What's New

Keep up to Date

Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Read about culturally significant happenings in Gloucester County.

Monday
21Dec2009

No Straight Roads

DateDec 21, 2009 at 7:00 AM

Because New Jersey is aligned on a SW-NE axis, with Philadelphia in the central southwest segment of the state, and New York in the northern northeast segment of the state, there are no straight roads.

All roads seem to angle in like radii around the "hubs" of Philly or NYC. This is true of secondary highways and roads as well.

So, while few people outside of South Jersey would recognize the fact, Berlin-Cross Keys road is actually a major highway in the South Jersey suburbs of metro Philadelphia. 

This article at NJ.com, in the Camden County News section, makes the case that this long-awaited bridge widening marks the latest chapter in the ongoing commercial boom story for business and commerce in this heavily travelled corridor.

 

CommentPost a Comment |
tagged , , in , ,
Friday
13Nov2009

Mayor Resigns in South Harrison

DateNov 13, 2009 at 7:00 AM

The mayor of South Harrison Township, an African American, resigned his post this week. Here's the article.

 

 

CommentPost a Comment |
tagged , , in , ,
Tuesday
10Nov2009

Cooperative Planning at Rutgers Camden

DateNov 10, 2009 at 2:26 PM

In an excellent article, Fredda Sacharow reports on a thoughtful solution to the obvious challenge facing New Jersey developers: how to work together on issues and initiatives of shared concern in a way that preserves the traditional "home rule" focus that so many Jersey residents believe in.

Richard Harris is the director of the Rand Institute and a professor of political science, both at Rutgers–Camden, and has observed that without such cooperation, municipalities working in individually rational ways often create regionally irrational outcomes."

Click to read more ...

CommentPost a Comment |
tagged , , in , , ,
Monday
12Oct2009

Our Revolutionary Past

DateOct 12, 2009 at 10:01 AM

New Jersey is called the Crossroads of the Revolution at least in part because, as I recall, more revolutionary battles were fought here than in any other state.

Here's an excerpt from the book, Crossroads of the American Revolution, that serves to prove the point:

Located between the British base at New York and the rebel capital at Philadelphia, New Jersey was the most war-ravaged of the 13 original states. More than 600 skirmishes and battles were fought on its soil and more than 150 naval actions on its waters.

Then, as now, New Jersey straddled roads connecting north and south. In 1775 and 1776, state regiments marched north. During November and December 1776, the remnants of the main Continental Army fled south across New Jersey, pursued by a British army. Just a month later, they retraced part of their route to defeat German and British detachments in Trenton and Princeton and march on to Morristown. This was the first of three winters that the Continental Army spent in New Jersey.

Its a truism to say that the past affects the present; I've made several observations here along those lines.

The book, and the quote above, is from a blog by Patrick Murray, My Historic NJ, that I found this morning.

Click to read more ...

CommentPost a Comment |
tagged , in , ,
Sunday
11Oct2009

Who, Me? Share?

DateOct 11, 2009 at 9:22 AM

There has been much in the news over the past year about New Jersey's multiplied municipalities, anywhere between 500 and 600, depending on the latest count.

So there have been calls for reducing extra layers of bureaucracy (and paid bureaucrats are included in that).

Click to read more ...

CommentPost a Comment |
tagged in , , ,
Page 1 2 3 4 5 ... 13 Next 5 Entries ยป