I have lived in Piscataway, New Jersey for most of my life. My family moved there when I was 5, purchasing our first house after living with my grandparents and in a condo previously. I never really considered how my perspective on the town would be unique from others until I began living in Ithaca and learned just how different the two towns are, as well as how others viewed my hometown and New Jersey as a whole.
The Piscataway I knew was much different than the Piscataway many of my friends while growing up knew. I had a very privileged upbringing compared to most of my friends, living in a house while they lived in apartments and getting to buy almost anything I wanted while they had to save up, and I never realized why they always wanted to hang out at my house instead of theirs until I was older. Piscataway was always small to me, as I didn’t get out of the house much outside of going to school and playing some sports as a kid, but once I became more comfortable going out on my own and with friends, I realized just how large my hometown was. Piscataway is home to Rutgers University and several beautiful parks and historical landmarks, very similar to Ithaca. The town is particularly beautiful during autumn. Seeing the leaves gradually transform from green to red and brown during the school year was one of my fondest experiences from my childhood. The most famous park is by far Johnson Park. While growing up, it had the biggest playground and a zoo, making it an attraction that the whole family could enjoy.
The history of Piscataway is really intriguing, with the township first being formed in 1666 by pioneers from Piscataqua, New Hampshire. Piscataway is the fifth oldest town in New Jersey and was originally a fishing and agricultural town, thanks to the Raritan river passing through. Piscataway was originally far larger than it is now, including all of Middlesex and most of Somerset County, as well. The first settlers were mostly Baptists and Quakers, looking for a new place to settle so they could escape persecution in the north. The township’s foundation allowed new families to own and manage their own land and establish their own government representatives and religious freedoms, incorporating a democracy immediately. From the beginning, a sense of community was present in the town, being founded by families hoping to start a new life free from torment. The government, being a democracy, was entirely dependent on the opinions of the inhabitants, allowing them to support and consider the thoughts of each other. Unfortunately, the community was not yet as broad as it would become, however. The local Lenape Native Americans, who had originally settled the entire area, were forced to move as European settlers increased their numbers and spread out across the land. As time progressed, however, the town would become far more diverse and inclusive, with the inhabitants learning from the mistakes of their ancestors.
Today, Piscataway is an incredibly diverse town, home to many different cultures and families who almost all get along. I remember seeing the statistics for my high school once, and most of the students by far were minorities. When I was a kid, the community was exceptionally strong, with many parents becoming friends over their kids going to school or playing sports together, and many families making efforts to improve the town. I really never noticed these things when I was younger, always just taking how friendly everyone was to each other for granted. However, after the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic that we’re still suffering from the aftermath of, I developed a much deeper appreciation for that kindness.
My hometown always felt largely inclusive growing up. Almost every kid in the town knew each other, to the point where you didn’t even have to say someone’s last name for someone to know who they were unless they shared a first name with someone else. Even if you weren’t friends with someone, you could talk to just about anyone and usually get along. In a post-COVID world and especially as an adult, this feels like something that’s much more difficult to come by or develop. You need social skills and you need to be much more careful. You need to be extremely careful with what you say, and people are generally more on-guard and standoffish. I hear my parents talk about how they could just go outside and play with their friends all the time and tell their parents they’d be back by dinner, but now we are much more careful and concerned with safety thanks to phones and a growing concern with crime. The world feels much more dangerous, and the same sense of community is no longer there. When I was a kid, I thought everyone was my friend. In high school, I thought I only had a small group of friends. Now, finding people who I can truly call friends who I know I can rely upon is harder than ever. My parents don’t talk to the parents of my siblings’ friends the same way they talked to the parents of my friends, now preferring to talk to the friends and family they already know rather than expanding their circles. Unfortunately, I see this in everyone in my hometown now, and it makes my home feel less like home. I hope that day by day, Piscataway’s families can recover and form strong bonds again, as the community is truly what differentiates my hometown from any other town I’ve visited or lived in.
While looking for photos of my old street I grew up on, I found my old house on Zillow and my old game room and thought it would be pretty funny to show. This is where I spent most of my childhood when I wasn’t at school and is the reason I didn’t experience much of Piscataway until I was older. So if you want my true lens that I saw Piscataway through, this is it right here.
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