Albeit this site is called New York City Photos, but we’ll cut ourselves a bit o’ slack in that regard. Let’s expand it to New York City Photos…and Beyond. Residents, visitors, travelers and the like can all see what they’re getting into before they actually arrive to sought after destinations and travel hot spots.
Now, across the Hudson River towards the West is the Garden State of New Jersey. You saw Zach Braff’s feature film on the subject with it’s hipster du jour soundtrack, yes? Perhaps you also read the many mainstream media articles about how Jersey City is now being inhabited by the artistic “dissidents” of Manhattan and Brooklyn (rockers, hipsters, artists). In fact, this has been going on for some time now as the Grove Street/Historic area of Downtown JC is growing in popularity (and price). It’s on the UP part of up and coming. It appears apt sales are surpassing even the 400k mark but for the most part level off in the 300s for close to 700-800 sqft. If you go further west to Journal Square, you’ll find it’s not as desirable aesthetically, but definitely much cheaper (rent/condo sales) with a variety of ethnic eats available at your leisure. For eats, bars, cafes in the Grove area, you’re gonna be sticking to Newark Ave and Grove itself. Another day we’ll delve into the Paulus Hook/Marina area as it’s a whole different “new-metropolitan-yuppy-prepster” type of ballgame (translation: rich).
Upon trekking on the 2, 3 red subway, walking over to the 33rd St Manhattan Path, and riding to Grove St, I came out of the station right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle (Newark Ave/Columbus Drive). Quite honestly, you’ll want to avoid walking down Columbus Drive as it’s, well, ugly with constant traffic pollution and dilapidated sidewalks. Anyway, I headed over to the Dixon Mills (old Pencil Factory) condos near Wayne Street/Varick Street. Unfortunately, the large, refurbished industrial complex with it’s “cheap” high end condos has become a gated community with paid parking. Generally, this area is pretty nice looking with the tree lined blocks on streets like Wayne hosting old brownstones/bricks/row houses 3+ stories high. Every single corner is not as beautiful as you’d prefer, but it’s no better or worse than the typical, established neighborhoods in Brooklyn or uptown Manhattan (Prospect Heights, Morningside, Williamsburg etc). Take a look at more photos at the Flickr link: Downtown Jersey City.
Filed under: Downtown Jersey City | Tagged: Dixon Mills, Downtown Jersey City, Grove Path | Leave a Comment »
