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South Jersey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is about a region in the United States. For the island of Jersey, see Jersey.
South Jersey is a colloquial term, with no consensus definition, covering the southern portions of New Jersey between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. Some people divide New Jersey into North Jersey and South Jersey; some put Central Jersey between them. South Jersey is closely associated with the city of Philadelphia. The name South Jersey is used to distinguish it from North Jersey, which is closely associated with New York, New York. South Jersey residents in the Pinelands have a unique southern style accent, commonly known as the Piney accent. The accent is named for the Pineys, rural residents of the Pine Barrens (New Jersey), located in South Jersey.
New Jersey is sandwiched between two large cities: New York City in the northeast and Philadelphia in the southwest; Benjamin Franklin called her "a barrel tapped at both ends". South Jersey is theoretically the area within the Philadelphia sphere of influence, whereas North Jersey is the area within New York City's influence.
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Eight counties that are often said to comprise South Jersey are:[1]
- Atlantic County
- Burlington County
- Camden County
- Cape May County
- Cumberland County
- Gloucester County
- Ocean County
- Salem County
Parts of Mercer County are sometimes considered part of South Jersey, especially the area south of I-295. Mercer County is closer to Philadelphia than New York City, but has been considered part of the New York Metropolitan area since 2000. The county was previously designated as part of the Philadelphia Metropolitan area.
South Jersey is the area that grew and expanded with Philadelphia, PA, as part of its metropolitan area, as opposed to with New York. Traditionally, the term was used to separate only the most urban and industrial, northeastern New Jersey's counties from the rural rest of the state. Today, there are 8 counties that comprise South Jersey.
In 2005, Money magazine named Moorestown the "best place to live" [not financially] in the United States, although they stated that a number of adjacent municipalities (particularly Mount Laurel, Haddonfield, Medford, Marlton, and Cherry Hill) could have just as easily been given the distinction. New Jersey's population density, as well as the geographic limitations of such a populous state, make disparities between adjoining or neighboring towns readily evident. For example, Maple Shade, which abuts Moorestown, is a township comprised of working class and mid to median income families.
By contrast, nearby Camden is known as a pocket of extreme poverty and crime. Lindenwold, Clementon, Mt. Holly and Pemberton contain large segments of working class citizens. Generally, people who live in this area must commute long distances to hold a job which pays more than minimum wage. Crime and drug use are also growing problems in these communities.
South Jersey's regional commercial centers include: Cherry Hill, Deptford Mall in Deptford Township, and Atlantic City with its resort casinos, boardwalk, shopping, and beaches.
Other South Jersey beach resorts include:
- Avalon
- Brigantine
- Cape May
- Cape May Point
- Longport
- Margate
- North Wildwood
- Ocean City
- Sea Isle City
- Stone Harbor
- Wildwood
- Wildwood Crest
- Ventnor
- Malik Allen, NBA basketball player for the Chicago Bulls
- Mary Birdsong, actress
- Dierks Bentley, country music musician
- Dave Budd, NBA player for the New York Knicks
- James Fenimore Cooper, author of Last of the Mohicans
- Ron Dayne, running back for the Houston Texans of the NFL
- Keith Elias, former running back for the New York Giants of the NFL
- Linda Fiorentino, actress
- Calista Flockhart, actress
- Glenn Foley, former quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets of the NFL
- Bruce S. Gordon, president, NAACP
- Vernon Hill, businessman
- Michael Landon, actor
- Ali Larter, actress/model
- Al Leiter, former pitcher for both the New York Mets and New York Yankees
- Carl Lewis, track and field athlete, 9-time Olympic gold medalist
- Michelle Malkin, political commentator
- Eddie Money, musician
- George Norcross III, political activist
- Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense
- Scott Patterson, actor
- Piper Perabo, actress
- Kelly Ripa, actress/talk show host
- H. Browning Ross, two-time steeplechase Olympian
- Michael Schoeffling, actor/wrestler
- Scott Schoeneweis, pitcher for the New York Mets of the MLB
- Patti Smith, purveyor of punk
- Steven Spielberg, director/producer
- Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
- Bruce Willis, actor
- Walt Whitman, poet
- Nicole Wood, Miss April 1993 Playboy Playmate
- Norman Joseph Woodland, inventor of the bar code
A list of unique and notable South Jersey cultural icons and institutions include, but is not limited, to:
- Absecon Light
- Adventure Aquarium
- Barnegat Lighthouse
- Batsto Village
- Blueberry farms in Hammonton
- Cape May Lighthouse
- Casinos in Atlantic City
- Garden State Park
- Hereford Inlet Lighthouse
- Jersey Devil
- Lucy the Elephant
- Pine Barrens
- Shore Culture
- "On the Way to Cape May"
- Traffic circles
- Washington Street Mall
- Wheaton Village
- USS New Jersey (BB-62)
- ^ Definitions of South Jersey, West Jersey and South Jersey Heritage. Accessed August 28, 2007.
- Definitions of South Jersey westjersey.org website (bibliography)
- South Jersey Heritage: A Social, Economic and Cultural History by Professor R. Craig Koedel of Atlantic Community College
- South Jersey Video Magazine Video archive featuring the people and culture of the region
- Where is North and South Jersey? Documentary seeking to answer the question.
