Studies show that dollars spent at locally-owned businesses feed the local economy much more than dollars spent at those that aren’t.

Written by Jon Whiten
Illustration by Amanda Assadi-Rullow


Your alarm didn’t register in your brain this morning, and you somehow slept way too late. You’re running late for work, and you’re starving. You didn’t even have time to make coffee at home today, much less feed yourself some breakfast. As you head to the PATH station, you have choices: Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, the local bodega, the local upscale cafe. Maybe you’ll pick one based on its position on your route, or how crowded you expect it to be.
But many advocates say that another factor should play a role in your decision: Is this business locally owned?
Let’s say you spend $5 on breakfast and coffee this hypothetical morning. Using figures from studies done in other cities, if you shop at the locally-owned business, $3.40 of that $5 will stay in the community. But if you shop at the non-locally owned chain business, the figure falls to $2.15. And that’s just on your $5 purchase: once you start thinking about how much money changes hands each day at Jersey City’s retail establishments, the individual choices we make start to mean something.
Exact dollar figures for retail transactions in Jersey City are not available, but state data show that so far in 2009, Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) certified businesses sold an average of $42.8 million of taxable items each month in the city. The UEZs are areas in urban areas where businesses receive extra incentives to encourage growth. While this $42.8 million barely cracks the surface of retail business in the city; it does make clear that we’re talking about a lot of money here.
A groundbreaking 2004 study done in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood showed that “local merchants generate substantially greater economic impact than chain firms.” The study, done by the firm Civic Economics, found that for every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $68 stayed in the local economy, and that for the same amount spent at a non-local business, only $43 remained in the local economy.

Click to read more ...

Written by Kimberly Kaye
Photography by Simon Biswas

On a recent Saturday afternoon, we’re just steps from Journal Square, on Newark Avenue between Kennedy Boulevard and Tonnele Avenue, and the buoyant ethnic enclave of India Square is going full swing. Women in striking saris stroll with children in tow, palming unfamiliar produce with exotic names or stopping inside clothing stores adorned with vibrantly colored fabric. Young bachelors pile into numerous home-style snack houses while long lines of families out for early dinner swirl into the larger restaurants, filling the energetic street with laughs and conversation. One of the most identifiable neighborhoods in Jersey City, India Square has blossomed over the last decade as businesses open to service a quickly growing Indian community. Lucky for fans of exotic flavors and cheap eats, a big portion of the area’s new commerce is restaurants, providing diners of all backgrounds with countless wallet-friendly options for chaats (Indian snacks or between meal pick-me-ups), baked goods, rich curries and vegetarian cuisine. We dropped in on a nearly a dozen of the strip’s more heavily trafficked establishments, pressing staff for their recommendations (and asking a lot of questions) in order to round-up the best spots to suit your craving, from dosa to curry and back again.

Click to read more ...

Looking at a Jersey City Landmark's past, and its future.

Written by Shane Smith
Photography and Images courtesy of Leon Yost

Upon its opening in 1908 the Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse was heralded by the New York Times as “one of the greatest engineering feats that has ever been accomplished.” Enduring decades of neglect after its closure, local kids called it “Frankenstein’s Castle.” And as the structure enters its second century, developers, the city, and the Powerhouse’s neighbors are pinning their hopes on its potential as a motor for the continued revitalization of the neighborhood that bears its name.

Click to read more ...

Jersey City has tons of musicians and a relatively healthy DIY music scene, but no fully-functioning venue for live music. Why?

Written by Joe Pompeo
Photography by Raymond Schwartz, Mark Townsend, TONE

“It was back in the day. Everything seems like it was back in the day,” says Tony Susco, a well-known music promoter and blogger (rockitdocket.blogspot.com) who’s been throwing shows and parties in downtown Jersey City for the past 10 years. We’re sitting in the kitchen of Susco’s second floor Jersey Avenue apartment on a sunny Thursday morning in early August, and Susco, a tall and slim 39-year-old who’s wearing a vintage Superchunk T-shirt and Converse All-Stars that match his bright red Dickies shorts, is trying to remember the first show he went to at Uncle Joe’s, the popular bar and music venue that’s become something of a local legend since it closed down more than three years back. “It really seems so long ago,” he continues. “It really has all just become, ‘Remember when?’”

ABOVE: Uncle Joe’s circa 2004 and Convertible Jennifers at Uncle Joe’s, November 3, 2003
(Photos by Raymond Schwartz)

Click to read more ...

One thing remains clear: the distinct lack of viable music venues in Jersey City isn’t due to a lack of good bands. From acoustic rock to electro-tinged dance to surreal art-rock, the Jersey City scene has it all. While this list is by no means comprehensive, here are a few of NEW’s favorites...

Click to read more ...