i live in central jersey and i would never have chosen this place.
it's a lovely old small (for a new york suburb) town, 14,000, but it's still a suburb. we moved here for my husband's work at rutger's, stayed for the easy commute to the port authority towers (wasn't that a mistake!) and because we still had a son in h.s. now, i wish we were back in new york but i have a daughter and retired son in law here who help us out when i need help.
(a retired son in law?? how can that be?)
jersey has the all-time worst weather in the entire world. it invented the words damp and clammy.