By Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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It has been 50 years since a five-day civil disturbance in Newark reverberated throughout the state.

In the days and years following the Newark riots, the city earned a rough reputation that politicians and historians said have hurt its efforts to recuperate.

To see if the stain of the riots has lasted, and to find out exactly what people around New Jersey think of the state's largest city, NJ Advance Media hit the road. We traveled to all of the Garden State's 21 counties, asking people for their perceptions of Newark.

We spoke to more than 100 people outside of Newark, and found a wide array of opinions on the Brick City.

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In Cape May County, most people we spoke to didn't know much about Newark.

"I really don't hear anything about it," Steven Brodsky, who was working at a shop in Ocean City, told us. "I really don't have much of a perception on it."

But, Brodsky said, he didn't think Camden had a good reputation, and thought Camden and Newark were similar.

But Ione Talese, a lifelong South Jersey girl who lives in Ocean City and owns Artisan Body Products in the town, said she is always interested to read positive news stories she sees about Newark.

"I might be South Jersey, and...there's kind of that magical divide between the two. But, it's still our state...we all need to know what's going on in our state."

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Jennifer Rehmann of Millville: "When my kid said that she wanted to go to a concert in Newark, (my husband) was like, 'No. Definitely not Newark.' I don't know if it was something he had seen on the news or on the internet, or just something that over time people have come up with."

Michael Resnick of Vineland: "There are a lot of insurance companies there. There was small manufacturing, I think. Some jewelry and small metalwork a long time ago...It's an older city. A lot of older buildings that may need maintenance. Taking the train there you see a lot if it."

Sade of Vineland: "When you think of Newark, you think of a bad area. You get robbed, you lock your doors...I never actually experienced that, thank God. But, you can just kind of see it."

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In Salem, most people we talked to told us they did not know anything about Newark. We had the following conversation with an unidentified woman from Monroeville who moved to New Jersey from Philadelphia in 1970.

Have you ever been to Newark?

No, and I don't intend to ever go there.

Why?

It's dangerous.

How do you know?

From the news. Newark is dangerous. Camden is dangerous. They're all dangerous...There's a lot of crime there. There's just crime.

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Joe Paron of Egg Harbor Township: "It's too far away. I don't know anything about Newark. I don't think anybody around here does."

Brielle Rainone of Somer's Point: "It doesn't have the best rep, for whatever reason. I'm not really sure why, but there's just crime, and I would imagine that's why there's a stigma there."

Elwood Bell of Absecon: "Everyone's perception of Newark is different. Some of it is good. Some of it is high crime areas. That's New Jersey, period. It is what it is."

Anonymous 81-year-old of Egg Harbor Township: "Crime. That's it. A lot of crime."

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Tim Erwin, who lives in Clayton, said he really doesn't pay attention to Newark's reputation.

"I like going places, and seeing them, and judging for myself. I've been all over. Big cities are fine. It's just very different from down here...I don't think (Newark's) that bad. I don't know why people are afraid of places...You don't have to be scared of it. It's just a place."

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Debbie Hearn, of Audubon, who has never been to the Brick City: "I can't say a lot of things about it except the bad things I've heard in the news."

Joe Klepka, of Gloucester City: "I wouldn't want to live in Newark or Camden because I don't want to live around crime at my age. I just want to be at peace."

Haddonfield Commissioner Neal Rochford: "I see that it's a major airport hub, obviously. I understand that there are some very nice neighborhoods that have developed back up in Newark...I think they've been struggling with their school system, the same way that Camden has been in terms of leadership and state takeovers vs. local control, and getting the kinds of results we want for our kids."

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Paul Hoffer of Moorsetown: "I haven't been to Newark. They've been getting some good press in the last six months, though...It's in transition, it's improving...It's a city that they're trying to get more people to come to. They're trying to get more business and industry in Newark."

George Alers, 57, of Burlington, a lifelong South Jersey resident: "I do remember the riots, but I can't remember every detail. I just remember seeing them on the news and hearing people talking about them. But, I don't think my perception's based on that. I think it's based on what I read and see now."

Frank Hansen of Moorsetown: "I would say Newark, and Camden, are struggling urban areas. The industry kind of moved out and never came back, like in a lot of other cities."

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Lisa Falcone of Bay Head: "I have gone there over the years. I love the Portuguese section, the Ironbound section. And NJPAC, I enjoyed that...There's the good, and the bad. To me, there are all sides of Newark. I hear that it's really coming back in a major way."

Anonymous woman from Brick: "Newark's not a good area...It's dangerous, and dirty. There's just a lot of crime that goes on around there...It's just a lost cause. I don't think it'll be built up."

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A Washington couple told us "they're cleaning it up. It's a lot safer than people's perceptions."

