ActiveRainPhotoBloggerContest - Why I Live Down the Shore!

Why do people move down the shore?

If you live anywhere near the coast in New Jersey and you're a New Jersey native you tell people you live 'down the shore'. So why is southern Ocean County at the Jersey Shore so popular? Why has the population increased so dramatically over the last two decades?

The Jersey Shore is less crowded than the Garden State's regions to the north. As a result things are a little slower 'down the shore'.

Much of the growth of the communities down the shore is in retirement communities. There are more than 5 adult communities in Barnegat, one in Waretown, four in Manahawkin and Little Egg Harbor has 5 retirement communities. In fact even the small town of Eagleswood, barely a blip on the map between Little Egg Harbor and Manahawkin (Stafford Township), has a small adult community.

These communities first gained popularity with those that had retired and wanted less home to take care of. That's not the case in 2011 however. New retirement community homes are large, some over 3000 square feet!

Another attraction that draws New Jerseyan's to the south Jersey Shore region is property taxes. As taxes rose, and have continued to rise in north and central Jersey, those on fixed incomes and first time home buyers were priced out of the housing market.

Imagine paying more than $10,000 a year in property taxes! That's almost like another mortgage payment. I won't tell you property taxes are low down the shore, but they're reasonable...about half what you'd pay up north!

While we have access to major transportation routes, plenty of trails and wildlife in the Pinelands, we don't have the shopping options like up north; the Livingston, Willowbrook or Woodbridge Malls.

That's OK, we've got something that is incomparable to our neighbors in central and north Jersey...

After all, that's why it's called 'Down the Shore'