(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso from this North Jersey article which I recommend taking a look at. The pictures are very nice.)
This 2019 Business Insider article places Passaic, New Jersey with the prestigious title of the fourth most miserable city in America. But I never saw it that way. Personally, that characterization seems overly harsh and unwarranted.
I didn't live in the city, but I spent much of my life’s significant and formative moments in Passaic. It was the center of my educational, cultural, and social life. It’s where I made my first BFF, where I did algebra for the first time, where I learned (and learned to love) Ukrainian dance. Passaic is the place I went every weekday during the school year for ten years, and where I continued returning to weekly during high school for some of my extracurricular activities. Not to mention the family history I share with the city. It’s where my parents were married and where my grandmother once taught and was the principal of my old school before I was even born.
Admittedly, the lens and angle through which I experienced Passaic were strong, and overwhelmingly limited. Most of my interactions with it could be encompassed by two blocks. I experienced the city mainly as a child, without a car, and without much autonomy of movement. The rest of Passaic I saw through the windows of my parents’ or grandparents’ cars. But, it wasn’t miserable to me.
Passaic is a place where many immigrants come to live. For a recent example, the city and surrounding areas have taken in Ukrainian refugees. In this city you can find signs on buildings in Arabic, Spanish, Ukrainian, Polish. The Passaic I saw had a myriad of restaurants and mom-and-pop groceries from different ethnicities - Mexican, Colombian, Dominican, Chinese, a variety of religious institutions of differing denominations and cultures, cultural centers, laundromats, the cheerful crossing guard lady, the occasional hotdog stand. Passaic is home to plenty of small businesses, including the gas stations and restaurants. The sidewalks are always alive in warm weather with people walking about. At night, the city doesn’t slow down. The hall across my school would be rented out for celebrations, and colorful lights and music would spill out into the night air. Architecturally, current life mixes with old brick buildings from the 20s and new construction like apartment buildings and the impressive new school.
(Photo uploaded by Vin Garcia from Google Maps)
Like all cities, it has challenges. There is poverty and there is violence, as the article cites from the youth council. Passaic and the surrounding towns seem to frequently experience house fires, likely due to the density of the citizens and the old construction of the homes. Getting around in a car can be a bit dodgy - the driving is erratic. But I would argue the extent of these things in Passaic do not warrant the title of third runner-up in the US’s most “miserable” city. In general people seem to get along.
I think of Passaic and imagine a living and breathing city filled with many different cultures, businesses, and activity. It isn’t a rich town, or one you will see in a travel brochure, but in many ways it was home. Perhaps I am sentimental and my lens on the city is rose-stained by nostalgia and the naiveté of my childhood. But even now I believe that the 4th most miserable city in the country is far too negative a name for such a place.
My perspective is not that of a resident, and I can’t speak for them, but my experiences of Passaic, though very limited, have revealed a place with a lot of beauty that I intend to properly explore when I return home this summer.