Click the sound clip above to hear from White Township resident Aaron Hyndman, who said he grew up thinking Newark was "scary," but, after spending time there recently, finds it "passionate."

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Nick, from Clinton: "Here's the best answer I could probably give you. I don't hear much about Newark from anybody. At all. I don't read much about it. I don't hear much from people about it. So, I guess my attitude about it is not very positive because it's a 20-year-old attitude. Newark could use some good PR. I don't mean formal PR, but, word of mouth."

Will and Kristelle, brother and sister, from Flemington.

Will: "It needs a little work. It's not as clean as some of the other places in New Jersey.

Kristelle: "I think people think it's a little sketchy, and not that safe."

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Monmouth, 45 miles from Newark

Sky House, of Millstone: "I think overall, it's very industrial...not really for tourism and leisure, just to pass through. It doesn't necessarily have a good reputation."

Brian Donkowski, grew up in Middletown: "I think you just have to be careful where you go in Newark. I think there are some really nice parts of Newark...but you just have to be careful where you go...Growing up in New Jersey, it was just a place you didn't want to go...maybe, from the riots from the late 60s carried over. My parents remembered the riots from the 60s, so I think maybe some of that is carried over."

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Kevin Donohue of Newton, born in Newark: "It's being rebuilt. It's seen some hard times, but now it's being rebuilt...I think they're moving in the right direction, but they're still a little bit lost. It's a mixed bag."

Ann Harriett of Newton: "Some think it's a rough place, but I think it's a cultural place...It's labeled. It's statewide. People have to learn how to get along with each other...Paterson, too. Paterson's gotten a bad rep, and it's not fair."

Yolanda of Newton: "Dirty, a lot of drugs, a lot of violence. That's all I would know about it."

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Mercer County, 42 miles from Newark

"I don't think about what happened 50 years ago," one woman, Pat, from Hightstown, told NJ Advance Media. "That shouldn't affect what's going on today." Though she said she does not go to Newark for much other than to go to the airport, she said "it's getting cleaned up a bit. They're doing new construction, new businesses."

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Nick Willard, of Pompton Lakes, born and raised in Newark: "Newark has many problems, but it also has many magnificent things -- the Basilica cathedral, the Newark Public Library. I like to think on the positive side...For many years, there was no action taken to improve the city, or no effective action. I think nowadays, there are some modestly-scaled projects that are effective. So, I think it's turning around."

Chris, of Wayne: "It's very depressed. It's not a safe city to be in...A guy I used to work with, his wife was murdered in Newark...She caught a stray bullet...Parts of Jersey City turned around. Asbury Park turned around. The jury's still out on whether or not Newark can pull that off. But, it's a much larger city, so it might take more time."

Jenny Miller, working in Pompton Lakes: "It's not a pleasant place to live, I hear that. I wouldn't live there. Too many shootings, too many gangs. I would never live there. I wouldn't live in Paterson either, or East Orange. To me, they are all the same."

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Dora Nino of Bridgewater: "Crime and insecurity are everywhere. In every city that you go to. So, I don't really like when people have those kinds of (bad) perceptions of one city. ... It's a struggle of stereotypes."

Sydney McCaulay of North Plainfield: "I feel like most people are just going off of what they knew many years ago. I know recently, it's improving. Crime rates are definitely down a lot more than they used to be."

Kwame McCain of Bridgewater: "I feel like there's always a reason to check a new place out, especially a city. A city's always going to have more than one side of it. ... Most people don't really know their history all that well, just the lasting effects from it. Newark gained a reputation from (the riots), and word of mouth...just filtered down throughout the years."

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Middlesex County, 30 miles from Newark

Raheemah Dillard of New Brunswick: "I moved out of Newark in 1985. It was getting bad...I ain't been back there, not even to shop. I heard it got better, though. I heard they were rebuilding and doing stuff downtown."

Tavita Dookoo, of New Brunswick: "I would say its reputation is challenging. I wouldn't want to be in a place like that all my life...I have heard about the riots, but I think people have moved on from it."

Haddie, of Metuchen: "I think the food scene in the Ironbound, people will venture out there...But then, you don't know what's hood and what's not hood...I'm sure there are good places to go in Newark, but I don't venture out there at night."

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Kimberly Brown from Morristown: "Just like any city, I think that there are good parts and bad parts. ... It doesn't have such a great reputation. ... It's up to the politicians and the people who are in power and who have the money...to work on that city and make it better."

Anthony Sansone from Morristown: "I know it's going under a lot of revitalization and there's actually a really nice restaurant area with some high-end restaurants."

Robin Brown from Mendham: "I wasn't aware of the riots. ... I feel like it seems Newark's come a long way today from 50 years ago. I wouldn't be afraid of a riot happening right now."

