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5 Things I Like about Jersey City


To be fair, this post is about the neighborhood around the Grove Street Path station and not about the entire city.  Check out this Ork-style poster of neighborhoods in Jersey City.  The five things I like are the variety of housing types, transit options, historic building preservation, parks, and although we only sampled one cafe, we are giving a special mention to the Beechwood Cafe.


We arrived at Grove Street via the PATH train and left via the ferry at Liberty Landing.  In between arriving and departing, we played at Van Vorst Park of which I have only a photo of a flower (below).


Photos of the Van Vorst Park can be seen here.


Liberty State Park is on the waterfont and we strolled through it before boarding the ferry.  If you go, don't overlook the Morris Canal.


We ate many delicious pastries from the Beechwood Cafe: croissant, chocolate chip (shortbread) cookie, and apple muffin.  The cappuccino was excellent.


We made two stops at the cafe and before and after stared appreciatively at the historic City Hall.


The library near Van Vorst Park has fantastic lamps. And around the corner is a block of lovely brownstones. We especially liked the metalwork on the house pictured below.


There a small, free-standing 1840 house on Grove Street. There is another free-standing house tucked behind two apartment buildings off Grove.  And in case you forgot where you were, look down!


Other cities in this series are Montreal, Boston, Munich, and Savannah.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great article! Certainly a lot of hidden gems in Jersey City. I wonder what it is like to live there? Hmmmmm....
Les said…
After years of traveling north, I have determined that the disparaging remarks made about New Jersey are really just a covert plan to keep its charming suprises less crowded and saved for its own citizens to enjoy.
local ecologist said…
I agree, Les! A fine example is the Pine Barrens which I have not visited but am wowed by the photographs of this place at http://www.visitnj.org/pine-barrens.

And "Anonymous", hidden gems indeed! I only explored a small section of the city and am sure there are many more great spots to add to my list.