City by the Bridge

Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to live in Fort Lee. I grew up in a much ritzier town in Bergen County—big houses, bright green lawns, the sounds of sprinklers in the summer and huge bags of leaves in the fall. Elaborate sweet sixteen and mitvah parties, and when it came time for driving, the student parking lot in the high school filled up with shiny new sportscars, while second hand Fords occupied the teacher lots. I couldn't wait to leave.

By the time I was old enough to sneak out of the house and take the bus into the city, I took off every chance I got. The sight of the George Washington Bridge always perked up my spirits--an adventure was a short bus ride away--the vast array of experiences that never make it past the filter of suburban cleanliness. After I left home, the Bridge diner was the spot where I would meet friends, or pick up a ride in and out of town, and the lights of the GWB meant I was home again.

I find myself in a curious circle now, having come back to the place I grew up, and raising my own family here. Fort Lee, by its location between New York and the New Jersey suburbs, is a prime place for people to cross their personal boundaries--immigrants moving out of the city into the suburbs, older people moving out of empty nests into amenity-rich high rises, couples starting out in first apartments.

So this blog is about the city that I've grown to think of as my hometown, and hopefully, to meet neighbors who make Fort Lee one of the best places to live in New Jersey.