New Brunswick, NJ

New Brunswick is located on the southern bank of the Raritan River in central New Jersey. Founded in 1730, New Brunswick is roughly 30 miles southwest of New York City. The city's population is approximately 50,000 residents.

New Brunswick is arguably most recognized as the home of Rutgers University. Due to the presence of the university, the average age of residents is significantly below the state average. New Brunswick was also a primary center for avant-garde art from the 1950s to the 1970s, as Rutgers was strongly associated with the Fluxus movement, a painting school that included artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, George Segal and Robert Whitman. Additionally, the presence of the school has helped make New Brunswick a longtime hotbed for underground music, a scene that has seen some local groups reach international acclaim.

Modern-day New Brunswick is largely white or Latino, with both groups comprising roughly one-third of the population. Additionally, approximately one-third of New Brunswick residents are foreign-born, hailing predominantly from Latin American countries. At one time, one-quarter of the Hungarian population in New Jersey resided in the city. Although this population has since been surpassed by those of Italian, Irish, German and Polish heritage, remnants of the Hungarian community continue to flourish, and the city still hosts a yearly Hungarian festival.

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

City Hall promotes the nickname 'The Health Care City' for New Brunswick, due to the impact of medical research institutions on the local economy. St. Peter's University Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital are all located in New Brunswick.

Rutgers University, which contains more than 60 research facilities, is the city's largest employer. Another major source of employment, the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, was founded in New Brunswick and has its world headquarters there.

NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS

New Brunswick accommodates around 13,890 houses, of which 13,050 are occupied. Out of these occupied houses, owners occupy around 3,435 houses. The city is home to many notable neighborhoods, including:

• Downtown New Brunswick is in close proximity to Johnson & Johnson's world headquarters, Rutgers University, the country's largest medical school, two academic hospitals, three professional theaters, and several restaurants, bars, and shops. This district, which had suffered in the 1960s and '70s, has undergone an urban renewal project and today features a Hyatt hotel and conference center, as well as upscale residential housing.
• Prior to the 1970s, the neighborhood near College Avenue was primarily a blue-collar neighborhood for new Hungarian and Irish immigrants. Today, the wood-frame homes in this area are popular among Rutgers University students living off-campus. Because these homes were not built for the constant wear-and-tear of student living, several apartment complexes are being constructed in the student-dominated neighborhood.
• Unity Square is an underserved area consisting of the 37 square blocks between Commercial and Livingston avenues and Sanford and Welton streets. The neighborhood is mostly a Hispanic and black community and is undergoing a revitalization effort. Unity Square has an estimated population of 10,000 people, almost a quarter of which live below the federal poverty level.

EDUCATION

• What is now Rutgers University was established in 1766; the school originally consisted of one instructor and a handful of students, who convened at a local tavern. This makes the school the eighth-oldest in the nation. Classes were later held at boarding houses and pubs until the construction of Old Queens, the university's first academic building, in 1808. Old Queens still stands today and is the oldest structure in New Brunswick. Technically titled Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the school now has an enrollment of more than 30,000.
• The city is also the home of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, which was established 1784 and moved to Brooklyn, New York, before returning in 1810, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
• New Brunswick High School, with an enrollment of nearly 1,500 students, is the city's sole public high school. New Brunswick is also home to one private high school, St. Peter's, as well as more than a dozen middle and elementary schools, both private and public.

GETTING AROUND

New Brunswick is served by two different train stations. New Brunswick station, originally built in 1903, accommodates both N.J. Transit trains and Amtrak service via the Northeast Corridor line to New York City and Philadelphia. The minor Jersey Avenue station, approximately 1.5 miles to the south, is only utilized by N.J. Transit commuters.

The closest highway to New Brunswick is the New Jersey Turnpike, also known as Interstate 95. U.S. Route 1 and a variety of state highways also pass through New Brunswick, comprising many of its major streets.

Both N.J. Transit and Rutgers provide local bus service. Bicycling is also a popular mode of transportation in New Brunswick, perhaps owing to the large student population.

SPORTS TEAMS

Rutgers has been called the 'Birthplace of College Football,' as the school hosted the first ever intercollegiate football game on Nov. 6, 1869. The home team prevailed, 6-4, over a squad from the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in a sport quite dissimilar to the current version of American football.

In recent years, Rutgers' athletic programs, particularly football and women's basketball, have enjoyed a run of success. After a long postseason drought, the football team has made three bowl appearances since 2005. The women's basketball team reached the National Championship game in 2007.

As a member of the Big East collegiate athletic conference, the school has won league titles in four different sports. The 1976 Rutgers men's basketball team finished its regular season 31-0, and advanced to the Final Four, where they lost to eventual champion Indiana.

New Brunswick is not home to any professional sports teams.

LOCAL MEDIA

• The Star-Ledger is New Brunswick's local newspaper.
• WRSU 88.7 FM is a student-run, non-commercial station founded in 1948. It broadcasts from the Rutgers campus.
• WCTC 1450 AM broadcasts syndicated 'oldies' programming, as well as live coverage of local sporting events.