[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 82 (Thursday, June 12, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 MONMOUTH-OCEAN COUNTY, N.J. RANKS NO. 3 MOST LIVABLE IN UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 1997

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to report that a leading 
national business publication has discovered what I have known all my 
life--that the Monmouth-Ocean County area of New Jersey is one of the 
best places to live in the United States.
  I would also like to note that Middlesex County, also in my district, 
is part of a region which moved from 83d to 29th in the national 
ranking.
  I grew up in Long Branch, NJ, a city in historic Monmouth County, 
where right at my doorstep were the Atlantic Ocean, beautiful rivers 
and even a few lakes. New York City, with all of its cultural 
attractions and employment possibilities, was a 1-hour drive away. 
Locally, a light industrial economic base combined with a thriving 
tourist season resulted in the creation of many jobs for area families.
  Monmouth County scored high on the criteria ranked as important by 
the readers of Money magazine which conducted the survey. These 
criteria included a low crime rate, excellent health care, and a clean 
environment. The high scores in these areas don't just happen by 
accident--they are the result of a great deal of hard work by the 
citizens of central Jersey over a period of many years.
  I would like to include for the Record an article which appeared in 
the Asbury Park Press today which describes the Monmouth-Ocean County 
area and why it has earned the designation as the third most livable 
place in the United States.
  The article follows:

              [From the Asbury Park Press, June 12, 1997]

                          Happy? We Shore Are!

                         (By Dennis P. Carmody)

       If you want to live someplace better than Monmouth and 
     Ocean counties, better pack your parka and trudge on up to 
     Nashua, N.H., or Rochester, Minn.
       At least that is what Money magazine concluded in the 
     publication's annual survey of the best places to live.
       In the survey released yesterday, Monmouth and Ocean 
     counties placed higher than ever before, coming in third 
     behind first-place Nashua and second-place Rochester. It came 
     in first among metropolitan areas with a million or more 
     residents.
       ``We're just elated!'' said Pat Padula, tourism 
     representative for Monmouth County. ``I think this will make 
     a great impact.''
       ``It's great news and an independent evaluation of why 
     we're all proud to call this area home,'' said John C. 
     Bartlett Jr., director of the Ocean County Board of 
     Freeholders.
       The region's ranking has proved very volatile in the 11 
     years since the magazine started the list. Just two years ago 
     Monmouth and Ocean counties fell to 167th place; the region's 
     lowest mark ever. Last year it jumped to 38th place.
       ``Magazine come out with lists because lists sell 
     magazines,'' cautioned Jack Preston, president of the 
     Monmouth County Association of Realtors. Still, this ranking 
     will lead some folks to take a second look at the area.
       ``You can be in the countryside here and five minutes later 
     you're at the ocean,'' Preston said. ``Two minutes after that 
     you can be by a river.''
       Sue Tauriello, president of the Ocean County Association of 
     Realtors, said she planned to make copies of the story to 
     hand out to all her agents at her Dover Township office.
       She said the good news would help counter some of the bad 
     national impressions the area has received of late, such as 
     the cancer scare in Dover Township and the murder of Kathleen 
     Stanfield Weinstein, a schoolteacher abducted from a Dover 
     shopping center.
       Each year the magazine asks a cross-section of readers to 
     rank 41 different factors that affect a town's quality of 
     life, such as health care, sunny weather and nearby 
     professional sports, said Richard Eisenberg, executive editor 
     for Money.
       The magazine's editors then weigh the nation's 300 largest 
     metropolitan areas against those preferences to come up with 
     its list. Changes in reader preferences, economic booms and 
     busts and new sources of data sometimes lead to dramatic 
     shifts in rank, Eisenberg said.
       For example, while a low crime rate was considered the most 
     important attribute for the second year in a row, health care 
     issues rose in prominence in this year's survey, Eisenberg 
     said.
       That helped Monmouth and Ocean counties, home to 10 major 
     hospitals, Eisenberg said.
       The counties' low crime rate, about 65 percent below the 
     national average, also helped, according to the magazine. So 
     did the beaches and parks.
       Monmouth and Ocean counties benefited from a new way of 
     ranking the arts. For the first time, the two counties were 
     considered close enough to New York that they could bask in 
     its cultural glory, Eisenberg said.
       The two counties lagged in transportation. About 40 percent 
     of residents here work outside the two counties, and their 
     average commute of 27 minutes was seventh-highest on the 
     list, the magazine reported.
       Monmouth and Ocean counties were not alone in their 
     improvements. The seven other metropolitan regions in New 
     Jersey all rose in the ranks too.
       Central New Jersey, which includes Middlesex, Somerset and 
     Hunterdon counties, saw its placing improve from 83rd to 
     29th, the magazine reported. Bergen and Passaic counties 
     jumped further than any other area of the list rising 158 
     slots from 228th to 70th.
       Mercer County had the second-highest jump, rising 139 slots 
     from 265th to 126th. Northwest New Jersey, comprised of 
     Essex, Morris, Sussex, Union and Warren counties, rose from 
     240th place to 136th.
       Cumberland County rose from 223rd place to 166th while 
     Atlantic and Cape May counties rose from 268th to 199th. 
     Rounding out the state was Hudson County, which improved from 
     290th to 220th.
       Improvement in the state's economy is a factor, said James 
     W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning 
     and Public Policy at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
       ``In the past year the gap between New Jersey and the rest 
     of the country in both the unemployment rate and job growth 
     has really started to close,'' Hughes said.
       In April, New Jersey's unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, 
     just 0.3 percent higher than the national average, according 
     to the state Labor Department.
       Monmouth County's jobless rate was even lower at 4.3 
     percent, while Ocean's tied with the state at 5.2 percent, 
     according to the department.
       The magazine's top 10 places were dominated by New 
     Hampshire and Florida. After Monmouth and Ocean counties, 
     Punta Gorda, Fla., came in fourth, followed by the New 
     Hampshire towns of Portsmouth and Manchester.
       Last year's list-topper, Madison, Wis., came in seventh 
     this year, followed by the highest-ranked large city on the 
     list, San Jose, Calif. Jacksonville and Fort Walton Beach, 
     Fla., rounded out the top 10.
       Davenport, Iowa, took last place in this year's survey 
     because of its high crime rate and poor economy.

     

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