2011 Update: What Hoboken needs!

With thousands upon thousands of new Hoboken411 users since this post was published back in 2009 – I figured it’s a good time to bump this up again. Is Hoboken any closer to getting any more “desired” businesses? Anything new you might have thought of?

I’ve also annotated the original list below – and added new ones to the bottom!

What is Hoboken lacking? Where?

You ever walk around Hoboken – and think “Man, I wish we had one of these ________ around here…?”

So what do you think our city need more (or less) of? I’m thinking primarily from the business standpoint – but feel free to add your own.

The following random list is comprised of my ideas, suggestions from residents I’ve spoken with on the street – and reader emails over the past few weeks. (Please keep political nonsense out of this…)

Boy, Hoboken sure could use:

hoboken-open-24-hours

  • A midtown diner again! With the two diners on opposite ends of town, leaves midtown sorely lacking.

    • - Nothing yet. Stacks doesn’t count.

  • An uptown ice cream shop! Why are they all downtown?

    • - YES! Applegate Farm coming soon!

  • Enough easily accessible parking to accommodate even the most busy days – even with a few spots to spare. Is urban planning that difficult? Don’t they have college courses that teach sound reasoning?

    • - FAIL. The city will try and coax you out of your car instead.

  • More 24 hour convenience stores – especially uptown. With the exception of a handful of small shops – There’s a barren wasteland north of 8th street to buy simple things like soda, snacks or smokes.
    - Sort of. The “Prime Stop” convenience store opened on Willow… but it’s mediocre.

  • Speaking of 8th Street – Hoboken needs another 24 hour bagel shop – that doesn’t serve sub-standard products and excessive prices (with a side order of snotty attitude.)
    - Nada. Same old bagel places.

  • What about late-night activities that don’t involve alcohol? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a destination that wasn’t primarily focused on booze? I mean we can all enjoy our beers responsibly – perhaps a bowling alley, better performance spaces, even late-night sporting complexes (like Chelsea Piers, etc.) – does Hoboken have to be known mostly as a place to have drinks?
    - Not that I’ve seen.

  • More artist-friendly events. Doesn’t have to be an no-holds-barred “slam bam thank you ma’am” citywide street festival twice a year – but what about smaller “pocket” exhibitions for folks to sell their wares? Perhaps along the waterfront? Maybe near the soccer field? Doesn’t have to be complicated, right?
    - Negative.

  • I’m sure you’ve heard others like: “Taco Bell,” or “a Korean restaurant,” and “Banana Republic” and so on.
    - Well, we did get Korean Chicken and a ton of falafel places.

  • NEW FOR 2011: A better supermarket A Trader Joe’s would be excellent at that old Blockbuster video place – but it might be too small.

Maybe the economy isn’t good enough for more 24 hour places, who knows – with the exorbitant retail rent, I can imagine it being difficult to make money. But how hard is it to make Hoboken a bit more like NYC? Is “development” the only way these businesses could sustain themselves?

What do you think is obviously missing from Hoboken?

Hoboken NJ

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