One is a writer following in his mom’s foosteps; another is a divorced father who needed to be closer to his job and kids. Jersey City’s newer residents had stories to tell recently about why they came to New Jersey’s second largest city.
Not your Mom’s Jersey City
Paul Justin Cox, a writer, was repeating history when he moved to Jersey City from New Brunswick in October, 2009.
Still, his mother, who had lived here from 1968 to 1972, warned him about it.
“When I told her I was moving here, she didn’t want me to do it,” Cox said last week. “She came here when she was 18 years old and she remembered Jersey City as having a lot of shady areas and corruption.”
But he had visited his best friend a few months earlier, and he was sold.
“Once we made the move, we [come to] love it here.” – Frank DeMarco
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“I think the most interesting thing about living here is the historic look and feel of the place,” Cox said. “My girlfriend and I get lots of inspiration from sitting on our stoop.”
Cox added, “What inspires us is seeing the old brownstones around us, and the beauty of Hamilton Park, which I can see from my steps.”
He applies that inspiration to his work as a freelance writer. He has written in the past few years for the web on topics such as travel and arts both locally and abroad.
Getting digital across the river
Frank DeMarco wanted to work from home. He just needed a place to do so.
The native New Yorker, along with his wife Lauren, found the location they needed in 2007 when they relocated their digital media business from Manhattan, Outside the Box Interactive, to 150 Bay St. in the Powerhouse Arts District in 2007.
The Arts District is the site of an old railroad powerhouse, and is slated to become a bustling residential, artistic and commercial district like Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
All DeMarco knew about Jersey City before his move was based on visits to clients and what he read about the “politics.” But he and his wife have since grown fond of their adopted hometown.
“Once we made the move, we [come to] love it here,” DeMarco said. “We love the people that live here in the building, serious hard working artists who are very neighborly.”
DeMarco has found himself involved by taking part in neighborhood cleanups and more significantly, by joining the Board of Trustees of the Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery.
Just being honest
Leah Guy has lived a wandering life since leaving her home state of Kentucky about 20 years ago, while pursuing a career in the media and her passion for a healthy, environmentally-friendly lifestyle.
Guy settled in Jersey City over four years ago after an eight-month stay in Manhattan, which she found too expensive. Here she runs her production company, A Girl Named Guy Productions.
Her impression when first driving through downtown Jersey City was not a pleasant one.
“I remember going into Jersey City to see one of my friends, and I thought it was the ugliest place,” Guy said.
Guy then apologized for “being honest,” and went on to explain that her initial view was from seeing trash on the street and people hanging out in front of buildings.
In the time since, she has settled in different parts of the city with the exception of downtown, although she spends more time there. That’s because of her work as a member of Grace Church Van Vorst on Erie Street. Guy said it was participating in the activities at the church, such as their art and music programs, and making new friends from the church that has tempered her view to some degree about the city – but not quite.
“I think our government here is doing a poor job of using our tax dollars to maintain a city within reason of clean.”
Finding the middle ground
John Thieroff came to Jersey City 4.5 years ago as a convenient location for an inconvenient situation, namely his divorce.
“I was previously married and I have two children who live in Maplewood, and I work in the city,” Thieroff said. “I was looking for the middle ground, so to speak.”
Before he moved here, Thieroff wondered why the city was not “more of a powerhouse” due to its proximity to the city.
But Thieroff, who worked previously in the banking industry, began to learn more about the city when he started volunteering for City Councilman Steven Fulop, helping him research various issues.
Thieroff bought a condo at the Gulls Cove building on Marin Boulevard and has plans to settle here, at least until his children are ready to go to college.
The dream becoming nightmare
Clinton Frazier made the move from North Plainfield to Jersey City over three years ago. A schoolteacher in the New York City school system, Jersey City afforded him the opportunity to buy his first home in the Bergen Lafayette section, on the outskirts of downtown Jersey City.
“It was an up-and-coming city and crime was low, and I thought the area I was moving into would flourish like downtown,” Frazier said. “But that hasn’t happened.”
Frazier said he believes it’s because municipal services such as policing have not been distributed equally throughout the city. He is hoping that things change.
“I am ready to move out,” Frazier said. “I don’t want to be the next [victim].
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.