The New Jersey Pathfinder

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Cranky In New Jersey

I am more irreverant in my discussion of all things New Jersey here.;-)

Sofie

Christmas Season Travel To Drop

AAA forecasts a decline in Christmas season travel across the board. 

Travellers can expect lower hotel rates but higher rental car rates depending on location.

An online survey was done which indicates nearly 63.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday season.  This is down 2 percent from last year's 65.3 million figure.  If AAA's forecast is accurate, this will be the first decline in Christmas season travel since 2002.

The decline in automobile travel this season is projected to fall only 1 percent to about 52.4 million from 53 million last year this time.  Gas prices now are lower than they were this time last year, yet I imagine that lower discretionary incomes are contributing to the decline in automobile travel this year.

The largest decline projected by AAA is in airline travel, and such is expected to decline about 9 percent to 8.1 million passengers.  This is down from the 8.9 million passengers travelling by air a year ago. 

AAA's forecast on airline travel this holiday season concurs with an earlier report from the Air Transport Association of America, which forecasts a 9 percent drop in expected passengers by air between December 25, 2008 and January 7, 2009.

The upshot is travellers this holiday season can expect lower hotel rates but higher car rental rates depending on location.

AAA is said to have compiled their data through the Travel Industry Association, as well as a conducted online survey of 7,300 adults nationwide.

Read more at the AAA Newsroom.

We Can't Let This Bank Fail!

Lots of us travellers grumble and complain about our travel woes.  And yet these inconveniences do not compare to the woes that many others this holiday season are suffering from, and for whom the most basic needs, including food to eat, are in great need of being met now and beyond the holidays.  My friend Deborah Smith at JerseyBites.com has let me know that the food banks of New Jersey are in dire need of replenishment, and so I ask for your help here. 

Regardless of which side we take on the bank bailouts, there is one bank in New Jersey we cannot let fail, and that is the Community FoodBank of New Jersey!  The CFBNJ fights hunger and poverty in New Jersey through their distribution of food and grocery products, creation of new programs to meet the needs of low-income people, and enlistment of all sectors of society in the battle to end hunger. 

Typically, when we think of hunger we think of people living in densely populated urban areas who are economically disadvantaged, or perhaps those in rural areas also economically disadvantaged.  Of course, there are such people within our cities and rural areas who go hungry every day.  And yet given the current economic crisis in the Garden State and across the country, those going hungry are no longer just our traditional poor, but now surprisingly include people who normally would be considered well-off but have lost their jobs so that now they, too, are reaching out for help at the food pantries.  At the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent.  Clearly, it's getting tough to meet increasing demand with current food supplies, so much so the FoodBank for the first time in its 25 year history is developing a rationing mechanism.

As the state's key distributor of food to local banks -- serving more than 500,000 people a year and providing assistance to nearly 1,700 non-profits in the state -- the CFBNJ needs a stable food replenishment to keep its warehouse shelves adequately stocked so that through its distribution to reach local food banks, individuals in need have access to food.

Click here to watch a video with more information about the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Having said this, here's where you can help!

1. Make a monetary contribution to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.  Visit www.njfoodbank.org . The food bank does not accept small amounts of food, such as a cart of groceries.  They encourage those donations go directly to a local food pantry or soup kitchen (see item 2 below).  Rather, the food bank accepts large quantity food donations, such as a truck full of groceries, as well as monetary donations which they stretch to purchase food at wholesale prices, such as 300 lb. bags of rice, for example.

2. Donate food to your local food pantry.  Link to the website, http://www.sefan.org/ , that lists local food pantries in New Jersey.  Go to the county link on the left sidebar for lists of food pantries in New Jersey by county.

3. Organize a food drive.  Call 908-355-FOOD for advice and tips.

4. Help "Check Out Hunger." Look for the "Check Out Hunger" coupons at your local supermarket and donate. No donation is too small!

With our help, we will not let the Community FoodBank of New Jersey fail!

Participating Bloggers for “We Can’t Let This Bank Fail” campaign are:

1. JerseyBites.com

2. RedBankGreen.com

3. Jersey Girl Cooks

4. Simply Sable

5. John and Lisa are eating in South Jersey

6. Padma's Kitchen

7. Chefdruck

8. Life Lightly Salted

9. My Italian Grandmother

10. Cook Appeal

11. Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars

12. Mommy Vents

13. This Full House

14. Paper Bridges

15. Motherhood Avenue

16. The Kamienski Chronicles

17. Down the Shore with Jen

18. Fits and Giggles

19. House Hubbies Home Cooking

20. Nourish Ourselves

21. Partybluprints.com

22. Tommyeats.com

23. Off the broiler

24. Mrs. Mo’s New Jersey Baby

25. IamNotaChef.com

26. SimplyBeer.com

27. HistoryGeek.com

28. Savy Source Newark

29. Momlogic New Jersey

30. SurvivingNJ.com/blog

31. SurvivingNJ.blogspot.com

32. JerseyGirlGuide.com

33. Best of Roxy

34. Citizen Mom.net

35. Lynetteradio.com

36. Jersey Beat

37. Pop Vulture Phil

38. JerseySmarts.com

39. LongBeachIslandSummers.com

40. WildwoodSummers.com

41. Mike Halfacres Blog

42. Somerset08873

43. Family, Friends and Food

44. KateSpot.com

45. NewJerseyMomsBlog.com

46. JCRegister.com

47. New Jersey Real Estate Report

48. Riverviewobserver.com

49. More Monmouth Musings

50. Man of Infirmity

51. Another Delco Guy in South Jersey

52. SweetNicks.com

53. Average Noone

54. Cleary’s Notebook

55. Welcome to my Planet

56. The Center of New Jersey Life

57. Sharon’s Food Blog

58. Morristown, Chatham, Summit, and Madison NJ Real Estate

59. Midtown Direct Real Estate News

60. New Jersey Real Estate

61. BlowUpRadio.com

62. LazlosDen.com

63. The Ridgewood Blog

64. Book a Week with Jen

65. Banannie

66. Cartoongoddess.com

67. Matawan Advocate

68. Take Back the Kitchen

69. The Joy of Toast

70. Route 55

71. Montclair Kids.com

72. SaveJersey

73. Stompbox

74. Joe the Blogger

75. Environmental Republican

76. Stacey Snacks

77. Subversive Garden

78. New Jersey Pathfinder

79. Cooking With Friends Blog

80. Triple Venti

81. Read All About It

82. Rich Lee on Media

83. Likelihood of Success

84. Cape Cuisine

85. The Business At Hand

86. NewJerseyTaxRevolution

87. Figmentations

88. MiddletownMike

89. Caviar and Codfish

90. A Day in the Life

91. Mack’s Journey Through Life

92. Alice’s Restaurant

93. Tiger Hawk

94. Politics Patrol, The Bob Ingle Blog

95. The Food Chain

96. Henson’s Hell

97. Cranbury Conservative

98. Baristanet

99. New Jersey: Politics Unusual

100. Jersey Shore Blog

101. Plainfield Today

102. Beacon Bulletin

103. Journal Square Jersey City 07306

Thanks in advance for your support.

Sofie Jamison

Business Travel Is Shrinking So Hello Jersey!

The current recession no doubt has companies rethinking... and therefore... reducing their travel expenditures.

How? 

1. Companies are re-evaluating employee trips.  Does their travel generate revenue?  This puts greater pressure on the employee to make their travel count towards the bottom line.  It also affects others by reducing their business travel when such is seen as non-contributing to the company's bottom line.

2. Contracts with travel suppliers (hotels etc.) are being re-negotiated by companies who are demanding things such as free wi-fi, fitness center access, and shared rooms by same-sex employees.

3. Luxury business travel is being cut out.  No more first-class/business class flying, five-star hotel stays, and expensive restaurants for deal-making with clients. 

4. Transportation costs associated with business travel are also being slashed.  No more Town Cars but taxis being taken, and for the savvy business traveller, public transportation (where available) is a desirable option for sure.  How about waiting for colleagues on a later schedule so you can pool together in a taxi cab?  Yes for sure according to many an employer now... as inconvenient as such may be.

Business Travel = Budget Travel

New Jersey should suspend hotel taxes in the short term to attract travellers and therefore pump up the state economy!  For example, business travellers who might otherwise stay in NYC will think twice if they see they can get a deeper discount for staying in Jersey, especially given the readily available transportation options to get to Manhattan from Jersey at a low cost.

 

Perception Is Crucial To New Jersey's Future

Recently, my travels to New Jersey have found me a bit cranky in it all.  Even a friend of mine implied that my "crankiness" has become the benchmark of cranky!

But rest assured is it not because of New Jersey!  

I've been chatting with some folks on a fav forum, and it's become crystal-clear to me that the "mass exodus" of many New Jerseyans for "greener pastures" (like North Carolina) is making lots of people cranky... very cranky.

They miss New Jersey.

For those leaving, I know your crankiness comes, in part, from having felt trapped and with no choice but to move.  Perhaps you really didn't want to leave behind what's been home for you for as long as you can remember, but what could you do when you could no longer afford to stay?  I mean that in every possible way from losing your job but still having obligations that include paying high mortgages, covering four and five digit taxes on that dinky abode (comparatively speaking), to shouldering rising transportation costs and rising costs of "whatever"! 

I understand your plight. 

Then there are those who will try to stay in Jersey no matter what.  They will struggle to make ends meet because the thought of leaving the place that, to them, is their only home is unacceptable.  They take offense at any objective comment about the drawbacks to living in New Jersey almost as if it were a personal slight said against them. 

I appreciate your sensitivity. 

