Traffic in Lakewood Causing People to Lose Parnassah

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Dear Editor,

Overall, the traffic in Lakewood, NJ, and surrounding areas is terrible.

Thinking of moving from New York? Don’t. You’re joining a parking lot. Stay where you are. It’s a mess here.

It’s no laughing matter, but people in Lakewood rely on Waze to get to work for a commute that should take no more than 10 minutes. Instead it takes over a half hour. People cannot make it to work on time and are docked for the missing hours, losing pay.

Congestion also takes an economic toll on the economy and businesses lose productivity of workers sitting in traffic, the increased cost of transporting goods through congested areas, wasted fuel, among other factors.

30 minutes in Route 9 traffic, Central Avenue boasting over 25-minute delays, James/Pine Street backed up even with a cop directing traffic… The list goes on.

Don’t forget Prospect/Williams, County Line, CedarBridge, and the other parking lots.

The new developments at Oak and Vine and elsewhere are adding more cars, while there have been no improvements or roads built to improve the infrastructure.

Playgroup morahs have been forced to close or relocate because parents can no longer drop off because of the traffic.

Residents who complain are told to get used to it. “Lakewood is now a city.” If it’s a city, where is the city planning? What a disgrace.

We, who live in Lakewood, are the fools, paying rising taxes to live in a parking lot. Ha. The joke’s on us.

Let the powers that be look everyone in the face and show what what was done to fix the infrastructure. Instead, everyone else is blamed. Blame the county, blame the state, blame, blame, blame. No responsibility taken.

The joke is on yungeleit, baalei batim, their wives, their children, other good people, hardworking people, innocent people, people with no voice, no recourse, nothing.

Skyrocketing taxes. Ridiculous utility bills. (Is NJ American Water aware of our current currency? Or are they drunk?) Poor quality of life. More accidents every day.

Nothing more to say.

Sincerely,

CL 

Lakewood


42 COMMENTS

  1. A lot of LAKEWOODERS are moving to Cleveland. Low cost of living. Low housing costs. School vouchers. Great schools. Many shuls and kollels to choose from, Telshe Yeshiva..

  2. Having lived in New York for close to 45 years, before moving to the Lakewood area, I can tell you, as can many, many more that you still cannot compare the quality of life of Lakewood to Brooklyn. In Lakewood many, if not most, of the stores have parking lots with ample spaces to serve their customers. Those which do not, have (non-metered) I parking on the street. There is little, to no, double parking, nor are there many traffic cops. Most homes have private driveways and developments often provide two, or more, parking spots for each home. Utilities, gas, and homeowners insurance are all less expensive in New Jersey than in New York. Even with all the traffic, the noise pollution is non-existent compared to Brooklyn. People are calmer since life is, likewise, far less pressured. And finally, if we have become aware that what “should be a ten minute trip” (read used to be a ten minute trip, or we wish it were a ten minute trip) is a thirty minute one, it is NOT the traffic or lack of infrastructure which is making us late to work. It is us leaving late for work. Wishing it would be a ten minute trip does not decrease traffic any more than a police officer directing traffic does.

    • Why did you abandon your Rav and Kehilla in Brooklyn? Just for a little bit bigger backyard? A parking spot when you go shopping? Where is your achrayus?

      • historically people lived in Williamsburg then they moved to crown heights and then moved to flatbush and boro park. now its seems flatbush and boro park are now moving to monsey and lakewood. why ignore history and pretend people always lived in flatbush and boro park? and then pontificate about peoples obligations to stay in one place?

  3. The property tax issue in Lakewood defies logic. For every single new housing unit built, thousands of new dollars pour into the township treasury. Multiplying that by the number of units in each new development amounts to millions. Since most of the property tax dollars is supposed to pay for public schools, and due to the fact that none of the new housing residents send their children to those public schools, where is the money going, and why does the tax rate continue to climb? With millions of new dollars added to the town yearly, why is there no investment into the infrastructure, especially the roads, which cannot support such rapid growth?
    With that in mind, does one have to be an antisemite, to fight the possibility of the same happening in his own town nearby, such as in Jackson, or Howell? People live in those areas precisely to avoid the congestion and noise associated with large cities, enjoying their suburban and semi-rural peaceful lifestyle. Many Lakewood Yidden have moved to Jackson, for that very reason, and they, not only the goyim around them, don’t wish to import such unbridled and unsustainable growth to their new hometown.

