NYC: the sixth boro **HUDSON**

[streetscaper]

My previous recent threads:

New York: Grittier
New York: Rediscovered
Haiti: The Celebration
Buenos Aires: The Beast
All Around Brazil
Pure New York (85 pics)

Philly Feel
New York: People and Place
New York: Winter Sun
Haiti: Southern Peninsula Delight
New York: Above as Below
Greenland: Land of Ice
Iceland: Land of Green
Puerto Rico Moments
*Another* 4-boro NYC megathread (79 pics)
4-Boro NYC Megathread (about 100 pics)





NYC: The Boro Series
The Bronx
Queens
Manhattan
Brooklyn

In continuing the Boro series, I decided to skip Staten Island (will get to it at some point) and showcase Hudson County, NJ, often referred to as New York City's sixth borough and waayyy more urban than the former.

Hudson county is a force to be reckoned with. Dozens of bustling neighborhoods teeming with almost 700,000 souls from all corners of the globe, all inhabiting a land area the size of San Fran (or even less, when discounting all the marshland). That gives this urban beast a density greater than all other US counties except for five (the core NYC counties and SF).

Despite all this, it is perpetually in New York's shadow and is thus one of the most overlooked urban places in America. You'd be hard-pressed to find even New Yorkers who've ever ventured pass Jersey City or Hoboken (if they even make it that far).

But, like the other boroughs and their millions, Hudson county is its own behemoth with heaves of humanity ebbing and flowing throughout and has evolved a globally cosmopolitan ambience of its own. It's in the heart of the New York metro area, after all. (For example, of the 40% of residents that are foreign-born, the 5 most common source countries are from such different places as: Cuba, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, , and India.)

After visiting only about half of the neighborhoods, here is but a mere sampling of life in the sixth borough:





H u d s o n

[enro]

Amazing thread.

Looking forward to more NYC threads from you...and hopefully SF and Nor Cal.

[proghousehead]

Awesome. I love Hudson County. Jersey City is perceptively the most diverse place I have ever visited - more so than NYC, London, Toronto, etc. I would love if in some hypothetical alternate universe NYC would trade Staten Island for Hudson County.

[Steely Dan]

wow, what a spectacular (and a bit of an eye-opening) treat!

it's funny how NYC's 6th borough, which isn't even an official borough, is still more urban than anywhere else in the country outside of the the other 5 official city boroughs.

[destroycreate]

Wow! I am so impressed, this area looks amazing. Why don't more people want to live there?

[BnaBreaker]

Good God.... you're right, I never really even think about that area, and now, I have no idea why. What an incredible place! Dare I say that it looks to me to be even more vibrant and urban than any actual NYC borough outside of Manhattan!? Thanks so much for opening our eyes!

[OhioGuy]

Fantastic photo tour!

[Docere]

Great photos.

Hudson County strikes me as rather similar to western Queens.

[franktko]

I loved it. Yep, got that NY vibe.

[streetscaper]

Thanks for the comments so far guys

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Wow! I am so impressed, this area looks amazing. Why don't more people want to live there?

Jersey City, the largest city in Hudson County, is pretty hot these days actually.

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Good God.... you're right, I never really even think about that area, and now, I have no idea why. What an incredible place! Dare I say that it looks to me to be even more vibrant and urban than any actual NYC borough outside of Manhattan!? Thanks so much for opening our eyes!

Glad I could show you around a bit .

I don't think it's more vibrant than the 4 core boroughs but it's close to the feeling you get in many parts of Queens, with Queens definitely being more vibrant than Hudson (to say nothing of much denser Bronx and Brooklyn). Many Queens neighborhoods rival Manhattan with hustle and bustle, Jackson Heights, Astoria, and Flushing to name a few. But still what I wanted to show is just that. Hudson County is no slouch, either. One of the most vibrant in the country.

Originally Posted by Docere

Great photos.

Hudson County strikes me as rather similar to western Queens.

Yes, this is very much the general feel of it, I'd say (with western Queens being somewhat denser).

[pablosan]

Nice thread. Thank you for sharing.

[Docere]

Gentrification has been quite significant in Hudson, no? Interestingly Hudson has a higher percentage of college graduates (36.8%) than either Brooklyn (31.6%) or Queens (30.2%).

Admittedly Hudson represents a much smaller area than Queens and reached its population peak early, in 1930. Queens had more room for growth and central and eastern Queens grew significantly after WWII.

[shivtim]

Beautiful buildings, beautiful people, beautiful photos.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Wow! I am so impressed, this area looks amazing. Why don't more people want to live there?

The gentrified parts of Hudson County are very expensive. Places like Hoboken are priced roughly like the gentrified parts of Brooklyn/Queens.

But overall, there will always be a west-of-Hudson discount because of transit issues. The subway doesn't run there, so you're taking PATH, commuter rail, ferries or express buses into Manhattan.

It's insane that NJ Governor Christie has been super anti-transit, given his state sits directly adjacent to the most lucrative employment center on the planet, and desperately needs new rail crossings. NJ commuters just have it harder than NY/CT commuters (though hopefully this will change when the gov. leaves this year).

These pics are fantastic, BTW. It's kind of crazy that this area is so unknown, yet is as dense/vibrant as anyplace in the U.S. outside of NYC. And the density extends west into Essex County and north into southern Bergen County.

[Echoes]

Definitely an area that gets overlooked and overshadowed by its neighbour across the Hudson far too often.

Thanks for sharing!

[mrnyc]

very lovely -- an area that more than deserves a nice photo thread just like that.

[The North One]

This looks much better than Brooklyn.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by The North One

This looks much better than Brooklyn.

Hudson County (and much of Essex/sliver of Bergen) is like a somewhat less dense/vibrant version of Western/Central Queens.

Whether this is "better" or not than Brooklyn is obviously subjective, but it certainly can't match up in terms of density, vibrancy or built form. It probably matches up in terms of diversity, though.

[streetscaper]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Hudson County (and much of Essex/sliver of Bergen) is like a somewhat less dense/vibrant version of Western/Central Queens.

Whether this is "better" or not than Brooklyn is obviously subjective, but it certainly can't match up in terms of density, vibrancy or built form. It probably matches up in terms of diversity, though.

I'm in complete agreement and would add: can't match up in breadth and expansiveness of neighborhoods with great classical architecture that Brooklyn has.

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Good God.... you're right, I never really even think about that area, and now, I have no idea why. What an incredible place! Dare I say that it looks to me to be even more vibrant and urban than any actual NYC borough outside of Manhattan!? Thanks so much for opening our eyes!

Originally Posted by streetscaper

Queens definitely being more vibrant than Hudson (to say nothing of much denser Bronx and Brooklyn). Many Queens neighborhoods rival Manhattan with hustle and bustle, Jackson Heights, Astoria, and Flushing to name a few. But still what I wanted to show is just that. Hudson County is no slouch, either. One of the most vibrant in the country.

For proof of the above, I urge you to check out my other borough threads :

NYC: The Boro Series
The Bronx
Queens
Manhattan
Brooklyn

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Hudson County (and much of Essex/sliver of Bergen) is like a somewhat less dense/vibrant version of Western/Central Queens.

I agree.

Hudson County is great.