has little value, beyond that of stimulating conversation and debate.
My choices for best towns in New Jersey, other than beach towns in Ocean and Monmouth counties? All of them have several things in common: train stations, central business districts, good schools and nice, walkable/bikeable neighborhoods - Princeton, Westfield, Summit, Madison, Morristown, Chatham, Cranford, Ridgewood, Hoboken and Millburn.
Which towns do you think are best, and why?
Middletown was ranked the 50th best "small city" in the country, Howell was the 11th safest small city and Toms River - presumably Dover Township - was the 14th safest.
Other New Jersey small cities in the Top 100 nationally were Edison, Cherry Hill, Parsippany-Troy Hills and Wayne.
Middletown's a fine place to live. And there are good things to be said about the other Top 100 New Jersey towns as well. But to compare what are essentially suburban communities to places like Camden, New Brunswick, Jersey City, East Orange and Irvington is silly.
That's particularly true when comparing crime rates. Howell, whose population barely exceeded the 50,000 needed to quality it for consideration as a small city, was ranked 11th safest nationally on the basis of its 2004 violent crime rate, which was low, but not as low as 20 other suburban towns in Monmouth County.
Money magazine's earlier list of Top 100 small towns seemed to have more merit. Included in the list were Moorestown, Chatham and Princeton. But using arbitrary statistical data to rank order "best places to live" has little value, beyond that of stimulating conversation and debate.
My choices for best towns in New Jersey, other than beach towns in Ocean and Monmouth counties? All of them have several things in common: train stations, central business districts, good schools and nice, walkable/bikeable neighborhoods - Princeton, Westfield, Summit, Madison, Morristown, Chatham, Cranford, Ridgewood, Hoboken and Millburn.
Which towns do you think are best, and why?
posted by Randy Bergmann at 10:25 AM
4 Comments:
I vote for Manasquan. It has all of the attributes you list, plus the beach.
Say, how about the Howell police chief implying that his police department is the reason Howell was ranked one of the safest places? I think cops do a great job, and there is no one better than a cop in an emergency. But implying that a small-town police department has produced a safe town is a little like claiming M.I.T. produces intelligence.
I grew up in Howell. Chief Ronald Carter is is great cop that leads a great department.
That said, if we are talking about great towns in NJ, one would be remiss not to mention "the hippest little town on the Jersey shore," RED BANK, New Jersey!
i vote for the good side of Middletown. It's nice and not beat up like the "North Middletown".
Stay away from Mt.Holly. One of the most dangerous cities in the state.
Post a Comment
<< Home