  4. So TRUE!!!

    Taxes are so high, American water ripping everyone off and the politicians do what politicians do best, blame everyone around them…
    SICK!

  5. The MOSHIACH will be coming to Lakewood on an old “Donkey”,
    as that would be the fastest way of getting around Lakewood.

  6. Having lived in Lakewood and now in monsey let’s just say the cost of living..housing, groceries, tuition,clothing dont compare to…smile and accept the difficulties and your attitude will change. Noone is forcing you to stay. By the way I dont see how the picture connects but I miss the flea market , tx for the pic! Of course , i do feel bad that the traffic and the local driving both stink. I just dont think it is changing any time soon…its a fact of life now

  7. To the young people out there, If you have not purchased a house yet, my opinion is do NOT buy in Lakewood, Monsey, NYC, LI… Look at more affordable in quality of life places like Cleveland, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Rochester NY, South Fallsburg NY, Woodridge NY, Mountaindale NY (Chassidim and Litvaks are starting to take up residence year round in the Catskills!!) to name a few. Of course there are many other great communities outside the tri-state area.

    Bottom line think outside the box and become part of a community. Moving to the very large communities you are just a number if you are not the macher type. Moving “out of town” YOU can make a difference in your community!!

    • While some of the communities are wonderful (I grew up “out of town” myself”), your reason for moving there isn’t great.

      Not everyone wants to be a macher and be noticed. Some just want to live a life of a Ben or Bas Torah. You can make just as much of a contribution in Lakewood as any of the communities you mentioned, albeit maybe not with the same recognition – if that is the reason you are doing it… It’s the wrong reason.

  8. Nobody mentioned those therapists whose job entails going from house to house. Now they have to take on fewer jobs per day because the travelling takes longer and the agencies are not paying more per case.

  9. As someone living in Lakewood for over 15 years, i have seen the amazing growth of the community. While I also do not love sitting in traffic, I still love the beautiful town we live in which is full of thousands of Bnei Torah and dozens (if not hundreds) of mosdos hatorah, shuls, organizations etc. While out of town communities have ma’alos such as less traffic, you can’t compare the conveniences as well as the overall atmosphere. If traffic is the most important part of your life, then go move to the many other cities out there. Or maybe move to a farm somewhere, but if you want a beautiful city to raise your kids in, then just adjust your schedule a little and realize that things might take a little longer than it did ten years ago.

  10. Any city you live in is going to have its pro’s and cons. It’s just a matter of deciding which ones you are willing to live with. The traffic isn’t dissappearing anymore than it will in Brooklyn or Monsey. It’s a fact of living “in town” and Lakewood is no longer the “out of town” it was in the 1980’s. If you want to live ‘in town” you’re going to have to put up with traffic, congestion, noise and all the other pains that come with living “in town”. It may be more out of town than NY but just visit any “out of town” city and you’ll notice a remarkable difference immediately. Some prefer the laid back, simpler “out of town” life and some prefer the more exciting “in town” life. So decide what you want and live with it. Both come with their pros and cons.

  11. SO TRUE
    IS A HUGE PROBLEM AS THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN LAKEWOOD IS BASICALLY ON PAR WITH SOME 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES, WATER COLOR IN A HOUSE TO BE BROWN EVERY SECOND DAY, APPROVING DEVELOPMENTS MORE AND MORE WITH 0 REGARD TO ANY INFRASTRUCTURE IS MIND BOGGLING.
    SOUTH PART OF LAKEWOOD SHOULD CEDE FROM LAKEWOOD AND CREATE ITS OWN TOWNSHIP.

  12. My split in Wickliffe (Telshe) is worth about 250,000. In Monsey/Lkw my house would be worth 2.5 mil. My prop tax is about 4,500/yr

  13. I have a solution. Take 10 people and move to Chayenne Wyoming. You will have a minyan. You can travel to Denver once a month to buy kosher food. You will have a beautiful peaceful life there. No traffic, low taxes, fresh air and beautiful nature. If you don’t like the idea then just keep quiet because that’s what comes with living with many Jews in a concentrated area.

  14. I just came back from Yerushalayim. Traffic is much worse there and rents are much higher with smaller apartments and smaller rooms. Getting anywhere by car in the city is hard and going by bus isn’t better.