Naturally, many a New Jerseyan's perception of the Garden State depends heavily on their status... married with children to support or single?  Jobless or working with a reasonably reliable in-coming paycheck?  Common sense, right.  The reality is it takes money to live... and lots of it here in New Jersey compared to other parts of the US.  And unfortunately, I don't see that changing anytime soon.

New Jersey in its present state of bankruptcy is but a microcosm of what has happened to America in the global economy.  Too many governments and corporations and individuals have bitten off more than they can chew... financially that is... because they were able to do so AND because those with the power to choose... chose to do so.  So who do you point the finger at?  Do we blame the federal government for its lack of oversight? Or do we blame the corporations for running their companies into the ground simply for short-term gain rather than long-term good will? What about personal responsibility to make sure you live within your means?

My concern here is what does this global economic downturn mean for travel?  Lots is being said about it, and its potential impact upon New Jersey may surprise us in the end.

Yet selling New Jersey as a destination is tough.  I know.

Nonetheless, it is its diversity found in the immense variety of things to do and proximity to it all that New Jersey has as a chief advantage in these hard economic times. No doubt lower discretionary incomes have families travelling less by flying these days, and now that gas prices have dropped dramatically, car travel to New Jersey I'm sure is on the rise.  Yes... Why drive all the way to New England to get snow when you can just drive up to Sussex County to ski?  Why not take summer vacations down Shore instead of travelling elsewhere?  But how about all that's to be enjoyed "in between" New Jersey's mountains and shoreline?  

I hear a lot mentioned about Princeton and the Pinelands being desirable destinations, and I think they are based upon my travels to these places.  Yet I also find other places I've visited totally without mention in the discussion mix, and these places actually have enabled me to develop a much more positive impression of New Jersey as a great place to visit and live.

The city of New Brunswick is a very interesting destination to me, given it's regional theater and outstanding restaurants and the arts and culture venues at Rutgers, particularly the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum as well as the NJ film festivals to be appreciated there. 

The town of Red Bank to me has that blend of Main Street shopping with some sophistication to it, and a little bit of New Age thrown into that mix from the local artistic community there.  Right now there is said to be some pretty cool Christmas decorating going on there, too, in the 7th Annual Window Walk, and I'd love to be able to see it.  Red Bank has local theater as well, along with its Jazz & Blues Festival held each summer (even if crowded it's a blast!).

One place I hardly ever hear mentioned is the town of Millville, located in Southern New Jersey about an hour's drive from Philadelphia.  The perception of South Jersey is that it's "less sophisticated" than North Jersey (being in close proximity to NYC), and yes there is farmland and agriculture rendering the region less urban to be sure.  Yet I think the Arts District in Millville challenges the notion that absolutely no culture can be found in South Jersey.  Check it out... with the help of Main Street New Jersey (the state's revitalization program to help in the restoration and economic development of traditional business districts in New Jersey towns), Millville has created a fun, interesting, and educational experience of a destination in its Glasstown Arts District.

Towns north and south in Jersey have benefitted from the Main Street initiative, including Boonton and Westfield (winner of the 2004 GAMSA Award) in North Jersey that I think have very nice downtown historic districts making them desirable places to visit and live.

Such restoration and revitalization of the Main Street economy is something that makes New Jersey quite special.  Lots of folks like myself notice this when we come visit the state and take the time to explore its roads less travelled.

And as much as some New Jerseyans bemoan the town of Hoboken as being too yuppified now, I can say there are plenty of out-of-staters who would find it a great place to visit, and then have to drop their perceptions that New Jersey cannot possibly offer anything hip.  "Hobroken" is no longer broken but is a destination worth taking a ride on the PATH to the other side of the Hudson to enjoy.  It is such an easy town to walk, and it's within easy access of public transportation.  And not only is there Hoboken along the Hudson offering a breathtaking view of the Manhattan skyline... there's Weehawken and Edgewater and yes even Jersey City to name a few more cities worth visiting.

New York City is a marvel to behold, as it stimulates the senses in ways urbane and edgy. I like it. Yet for me, the city has never been about comfort.

When I want comfort... I go to Jersey.

There are towns here lesser known, perhaps filled with people of lesser means than certain other New Jersey towns known to be wealthy like Saddle River or Chatham or Summit, but nonetheless lesser known towns that have a charm and sense of community I truly relish when visiting them as if they were my hometown.  Towns like Rutherford and Lyndhurst and Nutley (Martha Stewart are you coming home for Christmas?) are like a dose of comfort food for my soul it seems.  

Anyway...

Sometimes it becomes necessary to leave a place because you simply can no longer afford to live there (especially if you become jobless!), and if it's home, making that decision is tough even if you refuse to admit it is so.  Yet sometimes these places we know as home are the greener pastures that are worth the struggle to stay in and make work somehow.

In the end, only the ignorant or the blind fool thinks New Jersey is unworthy as a place to visit or live.

Sofie