New York and New Jersey are considered overpriced ghettos, which their residents will not exchange for their relatively large comfortable houses in the expansive mid-West.

To live in New York is to share an apartment, and still pay an arm and leg. To live in New Jersey, especially Jersey City, is to be in a crowded space, where even parking is a nightmare.

The brave, adventurous and corporate type prefer to live on the East Coast of America. The two states are tolerant — rarely do you hear about mass shootings or police killings of black men.

New Jersey has been slowly and gracefully ageing. The first thing I noticed on landing at Newark Liberty International Airport was how rusty Newark, the largest city-by population-in the state of New Jersey, is.

The city lies in utter dereliction.

Travelling through the US, it is evident that the Asian tigers and some European countries have better infrastructure.

I took the Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) train to Jersey City, which neighbours New York, and has been facing an influx of people moving from New York City as rents in the Big Apple rise every day. There is a high population of Indians in Jersey City.

Reportedly, many commute to Manhattan Island where they work for top IT and financial services companies. The PATH rail system was conceived in the 1870s. It was built at the turn of the century and opened in 1908. But the engineering was futuristic.

The system runs through tunnels dug into the bed of the Hudson River, connecting the two cities (New York and Jersey City). The trains, according to records, carry a total of 200,000 passengers on weekdays.

The PATH rail system is run by the port authorities of New York and New Jersey and is independent of the New York subway in New York and the Hudson-Bergen light rail, in Jersey City.

The Jersey City light rail is cleaner and quieter than the New York subway.

Summertime

Americans love their summers, the extreme heat notwithstanding. Women dress in light clothing, and men cycle around shirtless. Summer brings an air of camaraderie. With some of the cleanest and best parks, there is never a shortage of things to do in New Jersey.

Restaurants like to serve meals outdoors. There are beaches to sun yourself and barbeques to gorge yourself.
Jersey Shore and Atlantic City are famous for their casinos.

Atlantic City has a beautiful coastline and beaches. The Miss World pageant has been hosted in the city for nearly 100 years.

Atlantic City’s six kilometre boardwalk (the longest in the world), has shops, restaurants, amusement parks, and the Ripley’s Believe or Not museums — one of more than 10 museums under the franchise that was founded by Robert Ripley and whose attractions used to be part of a television show popular in 1980s and early 1990s.

At the amusement parks, the games are relatively expensive. But since it is a vacation city, people rarely care about the cost until after the holiday. Walking along the piers is lovely.

Outside the crowded, rather dull, Jersey City and derelict Newark area, New Jersey is a beautiful state. Driving around, you get a sense of why it is called the Garden State.

It is richly green, and boasts forests such as the Pine Barrens in the southern coast of the state. In some counties, people are engaged in farming, some gardening and others in moderate commercial farming.

Areas around Princeton University, near Trenton City, the capital of New Jersey, are laid back. But the cost of living is high, and there are fewer black people in that area.

New Jersey prides itself in having given the US some of the biggest names in Hollywood and music, notably Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra. Movie stars Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep are also from New Jersey.

If you visit, I advise that you go to New York while in the Jersey City area, and then drive to either Jersey Shore or Atlantic City, about three hours away.