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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.
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I wouldn't put anywhere in Bergen on the same level as the Hudson County neighborhoods in streetscraper's photo essay. In Essex, the only place that's comparable (many contiguous blocks of densities above 40,000+ ppl/sqmi) is the Ironbound (at least since the 1960s and white flight). I'd say the eastern strip of Hudson County that runs from downtown JC and Journal Sq up to West NY actually matches up quite well with Western Queens, especially Astoria/LIC, in terms of density (objectively many of the municipalities in Hudson are denser even than the average Brooklyn neighborhood). Honestly I think Astoria/LIC are a good point of comparison for JC+Hoboken+Union City+West NY. They're a similar distance from Manhattan, have similar densities, and are seeing similar levels and types of development (more sterile towers along the waterfront, and more interesting urban infill inland). But JC/Hoboken have nicer brownstone neighborhoods than LIC/Astoria.
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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.
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Overall? No, it doesn't match up in terms of density, vibrancy, or built form. But particular neighborhoods (such as the ones in these pics) certainly do match up with the average Brooklyn neighborhood. As far as built form, the area around Stevens in Hoboken and the area around Van Vorst Park in JC have some of the most exquisite row houses I've seen in the NYC region, on par with those in any neighborhood in brownstone Brooklyn.
As far as 'vibrancy' I guess it depends how you define that. But my current neighborhood of Journal Square in JC is much more walkable than my last neighborhood near Greenwood in Brooklyn. You're not gonna find any bougie cafes or hipster hangouts here, though, but the discount stores sell any necessity you can think of.
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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.
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PATH is a subway in all but name. It was actually the second subway line built in Manhattan after the IRT. Actually it's 3 lines, each line runs every 4 minutes at rush hour, and the trains run 24 hours a day/7 days a year. Even the train cars are just a modification of the newest IRT cars. Of course PATH's coverage of Hudson is limited to Downtown JC, Journal Square, and downtown Hoboken. My biggest complaint is that frequency sucks on weekends and late at night. But even then, it's comparable to subways in certain parts of the outer boroughs (e.g., the R train in Park Slope/Bay Ridge), especially when you factor in the ridiculous amount of weekend work on the MTA in recent years.
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Originally Posted by Bronxwood
The problem with Hudson are the limited transit options. While it's right across the river from Manhattan, unfortunately it's a real pain to get into the city from there. That puts off a lot of people from moving there. You have to take commuter busses that come every half hour or more. They drop you off in Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan. The cost of paying for that every day just to go less than a mile is ridiculous, plus the subway fare. No thanks.
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It's because of misconceptions like these that Hudson County is at a discount compared to Queens and the Bronx. A lot of people don't realize how easy it is to get into Manhattan from much of Hudson County. As streetscraper noted, North Hudson (West NY/Union City/JC Heights) have buses every minute during rush hour into the city. But they only have one stop in the city, at Port Authority, which *is* annoying. But if you live around a PATH stop in Hoboken/Jersey City, it's quicker to get into the city than living in 95% of Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx. There are 6 PATH stops in Manhattan, and you can transfer to any MTA line except for the G without walking outside. I've raced friends who live in Crown Heights or Astoria to different points in Manhattan, and I almost always win, except to the Lower East Side :p And our transit passes are only $89 per month, which leaves lots of extra money for transferring to the MTA when necessary.
Also worth noting (though it's not seen in streetscraper's photos) is the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, which shares transfer stations with 3 PATH stops, offering Manhattan access to a much larger chunk of the county from Bayonne to North Bergen.
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