Survey: Upper Twp. 2nd best place in state to live
By MICHAEL MILLER
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, February 29, 2008

New Jersey Monthly Magazine named Upper Township the second-best place to live in New Jersey in this month's issue. The township's low tax rate, ample open space, low crime rate and good schools made it tops in the list of 566 towns.

UPPER TOWNSHIP - The township was named the second-best place to live in New Jersey in a state survey - even as its beachfront hamlet is begging to leave.

This sprawling township in northern Cape May County was second only to Chatham Township in Morris County as the best place to live in the state, according to a survey commissioned and published this month by New Jersey Monthly Magazine.

The list was compiled by Monmouth University's Polling Institute. It ranked the state's 566 towns based on property taxes, crime rates, open space and school test scores, among other measures, institute Director Patrick Murray said.

"We tried to come up with a way to list characteristics that, taken together, would give you an idea about things that are important to people in New Jersey," he said. "What's important is that no one town is perfect."

Upper Township Mayor Richard Palombo basked in the glow of the survey. Members of the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy on which he serves complimented him for his town's ranking at their meeting in Newark.

"I've often said that I love living in Upper Township. By and large, most people are comfortable with the township. It's a great place to raise your family," he said. "I think it's in recognition of the people who live there more than anything."
Palombo noted that his brother and parents, including former North Wildwood Mayor Aldo Palombo, moved to the township.

Not everyone is so full of rosy praise for the township. Its island community, Strathmere, is trying to leave No. 2 for Sea Isle City (No. 462 on the list).

"Their high ranking doesn't surprise me," Strathmere resident Randy Roash said. "We feel it's a fine community with a lot of fine people."

And as for Sea Isle's less-than-stellar showing?

"I'm confident the moment Strathmere joins Sea Isle, their rankings will soar," he quipped.

The Polling Institute's Murray said the rankings have generated some friction, mostly among border towns in northern New Jersey.

"There's a lot more fight in northern New Jersey towns. They're much more densely packed, and their borders are very close together. They're like the Hatfields and McCoys spitting across the border," he said. "With the townships in southern New Jersey along the Cape May-Cumberland area, you don't have that rivalry."

In any ranking, someone must be last. The 566th best place to live in New Jersey was Chesilhurst, in Camden County.

Mayor Michael Blunt saw nothing complimentary about his borough's ranking.

"They are wrong, wrong, wrong," Blunt said. "They must have mixed us up with someone else."

His tiny borough made news recently when Blunt closed and padlocked the volunteer fire company's firehouse because of its deplorable conditions. A former councilman awaits trial on charges of animal cruelty.

Blunt said his Pinelands town has small-town charm.

"Have those people lived here? Have they been here, talked to any residents?" he said. "If people didn't like it here, they'd be leaving in droves."

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

Bottleneck at Shore will be a breeze
By Jacqueline L. Urgo
Posted on Sun, Feb. 10, 2008
Inquirer Staff Writer

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - For some, the trek across the Route 52 Causeway has long been the most annoying part of a journey to the Jersey Shore.
But when a $400 million state plan to improve the causeway area is finished, it will become something entirely different: a spot to enjoy a sunny day.

Fishing piers, boat ramps, bike paths, walking trails, and a new visitors' center complete with a scenic overlook are taking shape in one of the largest projects carried out by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

"Instead of just a causeway that leads in and out of Ocean City, this project will actually make the Route 52 Causeway a destination unto itself," Ocean City Mayor Sal Perillo said. "People will actually look forward to going there."

Under the state's plan, the two fixed bridges and two drawbridges connecting Somers Point to Ninth Street in Ocean City are being replaced by two fixed spans more than five stories above the Intracoastal Waterway.

Shoregoers will welcome the change. Besides the annoying hourly openings during summer, the drawbridges - one at each end of the causeway - were notorious for malfunctioning on the hottest days, when the gears would stick with a bridge open and tie up traffic in both directions.

Built across the Great Egg Harbor Bay in the 1930s over a series of islets, the causeway had four 10-foot-wide lanes and no shoulders, a hazardous design for today's higher speeds and SUVs.

The causeway was designated an evacuation route for the barrier island where Ocean City grew, but was so close to the water that waves would wash over the two lowest bridges whenever a strong storm hit, forcing officials in recent years to close the road for safety.

The planned elevated causeway will ensure the road can be used in an emergency, Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said.

"The Route 52 Causeway, which will provide a critical evacuation route, represents one of the largest bridge projects the NJDOT has ever undertaken," he said. "We look forward to advancing construction as quickly as possible."

The project began in July with construction of the northbound lanes connecting Elbow and Garrets Islands and of a section of road across Rainbow Island.

The four new lanes - two in each direction - will feature 12-foot-wide lanes, 8-foot shoulders on each side, and a concrete median barrier.

A section of the completed northbound lanes has already been woven into use, with traffic in both directions shifted onto them while workers finish the southbound lanes.

Officials said the northbound section of the project should be completed by Memorial Day, with southbound lanes completed by fall 2009.

The rest of the causeway, including the elimination of the drawbridges, is scheduled to be completed between June 2009 and December 2012.

That part of the project will be concurrent with improvements along MacArthur Boulevard in Somers Point, which runs for about a mile between the causeway and Route 9.

At the foot of the causeway on the mainland, the Somers Point Circle has been known to confound even the most experienced drivers. It will be replaced by an intersection with traffic signals.

The Transportation Department has tried to minimize the construction project's impact on drivers, keeping lanes open and not planning any detours during the two phases, officials said.

The centerpiece of the new causeway might be the recreational opportunities it will create along the backbay section of Ocean City.

Pedestrians and bicyclists will find a 10-foot-wide concrete path along the length of the causeway. The path will connect with a 25-mile Atlantic County bike path that meanders through Somers Point, Linwood, and Egg Harbor Township to Mays Landing in Hamilton Township.

At the Ocean City and Somers Point "gateways" to the causeway, landscaping and design will encourage pedestrians to take advantage of improved accessibility to historic districts, restaurants, docks and parks.

In Somers Point, a new parking lot, a green lawn, and a perennial garden next to the historic Somers Mansion will make the foot of the causeway more attractive, officials said.

At the foot in Ocean City, a two-story, 2,800-square-foot visitors' center built to emulate the historic Ocean City Yacht Club will provide restrooms and parking. The building's wide porches and decks will become a scenic overlook for the wetlands locally known as Great Bay.

Also, four fishing piers and boardwalks will be constructed on the bay in Somers Point, on the north and south ends of Rainbow Island, and on Garrets Island. Boat ramps with parking for boat trailers will be constructed in Somers Point and on Rainbow Island.

"I can't wait to see the completion of this project and how it will really open up the back bay of Ocean City for both residents and visitors," said Margo Smith, an environmental advocate and longtime Ocean City resident. "That whole area has always been such an underutilized asset to the town and the region."