As a native of New Paltz, NY, I can confirm that, even in the sticks, there is a snobbish attitude toward New Jersey. As a current resident of Easton, PA, right across the river, I can confirm that there is a bewildering hostility toward New Jersey, especially considering that half the residents work there.

There’s always some jerk on Nextdoor blaming all of societies ills on transplants from New Jersey. Before I lived here, I lived for two years in Somerset, NJ. I wasn’t crazy about it, but that wasn’t New Jersey’s fault. (I was living in an apartment and apartment life isn’t for me.)

Here’s what I, someone who formerly dissed NJ, like about it:

1. I agree. The Italian food is superior to most places.
2. The best tomatoes are grown in NJ. I grew some. Great soil.
3. Killer ethnic delis and butcher shops.
4. Gorgeous little towns to visit like Clinton and Frenchtown.
5. No sales tax on clothing.
6. You aren’t allowed to pump your own gas. (People bitch about this until they have to get gas when it’s 10 degrees and sleeting outside.)
7. Miles of beautiful farmland. They don’t call it the Garden State for nothing.
8. Cape May is the best beach town in America. They clean the beach every night, y’all. I mean the entire beach. Pigmently challenged people like me can rent beach tents so we can hang out all day without having to drown ourselves repeatedly in sunscreen.
9. Diners galore. Every town has one and every meal is served with an automatic dishes of pickles and coleslaw.

I could do without the Taylor ham and the jug handle turns. There are unfortunate long stretches of dingy old strip malls. When they construct big box stores, they don’t connect the parking lots so you have to drive in and out of each one. (Apparently, they like to pour concrete. A lot.)

All in all, I agree that New Jersey gets a bad rap. If you’ve only been to Newark airport, you don’t know New Jersey. Check it out!