Is Newark, NJ a World Class City?

[wanderer34]

Of many cities in New Jersey, Newark remains practically my favorite city in that state. The only other city that ranks in my list is Trenton, due to its geographical position of being between Philadelphia and NYC. But for many years, Newark remains the largest city in NJ.

What's really surprising is that despite being slightly under 300K, and still having neighborhoods suck as the Central and West Wards still bombed out and vacated, Newark was able to retain an attract companies such as Prudential, Panasonic, PSE&G, Audible.com, IDT, and NJ Transit). For a city of it's size, Newark does have consulates from Portugal, Italy, Colombia, and Ecuador, and I'm expecting more consulates from Brazil, Venezuela, India, and the Dominican Republic to open in Newark in the near future.

The only thing about Newark that I'm envious about as a Philadelphian is the fact that Newark has a world-class airport serving not just Europe, but much of Latin America and Asia, with international carriers. Many can say that reason is due to Newark's proximity to NYC, especially Downtowntown Manhattan and Wall Street, but regardless of that fact, that airport has practically sustained that city for decades.

I've also heard about Newark's downtown being proposed for development, with skyscrapers reaching 1000 ft plus possibly a mall for that city. Richard Meier's SoWA project is the proposal that I'm talking about, and I hope the city of Newark can grow in the the near future, as it's been a long time since that city has had any positive news since Cory Booker came into office. I'd love to see some feedback!

[JManc]

Don't be jealous. EWR is not what it is because of Newark but rather New York. Same with the consulates. New York. Newark does have Tony Soprano though.

[Crawford]

Newark is basically just an extension of NYC these days. An urban suburb, with a ton of problems, but considerable promise.

The airport is obviously an international airport for the overall metropolitan area, not the city itself.

[ThePhun1]

Newark=Long Beach or San Jose.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by ThePhun1

Newark=Long Beach or San Jose.

Sorta, but Newark is just a few miles from Manhattan, and is just another urban city in the regional core. It has less of its own identity, especially compared to SJ.

[C.]

When I was much younger, I use to think Newark was just a mispronunciation of New York

I'll say this about Newark though - the Ironbound section of Newark however is the New York metropolitan region's best kept secret. New Yorkers will never ever go there for any reason, but the Portuguese/Brazilian community is awesome. Some of the best food I've ever had at affordable prices too.

[jayden]

Newark has so much potential, and could really become it's own world class city one of these days. They've just got A LOT of things to fix. They're trying, but still a long way to go.

[ThePhun1]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Sorta, but Newark is just a few miles from Manhattan, and is just another urban city in the regional core. It has less of its own identity, especially compared to SJ.

15-20 miles is just a few miles? Very few places would have an identity compared to New York. It could be another 10 miles away and still be dwarved by NYC.

[jayden]

Originally Posted by ThePhun1

15-20 miles is just a few miles? Very few places would have an identity compared to New York. It could be another 10 miles away and still be dwarved by NYC.

I would argue that Jersey City has its own identity and it's literally a few hundred feet from downtown Manhattan.

[ThePhun1]

If New York State extended across the Hudson, they might lose their identity. Luckily, the state line preserves some level of identity for them.

[Cirrus]

1. Newark is a part of New York. Sure sure, it has its own identity. So does Queens.

2. No, if you insist on separating Newark out from New York, which is folly, then it's a fine place but it's still not "world class." World class is a hard standard to meet. The world is big. Being the best city in New Jersey doesn't mean a place is world class. The US does not have 50 world class cities.

[chris08876]

I went to University in Newark NJ. My grandma use to live there in Iron Bound when she was around. The city has a lot of potential, and not because of a positive bias that I have.

Untapped potential... that is starting to see a resurgence. Culture wise, its there. Great food, entertainment, arts, universities. I think it could have a Jersey City style boom. Being a big transportation hub, and next to NYC helps tremendously.

Like I said, untapped potential.

[dc_denizen]

10023?

[C.]

Newark already has a Whole Foods (before even Jersey City, for pete's sake!). It's on the threshold of large scale gentrification. Anything near the train station, downtown and the Ironbound is safe and will boom if it hasn't done so already. There's been a recent number of zoning changes to allow for 40 story buildings or taller along with Passaic River and the immediate area around Penn Station in the Ironbound.

The rest of Newark will become one of the few affordable neighborhoods in the NYC metro area.

You can pay a $1,000 a month for a decent one bedroom in the Ironbound, walk to Newark Penn Station and be in midtown in 15 minutes or the WTC in 25.

[MolsonExport]

if every city is world class, then the term means nothing. NYC is world class. Tokyo is world class. Paris is world class. LA is world class. London is world class.

Newark is not world class.

[C.]

^ Neither is Toronto, yet you hear many area residents proclaim it to be for various reasons. Without a formal definition, "world class" is really in the eye of the beholder.

[sopas ej]

What exactly is a "world-class" city?

By definition, "world-class" means "Of or among the best in the world; of the highest caliber."

Well, is Newark that?

[chris08876]

I'd like to point out that Newark airport is not world class. Its 3rd world.

Now Madrid Barajas or Dubai International... those are A+, World-Class airports.

Something that really lacks with the NY based airports is aesthetics. They are busy, rat-race type airports, and very unpleasant to look at. But they work... just not in an aesthetic way IMO.

Its not grandiose like Madrid's airport for example, which is stunning in person.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by CIA

^ Neither is Toronto, yet you hear many area residents proclaim it to be for various reasons. Without a formal definition, "world class" is really in the eye of the beholder.

What exactly is world class, and why does it matter? I feel few in Toronto bring up the world class thing except in incredulousness.

I'm in Johannesburg now:


city of Johannesburg

[C.]

What's the motto for Baltimore? ...the greatest city in America.

I agree that being labeled world class doesn't matter. So it's funny when folks advocate that their city is world class or get very defensive about it.