What part of NJ is the ‘real’ Jersey?

One of my best friends was born and raised in Union County. He grew up eating Italian hot dogs, going sleigh riding (which was actually sledding) and calling pork roll Taylor Ham.

To me, he might as well have grown up in a different state. He's also from one of the many towns that belong in the "what exit?" category.

When I saw that skit thirty years ago on SNL with Joe Piscopo, I had no idea what they were talking about even though I lived in New Jersey.

I grew up in Burlington County just a few minutes from bridges that lead right into Philadelphia. We were more of a Philly suburb than a tried and true, typical Jersey area.

When we would go on vacation and people would ask where we were from, we'd more often than not say, "Philly". It's not that we were ashamed of New Jersey. It's just that all of the things that meant "Jersey" to people outside of the state had nothing to do with us.

Plus, nobody heard of the town or area we were from, and we were nowhere near an exit of the parkway or even the Turnpike (which doesn't count anyway).

When my friend says I'm not from the "real" Jersey, he's not wrong. He's from the part of Jersey that can answer the "what exit" question and calls New York "the city".

Where I grew up, we never even heard of the Taylor Ham/pork roll debate. Really! We have a Philly-type accent, to us "the city" is Philly, and sleigh riding is something you'd see in a movie.

So, the "real Jersey" is somewhere in that pocket of heavily populated counties and towns along the Parkway and the Turnpike from exit 7a on up north and exit 82 and north.

The rest of us just share a license plate and high property tax bills and not much else. Most of us here in New Jersey live in a bubble of about a 15-to-20-mile radius and anything beyond that is somewhere else!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

You can now listen to Dennis & Judi — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite best friends anytime, anywhere and any day of the week. Download the Dennis & Judi show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom