Hi, I can address the queer issue but not the race one from personal experience. I'm gay and my partner is trans. I have been to San Diego, and feel more comfortable being queer in NJ. Parts of NJ are less ideal and more Trumpy, but most is not. I am seconding Somerville and New Brunswick as places that are diverse, particularly queer friendly, and have fun things to do for a person in their twenties. I now live in a more rural area nearby, and I love it, but that would not have been my preference in my early twenties.

Seconding lake placid! You can go hiking and also enjoy the outlet mall.

Ridgewood or Tenafly

I should have given a little more info about Jersey City Heights-- it was its own city until the late 1800s, and it is pretty geographically separated from the rest of JC--it's up on a cliff overlooking Hoboken. It's easy to get to journal square or Hoboken. I love Central Ave, which is the local main street. It is extremely walkable with many small businesses and family owned restaurants. We are moving out of a beautiful old townhouse that is divided into two units. I personally prefer the older buildings to the new "luxury" construction. The basement one br unit in our building was rented for 1200/month, so I think you should be able to find a nicer, non-basement 1br within your price range.

Hi, I just moved out of JC yesterday. We are gay and my partner is trans, and we both LOVED living in jersey city heights. It's not a particularly gay neighborhood, but it's very diverse, so I didn't feel like we stood out particularly.

Bought a bankruptcy property with a renovation mortgage, and moved to a more affordable part of the state than the one we were renting in. We don't have kids, so we also made sure not to move to a town that is known for its great schools, since that makes homes more expensive.

I'm gay, live in JC with my spouse, and most of my friends live in Manhattan. I don't think this is a jersey city problem though, it's just that I met most of my friends in grad school in NYC and it's hard to make friends as an adult! Personally, I still find it worth it. I live in the heights, so I can live in a three bedroom apartment with backyard access for the price of a one bedroom on the upper west side, where most of my friends live.

Seconding this. My mom is from Long Island and also sometimes says "yous'uns" but I think it's tongue in cheek.

Pre snowstorm liquor store run is my favorite!

Seconding Somerville! It's farther from NYC, but totally within your acceptable radius. Some of central NJ can be a bit more affordable than Northeastern NJ (the part closest to NYC).

If the local school doesn't want it, I'm sure someone on Facebook market place would pick it up to use for projects or for their wood stove. If I were closer, I would!

My apartment has recessed lights and I do not like the even illumination they provide, so I prefer to use multiple table and floor lamps for a cozier vibe! If you use smart bulbs, you can turn them all on at the same time from your Google home and/or phone and very convenient.

I personally love the heights, but it really depends what you're looking for. I have no interest in the "luxury" buildings which feel like they are in conflict with the character of the neighborhood (mostly two family homes, many of them from the 19th century). It's primarily a diverse, working class (although gentrifying), relatively safe neighborhood with nice parks and wonderful restaurants from many nationalities on Central Ave. The neighborhood feels pretty similar to Astoria. Personally, Central Ave is my favorite part of living here because we have our own walkable downtown with most things that you need and lots of affordable and interesting food options. But if Central Ave didn't appeal to you, then this might not be the right neighborhood for you-- I love supporting the longstanding mom and pop businesses, and I would hope that people moving here would also have an appreciation for the special qualities of the heights.

I'm the other pharma worker that commented previously. I grew up in Tenafly actually, but it would be about an hour to Merck, BMS, J and J etc. I would be looking further south! Tenafly is a beautiful town with fantastic public schools, but it's not in the right part of the state.

I'm glad that was helpful! And yeah, it's hard to go wrong with the public schools in New Jersey!

I haven't lived in the DC area, but I work in pharma and live in north/central NJ. I considered the DC area but at least in my field, there were many more positions in Jersey and I felt like that would give me more mobility to move between companies if necessary. The part of NJ with the most pharma is actually not the part closest to NYC-- I currently live in an NYC commuter area for my spouse, but I drive an hour south to get to work. We are going to be moving closer to work and will be saving a ton on housing. Most of the pharma sites are between Princeton and Morristown-ish. There are many lovely towns in that area that spans the border between north and central NJ, and there are a lot of options in terms of style of town, level of rural-ness, walkability etc. People at my career level (entryish level with PhD) are living in Piscataway, Edison, Somerville, Somerset, Morristown, Highland Park and the bosses are living in Belle Mead, Princeton and similar. I hope this is helpful!

I read this too and was taken on an emotional journey. I was like, wow, my spouse and also live in JC and enjoy gardening and love the heights and were recently looking for a house! And then I saw their 650,000 budget and was like-- not the same. I was really confused by their choice because they initially stated that they did not want a "Bayonne box" but in the end, that's exactly what they ended up with after their renovation. (For the record, my spouse and I love JC but are bailing and moving to Somerset county where we are getting almost an acre and a historic farmhouse for under 500K including renovations, which is still a rarity but was possible).