Snapshots from Jersey City

Carrie and Joe in front of downtown Jersey City’s “flatiron” type building

So… I’m on an extended visit passing nearly two months in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was settled in 1660, and incorporated as a city in 1838. It’s about 15 square miles (similar to the size of the city of Pasadena, CA) with a population of 250,000 (2000 census cited here – similar to the population of the city of Glendale, CA or of Los Angeles City’s Koreatown plus Westlake.)

It’s where my fiance Carrie Lincourt has lived for the past five years. It’s where I am planning to move in January 2013. It has been a pleasant surprise just how walkable a scale Jersey City’s downtown has. We’re in the neighborhood near Hamilton Park. Lots of 3-5 story buildings, with stoops, no parking, mature trees. It’s not luxurious, but it’s quite a nice old walkable neighborhood. And… it’s right across the river from Manhattan. We’re a ~10-block walk to the PATH Train Station, one stop from the World Trade Center and other lower Manhattan destinations. This also means great iconic views of the NYC skyline – especially from the waterfront along Liberty State Park.

For now I just want to post a few photos of stuff I thought was interesting here in Jersey City. These aren’t my art… many aren’t great photos… but they’re some things that caught my eye… and maybe can give my readers/friends some small sense for Jersey City.

There’s quite a few examples of small spaces that folks have greened, with plenty of flowers. Here’s a bathtub planter in downtown JC.

Great old brick church, with wonderful organic snake-like lettering. Downtown JC.

Lots of great old churches here. In the foreground is one of the embankments. More on them below.

I will write more about the embankments. They are a series of long-abandoned block-long railroad platform-blocks. The were targeted for development, which was fought off by the community… and are now slated to become a park similar to NYC’s High Line. For more information, see http://www.embankment.org/

Here are the stoops of the building where Carrie lives and where I soon will live. Basically three-story attached townhomes.

Mural on a community center building (featuring cyclist photobomb)

There’s not tons of bicycling here, but definitely some – more walking, transit, and those car things. These tricked out bicycles reminded me a little bit of L.A.’s Real Rydaz.

Another dignified beautiful old church.

One more of me and Carrie – sitting along the Jersey shoreline (I think that’s Brooklyn and Ellis Island in the background) near a park where we’ve been playing volleyball some Sunday afternoons.

More photos and other stuff coming soon. For a downtown Jersey City streetscape I sketched (same building as the top photo) see here.

Tags: Carrie_Lincourt, Jersey_City, New_Jersey, photos