Harvest festival on Main Avenue in Ocean Grove, NJ. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
I know some contemporaries of mine who have moved from New Jersey because the property taxes are lower out of state. Other complaints about Jersey include our taxing pensions and our higher cost of living, including the cost of housing.
In the case of Ocean Grove, Grovarians sometimes say that our property taxes are higher than the rest of Neptune and that the discrepancy is unfair. They say that we are a “cash cow” and that we would have lower taxes if we were separate from Neptune.
But an independent Ocean Grove is not in the cards, and our homes have higher appraised values, in many cases, because we live at the seashore and not inland. As the realtors say, “Location, location, location.”
There is a high level of demand for our houses because this town is unique and has a fine quality of life including walks on the beach, a swim in the Atlantic, the safety of our children, the peaceful/spiritual/ quietude of the town, the Victorian beauty of our homes, the porch culture, the friendly neighbors, the conversations on Main, the quaint shops downtown, a burger at Nagles, an ice-cream at Days, sidewalk entertainment in summer, a bus into New York, a walk to the GA at twilight on a Saturday night for a big-time show, a train station a few blocks away, a flea market on the Pathway, an ice cream social at the Pavilion, summer band concerts on our new boardwalk, a walk to the GA on Sundays to hear amazing preachers, a stroll to another world in Asbury Park via the Casino, etc, etc.
It seems reasonable to believe that one’s lifestyle in a community is part of what we pay for in our property taxes and our rentals. Isn’t that true? Ain’t cha glad?
Oh, we’re not moving. No way!
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
DAVID JOHANSEN from the film The Aviator
