Newark is an instructive geography. The ambitious head to New York or San Francisco out of tradition. For the same reason, they avoid Newark. It’s off the map...
That's not why people avoid Newark. Plenty of people are moving to Jersey City and Hoboken which have the same "bridge&tunnel" stigma.
People avoid Newark due to legitimate fear of being robbed, raped or murdered.
Newark is fine if you live in Ironbound. I lived there in Newark for 6 months and it was the best 6 months I had in 26 years living in/around New York City.
Would live there again in a heartbeat.
Artists have moved to Newark. All of those old warehouses were converted to lofts and sold in < 2 years.
Even Jersey City isn't 15 minutes from Manhattan... Last I checked, almost takes an hour (45-60 minutes depending on congestion) just to get the path to take me to WTC.
It must have gotten worse since I left the US. Even from Journal Square it never took me more than 20 minutes to WTC, though train frequency did slow down late at night.
I live in North Newark, its really not as bad as people say as long as you stay away from the west side of town. Much like most cities east of the Mississippi. Also if you take NJ transit in Newark it is exactly 20 minutes from the train station, the Path on the other hand is more like 35 min to 33rd street or 25 min to WTC.
That's not why people avoid Newark. Plenty of people are moving to Jersey City and Hoboken which have the same "bridge&tunnel" stigma.
People avoid Newark due to legitimate fear of being robbed, raped or murdered.