SURVEY SAYS! GLOUCESTER CITY NJ ONE OF THE HAPPIEST PLACES TO LIVE

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SURVEY SAYS! GLOUCESTER CITY NJ ONE OF THE HAPPIEST PLACES TO LIVE | cnbnews.net

Sunday, November 16, 2014

By William E. Cleary Sr

(CNBNews.net)—Over the past two months the City of Gloucester has received some well deserved publicity. For example, last month NerdWallet.com named Gloucester City one of 20

No Smoking in the Monmouth Street Business District (photo credit CNBNews)

cities on the rise in the state of New Jersey. Gloucester City placed 10 in their analysis. Other communities in the South Jersey area that were mentioned included: Williamstown #3, Hammonton #4, Bridgeton #5, Haddonfield #15 and Millville #18.

During the same month, the City received praise for banning smoking in the Monmouth Street Business District, from the Camden County Department of Health, and the NJ Department of Health’s Office of Tobacco Control. The City also bans smoking in parks, playgrounds, recreation areas and ball fields.

And now we learned that Gloucester City has been chosen as one of the 10 Happiest Cities in the state of New Jersey by a blog site called CreditDonkey.com

Gloucester City came in eight. The other communities in South Jersey that were chosen were: Hammonton #2, Woodbury #6, Millville #9 and Vineland #10.

What criteria did the folks at CreditDonkey use to come up with their top 10?

Reporter Rebecca Lake writes, "We started by collecting U.S. Census data and FBI crime statistics for all of New Jersey's cities with a population of 10,000 or higher. To get our top 10, we assigned each of them a ranking based on how they rated across each of these seven categories":

1. RESTAURANTS—Heading out for dinner or drinks with friends is always a mood booster, and Jersey has some great spots to get together. We considered the number of restaurants per capita in each city so you'll know which ones offer the most variety.

GLOUCESTER CITY -Restaurants per capita: 1 per 424 inhabitants

2.CRIME RATE—If the crime rate in your home city makes you feel uneasy, it can give you a less than positive outlook. We checked out how safe the cities in our study are by looking at the odds of being the victim of a violent crime.

GLOUCESTER CITY—Odds of being the victim of a violent crime: 1 in 396.6

3.COMMUTE—To see where traffic tends to be the lightest, we looked at each city's average commute time.

GLOUCESTER CITY—Average commute time: 22.9 minutes

4. DEPARTURE TIME—An early wake-up call can contribute to a more positive attitude if researchers are to be believed. We considered the percentage of residents in each city who leave for work before 5 a.m. to see where more people prefer to get a head start on the day.

GLOUCESTER CITY—Percentage of residents leaving for work before 5 a.m.: 3.6%

5. INCOME—New Jersey is one of the wealthiest states in the country, but workers make more in some cities compared to others. Our rankings are based in part on the median household income residents earn.

GLOUCESTER CITY—Median household income: $55,241

6. DIVORCE RATE—To find out which New Jersey cities have longer lasting unions, we looked for the lowest percentages of divorced men and women.

GLOUCESTER CITY—Percentage of residents who are divorced: 12% of males, 11.9% of females

7.HOUSING—If you're forking over a lot of money on mortgage or rent payments, the strain on your wallet can take a serious financial and emotional toll. The last thing we considered was the percentage of income residents spend on housing.

GLOUCESTER CITY—Percentage of income spent on housing: 24.7%

Gloucester City sits along the Delaware River, south of Camden and Philadelphia. With about 11,000 residents, it's on the small side but that seems to work in its favor. Violent crime occurs less frequently compared to its larger neighbors and workers will appreciate the generous median income. Housing costs are also substantially lower; you'll spend less than a quarter of your pay on a home or apartment.

About CreditDonkey®

CreditDonkey is a credit card comparison website. We publish data-driven analysis to help you save money & make savvy financial decisions.

In 2007 the Philadelphia magazine named the City of Gloucester as A Community to Watch, One of the Next Hot Neighborhoods.

Timothy Haas, Philly Magazine online editor at the time, was asked by CNBNews what stood out about Gloucester City. Why did Philly Magazine predict Gloucester City's name will go up in lights in the next 10 years ? Why was Gloucester City chosen as A Community to Watch? One of the Next Hot Neighborhoods.

Haas said, "The idea wasn't that each of the 40 communities matched each of the trends; just at least one of them. Gloucester City fits within trend #3 as a town with good bones -- its walk able, it's on the water, it has solid housing stock, and is of course very close to the bridge to Philly. "