FROM THE JERSEY JOURNAL (Newhouse Newspapers)
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Hudson County residents think highly of Hoboken and Downtown Jersey City, according to a recent Jersey Journal/New Jersey City University poll.
More than half of those polled said they had a favorable opinion of Hudson County's urban waterfront, although only people with thicker wallets seem to go there for shopping or entertainment.
"Hoboken is not a favorite spot for Hudson night life," wrote the poll's authors, New Jersey City University political science professor Fran Moran and NJCU English professor Bruce Chadwick. "Just 30 percent of county residents said they go there frequently or even sometimes for dining, bars and clubs, and nearly half the county respondents said they never go to Hoboken for entertainment."
Only about half of county residents polled said they visit Downtown Jersey City to do some shopping.
But anyone who does shop in Hoboken probably makes more than $50,000 a year, Moran and Chadwick wrote. Almost two-thirds of respondents making more than that said they at least occasionally go to the stores there, and about 56 percent of them go to Hoboken's bars and clubs.
Only about 9 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Hoboken and 23 percent said they didn't like Downtown Jersey City, while 34 percent expressed no opinion about Hoboken and 20 percent were indifferent toward Jersey City.
A further analysis of the numbers shows that 70 percent of women and almost three-quarters of blacks and Hispanics responded that they rarely or never shop in Downtown Jersey City.