We're on NJ.com's Ledger Live

The reality of New Jersey accents and dialect boundaries

Some numbers for you . . . .

If you are from an organization that has been contacted for permission to film, you can click here to get an overview of the project.

The results as completed by residents of Morris and Bergen counties are as follows. We interviewed 30 people each in both counties. I did not have time to convert the Excel table to a picture file using Photoshop, but will do so soon.

Percentage of people in Morris County that thought this NJ town was SOUTHERN Jersey:

Somerville . . . . .13%
Trenton . . . . . . .70%
Princeton . . . . . .47%
New Brunswick . .20%
Perth Amboy . . . 17%
Sayreville . . . . . .30%
Red Bank . . . . . . 63%
Belmar . . . . . . . .83%
Point Pleasant . . .90%

Bergen County

Somerville . . . . .10%
Trenton . . . . . . .73%
Princeton . . . . . .47%
New Brunswick . .20%
Perth Amboy . . . 17%
Sayreville . . . . . .30%
Red Bank . . . . . . 50%
Belmar . . . . . . . .87%
Point Pleasant . . .93%

What was surprising to me was that many people ranked Princeton North over Red Bank. Many residents also held the Raritan river theory strongly, which everything south of it, is Southern NJ. This is why Perth Amboy shows a stronger North percentage than Sayreville, even though they're pretty close to each other. However, what I cannot explain and was surpised by, was Princeton's elevation to the North by mostly half. This could be the pride of putting the elite city in one's own quarters, who knows? We'll have to see what the Southern New Jerseyans say.

I was also in Passaic too today, but had trouble finding a centralized population. If you know of some good towns to film in, let me know. I was in Paterson, but as one native to Paterson told me, "This town is a melting pot with a lot of rather new immigrants. They will be very unfamiliar with your question." But I did enjoy the town, especially the Passaic Falls, the second largest falls east of the Mississippi behind Niagra. I have video that I will post soon.

I'm heading down to Ocean and Monmouth today and that will only be the first of many visits and then to the New Egypt Speedway on Wednesday. Then, I'll have full crew by Thursday throughout the very busy weekend for us.

Where is the dividing line between North and South Jersey? This is a question that matters only to those who live in or near the Garden State, but has been asked quite often, as most residents here do have an opinion on the matter.

So, this summer I (with a film student) will be traveling to all 21 NJ counties to ask people to draw their line on the map and also get their thoughts on camera.

True this has been written about before. But there are still many unanswered questions as of now.

Sometimes, the term, “Central Jersey” will come into the mix . . . appropriately so. But for the sake of this documentary, we are more focused on trying to define ONE geographical boundary rather than two. This is hurtful for me, as someone who grew up near Trenton and always referred to the area as, “Central Jersey” as well. But we can't make this too difficult a task, though it will be handled with care. I come to this project with a good background I believe.

I lived my early years in Woodbury (Gloucester), then grew up most of my schooled life in Ewing (Mercer). After college, I lived in Avalon (Cape May), and Margate City & Somers Point (Atlantic). Then, I moved jobs and lived in Maplewood (Essex) and currently reside in Hoboken (Hudson). All in under 30 years.

I have a theory that sports' loyalties clearly divide the state. I will seek to prove it in with interviews and graphs. Geography is important to me. I have degrees in the humanities and taught history and geography for six years. The truth is that borders have always fascinated me. I am as much of a product of the divided loyalties the state represents as anyone: I am a Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles fan, while I bleed red and black for the New Jersey Devils. I probably even hate the Flyers more than the Devils’ traditional rival, the New York Rangers. People ask me how I can do that all the time, but it is all that I have known.

So the project will involve me and my very creative friend, Helen, who is a film student at Temple, shooting this documentary, compiling statistics, blogging and vlogging in all 21 counties of New Jersey of the next couple of months.

We hope to release the full film in the spring of 2008. Love to hear people's comments . . . but I must say, unless you live or grew up in the area . . . you won't care. If you did, this is a very important question.