  15. They should make bussing to Playgrp with Playgrp in school instead off each individual parent traveling across town to Playgrp. To solve part of the traffic

  16. Lakewood is and will remain a Makom Torah. Let me quote the words of Reb Yosi Ben Kisma that a person should be willing to forgo all the money in the world to live in a makom Torah. Leave the driving and the traffic to others. Stay in the Bais Hamedrosh and enjoy raising a family in a torah-dig atmosphere

  17. what’s the point of complaining? do you have any real suggestion? as long as more and more people move here, as long as our older teens need cars to get to work, as long as some families need more than one car, driving in lakewood will be a problem. the streets and roads were not built for this population. where do you expect the cars to go? . i personally have two suggestions: a really good public bus system or try to be more polite to others on the road. that alone can reduce the frustration. it is what it is, so stop complaining or take your own cars and move out

  18. A very simple solution would be Staten Island. It is suburban living in NY! You live in community, you can send to the local school or bus your kid to Brooklyn (He will spend just as much time on the bus if you lived IN Brooklyn!), property taxes are reasonable, benefits for Staten Island residents on the VNB, tuition breaks for young families moving in and sending to school locally….many more benefits to talk about. Want to find out more? Call 718-938-5412

  19. kkudoss (what deos that mean can anyone explain?),
    aparently you dont live in lakewood becouse more scathing publications have been printed in lakewood. however, once when the matzav published an article about how good the bussing here in lakewood is, and the LSTA is on the ball, i couldnt help but comment that my son in yeshiva waited almost 3 weeks for bussing, and is on the bus 50 min. each way; my comment wasn’t published, and to you moderator, if you dont print this comment, you are doing a tremendous chutzpah to all the readers here.
    although i disagree that you shouldn’t move to lakewood just because of that.
    to anonymouse, aparently you dont either live in lakewood becouse if you would, you know theres noone to vote for.

  20. I’m losing more and more customers each year because we’re located in central lakewood and people can’t deal with the route 9 traffic.
    ( would not be practical to move)

  21. Before Lakewood people have a right to complain, they should consider that they are doing this to the people in Yerushalayim as well. By Lakewood Yeshiva supporting the group of Extremists that block traffic in Yerushalayim, they are causing thousands and thousands of people to lose parnossoh as well.

  22. Traffic increases with the population.
    An old friend tells me about how easy it was to drive across Manhattan when he grew up there in the 50s.
    There is no way to fix this completely, although it can be somewhat alleviated with public transportation.
    That said, traffic in Lakewood is nowhere near as bad, overall, as Brooklyn.
    As far as taxes are concerned, that will be fixed when honest people get elected to office. Vedal…

    • Stop being motzie laaz. The traffic in the heimishe areas of Brooklyn is NOT as bad as you Lakewooders make it out to be. Certain times in BP it gets a little slow but lemaaseh it moves. Same thing with Ave M & J in Flatbush. I worked in Williamsburg for many years and Lee Avenue on a Friday afternoon can be backed up a bit, but lemaaseh it moves. Because of the fact that Brooklyn is build in a grid, if one block is congested, you can take the next block (or 3- 4 blocks away and turn back in) and get to where you have to go. In Lakewood and Monsey, that’s impossible in most places. We B”H have public transportation to almost any where in the City that we have to get to. So stop bashing Brooklyn.

  23. The Midwest has many opportunities for frum young families. But living there for almost 50 years, I have seen changes both positive and negative for our communities. The growth brought new schools, better chance for stores to carry acceptable kosher products, and other necessary items like small clothing stores needed because the local name stores don’t carry appropriate garments, shaitel machers, etc and the prospect of future infrastructure congestion . Be glad u don’t HAVE to send your children out of town for proper education.

  24. hey

    U ntil enough people are willing to join together finally enough with the talk and actively even if the short-term inconvenience themselves refuse all the quote on quote conveniences Developers pretend to offer , join together with other developments and not wait until the axe Falls

    on their Street nothing will change

    unless..

    Many people foresaw this and indeed didn’t take too much to turn out exactly as predicted
    developers took advantage of all the decent upstanding individuals who turned Lakewood into being such a desirable place.They themselves were not looking to to ruin the situation ruin for their fellow coreligionists

    Be that as it may be the decent people are still guileless enough give fealty to those who Developers Marry with face it the reason Developers are that way cuz it’s literally stepping on bodies to get ahead

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