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The distance of the walkway from beginning to end is approximately 18.5 miles (29.8 km) as it follows the contour of the shore-line. It traverses established residential and commercial areas, re-developed piers, wetland preservation zones, industrial and transportation infrastructure, and is dotted with public and private marinas. Expansive views of the water and the New York skyline can be seen from most of its length. It will eventually pass through the following municipalities (which have combined population of approximately 550,000).
Today
Today, it is primarily made up of established urban communities that were commercial/industrial in nature throughout the 20th century, though some areas were high-density bedroom communities. The area is currently experiencing intensive economic development, consisting largely of high-density residential buildings, office towers, and retail centers. Some of this development is on brownfields that were once factories, warehouses, docks, and rail yards. Existing housing stock, made up mostly of high-density detached homes, old brownstones/rowhouses and converted industrial spaces, has been revitalized — particularly in areas near to public transportation corridors. Additionally, the area is seeing new residential development, in the form of single-family housing, multi-family apartments, and condominiums. Today, the Gold Coast has some of the most valuable real estate in the state.
If it were to be incorporated into a single city, the Gold Coast would be the twenty-first most populous in the country and would still have the smallest land area of the most populous fifty. Its communities remain fragmented, due in part to New Jersey's long history of home rule local government. Within these communities exist distinct neighborhoods and shopping districts, formed in part due to isolation caused by Hudson River inlets, the cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades and rail lines. North Bergen, which stretches across the Palisades from the Hudson River to the Hackensack at its northern section, is the city with the second most hills per square mile in the United States behind San Francisco.[1].
The Gold Coast is a very ethnically diverse region. Jersey City is the twenty-first most racially diverse city in the United States and the most racially diverse on the East Coast of the United States. [2]. Six other cities on the Gold Coast are on the list of the 100 cities (with a population over 5,000) with the highest percent of foreign-born residents: West New York (65.2%), Union City (58.7%), Palisades Park (57.0%) Guttenberg (48.7%), Fairview (48.4%) and Fort Lee (44.7%).[3]. North Hudson has the second largest Cuban American population in the United States behind Miami. [4]. New Jersey and Florida are the only states with cities with over 5% Cuban American populations. West New York, North Bergen, Union City, North Bergen, Guttenberg and Weehawken have Cuban American populations between 8.75% (Weehawken) and 19.64% (West New York).
| Parks and Point of Interest |
Plaque marking site of Black Tom explosion
Flags at half-staff in Liberty State Park.
Exchange Place/Colgate Clock
The NJ Gold Coast as part of the Gateway Regions has an extensive network of national highways, state freeways, and toll roads; commuter and long distance trains; an expanding light rail system; local and interstate bus routes; and is home to one of the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area's three major airports. Much of the rail and surface transit systems is operated by New Jersey Transit and and the high transit ridershop is mostly oriented to commuters traveling to downtown Newark, lower and midtown Manhattan, and increasingly, the Hudson Waterfront. Outside of the most "city-like" areas of Greater Newark, Elizabeth, Hudson County, and Greater Paterson, the automobile remains the most common means of intra-regional travel. [21]
Rail
- Air Train: monorail system connecting Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) with Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains
- Amtrak: Northeast Corridor stations at Newark Penn Station (NWK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Metropark
- Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) serving Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, and North Hudson at the Weehawken waterfront, Bergenline (Union City/West New York) and Tonnele Ave (North Bergen)
- Newark City Subway/Newark Light Rail: serving downtown Newark, Branch Brook Park, Belleville, and Bloomfield
- New Jersey Transit Hoboken Division: Main Line (to Suffern, and in partnership with MTA/Metro-North, express service to Port Jervis), Bergen County Line, and jointly with MTA/Metro-North, Pascack Valley Line (limited AM inbound and PM outbound service), all via Secaucus Junction; Montclair-Boonton Line and Morris and Essex Lines (with some service via Secaucus Junction as Midtown Direct); North Jersey Coast Line (limited service as Waterfront Connection); Raritan Valley Line (limited service)
- New Jersey Transit Newark Division: Northeast Corridor Line, North Jersey Coast Line, Raritan Valley Line
- PATH: 24-hour subway system serving Newark Penn Station (NWK), Journal Square (JSQ), Downtown Jersey City, Hoboken Terminal (HOB), midtown Manhattan (33rd) (along 6th Ave to Herald Square/Pennsylvania Station), and World Trade Center (WTC)
- THE Tunnel
Air
Commercial scheduled passenger service:
General aviation:
Hubs
Hoboken Terminal
(Interstate) Crossings
- Bayonne Bridge to Staten Island
- Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth to Staten Island, Interstate 278, Staten Island Expressway
- Holland Tunnel in Jersey City to Lower Manhattan, Interstate 78, U.S. Route 1/9
- Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken to Midtown Manhattan, NJ 495, Route 3
- George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee to Upper Manhattan, Palisades Interstate Parkway, U.S. Route 46, Interstate 95, Interstate 80
- Outerbridge Crossing, from Perth Amboy to Staten Island
(Major) Highways
Water
Port Imperial Ferry Terminal,
NY Waterway operates ferry service, from Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, and Edgewater to World Financial Center and Pier 11/ Wall Street in lower Manhattan, and to West 39th in midtown Manhattan, where free transfer is available to a variety of "loop" buses.
Seaports
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates The Auto Marine Terminal in Bayonne and Jersey City and the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, which was the first in the nation to containerize,[22]
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Courtesy of Wikipedia |
