"It's a riot to be in Newark..." a Newark Travel Page by feline01

Many people remember Newark, NJ from the riots in the 60's and Newark's reputation as a drug-ridden, poverty-stricken decrepid city has remained. Newark is far from perfect but it has changed for the better considerably over the years. It's now a destination, not a "Quick, lock your doors and hit the gas pedal!" type of place. With a population of over 250,000, Newark has interesting ethnic neighborhoods, most noteably the Ironbound section for Portuguese influences. It also has loads of cultural showcases like NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center) which opened several years ago and has been a great success. It's no longer necessary to travel to NYC to see a great performance. Newark also has its own Symphony Hall and the Newark Museum which is really great museum that no one seems to visit. The city has 7 parks designed by the designer of Central Park including Branch Brook Park, a 359 acre oasis which has the largest collection of cherry blossoms outside of Japan.

Newark also has the advantage of being the transportation hub for New Jersey with Newark International Airport lying at the end of Route 21 (which is currently under construction and a complete nightmare!) and Penn Station Newark with Amtrak service to many US and Canadian destinations and NJ Transit to anywhere in NJ. I'm not saying that Newark doesn't have crime, it has plenty and it does have plenty of absolutely disgusting neighborhoods that are scary even during the day but it's a city and stuff like that happens in cities.

This photo was taken in downtown Newark in front of the Newark Museum, excuse the darkness-overcast day.

It's always such a great thing to see such beauty in a city renowned for its ugly side.