Susan from Montville: "Depending on what street you go down, you just really have to know your way around and where you're going. But, there are parts that are very nice, and there are parts that are very questionable."

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Linda Morgan, former Mahwah and Midland Park resident: "I haven't been outside of the train station much...The reputation has always been that it's not very safe. And, when I was there once, there were a lot of...panhandlers in the train station...I think there's a lot of people in need there. Maybe we perceive that as unsafe, and probably we shouldn't."

Justin Royle from Ramsey, who had only ever been to Newark for the airport: "There's nothing that I should go there for. What's there?...It might not be the cleanest around. Other than that, I don't even think I've met anyone from Newark. Maybe we're just tight knit over here."

Anonymous woman who lives in Bergen: "I don't think it's looked upon like the more bucolic suburban neighborhoods surrounding it, it's more inner city, struggling with inner city issues."

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Larry of Westfield, who travels to the city for Devils games: "Right now, it's still a pretty tough town...But, there seems to be a little bit more energy there. I know there are a lot of places opening up -- restaurants. It's becoming a little bit less seedy and a little bit more open...I would say the reputation is pretty much what it always has been...I don't think there's a message getting out that there has been a lot of change."

Dorinda Galvao of Elizabeth, who was raised in Newark: "I think a lot has changed for the better...It's something more dynamic and I feel like it's changing in a good sense...I feel like overall, it definitely has its spunk and diversity. I don't live there, but I know there are a lot of people like myself who are still going back there. They are comfortable going back."

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In neighboring Hudson County, we didn't find many people who were concerned with what was happening in Newark.

Jay Patel, of Jersey City, said that although he doesn't go to Newark often, he feels it's "just another city." Though he thinks other people may be apprehensive to go there, "I don't feel that way."

Max Mayer, who now works in Hoboken, said he noticed Newark blossoming a bit when he was working as an Uber driver two years ago. He said he's not against going to Newark, but has yet to see an attraction that would draw him there. "It does seem like there's something going on downtown that looks nice," he said. "But, nothing that has caught my interest to get me to actually go there as a customer."

Kurestin Armada, of Hoboken, said friends have told her Newark is safer than it used to be, but that she doesn't know of anything in Newark drawing her to the city. "I imagine if I heard more personal recommendations from people, that would make a difference," she said.

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'Opportunity' in Essex County

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told NJ Advance Media in an interview about the 50th anniversary of the Newark riots that although there are still underlying issues in Newark that need to be addressed, like poverty and unemployment, the narrative that has spread across the state about Newark since the riots is not a fair one.

"There's no real discussion...about what happened and how (people) got those perceptions," Baraka said.

"Nobody talked about the real social determinants that created (the riots)."

The professional community in Newark has echoed Baraka's sentiments, while insisting that their choices to stay in the city are finally paying off.

Shane Harris, who grew up in the city and now works as the vice president of corporate giving at Prudential Financial -- an anchor institution that has been in Newark for nearly 150 years -- said rebuilding the city has been a "slow burn" since the 1967 unrest.

"People are getting to know Newark again," she said. "Revitalization is accelerating."

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Perception vs. reality

Experts have indicated Newark's reputation, and the actual state Newark is in, is as complicated and nuanced as the hundreds of different ideas we heard about the city suggest.

Max Herman, a New Jersey City University professor who has studied and written extensively about the Newark riots, said he feels the stigma Newark gained in the wake of the civil uprising is no longer a factor.

"I think it's disappearing," he said. "Newark had a huge stigma, nationally. For a long time, everybody thought it was decaying and in disorder," he said.

"I think we're past that now. People just don't care."

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Delicate balance

Larry Greene, a history professor at Seton Hall University, said he thinks many people who have had contact with the city have a "nuanced" view of it, and can see some areas of Newark that are doing well, and others that are not.

But, he said, a negative view of Newark that persists for some, could be a big problem for the city.

"Stigmatization is important when it's used to justify a public policy of neglect," Greene said. "That's the real downside of stigmatizing a city" -- one that he said has hurt Newark in the past.

But, Herman warned that focusing too much on improvements made in the city's downtown might not be the right move, either.

"There are people right now who are not integrated into the fabric of the city of Newark. The Newark we are presenting to the public -- the image of the new buildings and the performing arts centers, the galleries, the restaurants ... that's only one side of the equation," he said.

"If we don't pay attention to the other side, we are going to be in trouble."

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Read more

This report is part of a special project examining Newark 50 years after a civil disturbance that left 26 people dead, caused $10 million in damage, and left the city with a bad reputation across the state.

See more of our 50th anniversary coverage:

Those interviewed for this story were given the option of sharing their first names, full names, or remaining anonymous.

Karen Yi, Avalon Zoppo, and David J. Del Grande contributed to this report.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.