Andy Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

by Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

South Jersey is forever taking abuse from North Jersey: there's just no there there, say those who live in the latter. South Jerseyans' response to that: a big wide smile. They know they have it best - less traffic, less sprawl, less congestion, less agita, less of all those things that drive you nuts. And the restaurants are just as good in South Jersey; there just aren't as many. South Jersey wants no part of North Jersey, thank you very much. Here are 11 reasons why South Jersey is better than North or Central Jersey.

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Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

The people are nicer

Yes, really. The best proof of this: go to pretty much any Wawa in South Jersey and watch how many people hold the door open for you. I'm not just talking guys holding doors open for little old ladies, but guys holding doors open for guys, kids holding open doors for adults, etc. Let me known how many times this happens at your local 7-Eleven in North Jersey. Two weeks ago, a woman in her 20s pushing a baby stroller held the door open for me.

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Ed Murray I The Star-Ledger

And way less stressed

Less traffic, less congestion, less aggravation add up to less overall agita and angst in South Jersey. I'm not saying it's all Mayberry south of Medford, but things — and people — sure move at a different pace. I wouldn't be surprised to find that South Jerseyans spend much less at the shrink than their counterparts up north.

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Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Most colorfully named towns in the state

Shellpile, Bivalve, Buckshutem, Dorothy, Cologne, Mizpah, Miami Beach, Rio Grande, Shamong — no part of the state boasts more colorfully-named towns and hamlets. Even the long-gone places — Ongs Hat, Purgatory, Paisley, etc. — have a rich eccentric history. Buttzville, in Warren County, still tops my list of N.J.'s most colorfully-named towns, but South Jersey dominates the rankings.

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Kohr's (or Kohr Bros.)

No Jersey Shore summer is complete without Kohr's — or Kohr Bros. Three brothers named Kohr, of Swiss descent, opened an ice cream stand at the Delaware State Fair in 1920 — and promptly lost money. Undeterred, they opened a stand on the Coney Island boardwalk. The salt air quickly melted the new treat, so the brothers added eggs, making the product creamier, and changed the name from "frozen dessert'' to "frozen custard.'' A legend was born.

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Mitsu Yasukawa I The Star-Ledger

Pine Barrens

It's amazing how many Jerseyans I run across who've never been to the Pine Barrens. I don't mean drive through it on the way down the parkway or Route 206, I mean actually spend time in it — camping, fishing, hiking, getting lost (at least metaphorically) in its marvelous, mysterious, moody vastness. Spend a day or weekend. Pull up a picnic table or pitch a tent. Take a hike to nowhere in particular. The Pine Barrens are a big chunk of Jersey — about 20 percent of the state's acreage. Go!

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Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The Parkway (really!)

North of the Driscoll (no true Jerseyan calls it the Driscoll Bridge) the Garden State Parkway, a.k.a. the Highway Everyone Loves to Hate, is a seething, surging mass of motoring mayhem. South of Toms River, though, the nation's busiest toll road (456.7 million vehicles last year) turns into an idyllic country road framed by a panoramic backdrop of wetlands, marsh and sky. Something about seeing the Milepost 0 sign at the end always makes me smile.

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Greatest boardwalk ever

New Jersey is the birthplace of the boardwalk — Atlantic City is always credited with the first, in 1870, but Cape May had one up two years earlier. The Big Six boardwalks — Asbury Park, Point Peasant Beach, Seaside, Wildwood, Atlantic City and Ocean City — offer varying experiences, but Wildwood stands head and suntan-streaked shoulders above them all. Three hundred stands and shops, 100-plus rides, the Shore's tallest Ferris wheel, the nation's only boardwalk chapel and the too-cute-for-words tram car — it all adds up to an unparalleled summer experience.

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Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Wawa!

Those who say Wawa is just another convenience store are probably from ... North Jersey. Great selection of coffee (personal favorites: Cuban roast, Costa Rican, dark roast), good donuts, always-cheery employees and the best soft pretzels outside Philly — Wawa elevates the convenience store to an art form. The chain was hatched in Pennsylvania, but the chain is more Garden State than Keystone State, with 245 stores here. It's so entrenched in South Jersey that you cannot begin to understand life and culture in this part of the state without Wawa.

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Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Cheesesteaks

The next great cheesesteak in North Jersey will be the first one. Sure, delis and sub shops up north offer them, but they're always pallid, paltry versions of the real deal down south. Jersey's best cheesesteaks can be found at Chick's Deli, squeezed into a narrow alley off Route 70 in Cherry Hill. Other top-notch ones can be found at Gaetano's (various locations), Sack O'Subs in Ventnor and Tony Boloney's in Atlantic City.

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Patti Sapone I The Star-Ledger

Only part of the state that lives up to its nickname

This one's not even remotely debatable. No state lives up less to its nickname than New Jersey, but at least South Jersey puts up a good front. The state's breadbasket is home to hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and the legendary Jersey tomato. Other fruits and vegetables make a bigger impression nationwide — N.J. ranks third in cranberry and bell pepper production, fourth in spinach and peaches, fifth in blueberries and cucumbers, and sixth in sweet corn.

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Saed Hindash I The Star-Ledger

N.J.'s only drive-in movie theater

The nation's first drive-in movie theater was the Automobile Drive-in, on the Pennsauken/Camden border, in 1933. Admission was 25 cents per car, and 25 cents per person. Drive-in theaters, with their fluorescent-lit snack bars and triple features, quickly marched across the Jersey landscape; by 1970, there were nearly 50 drive-ins in the state. Today there's just one left, the Delsea Drive-In in Vineland, run by a wise-cracking, fast-talking pediatrician named John DeLeonardis.

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Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Why is South Jersey better than North or Central Jersey?

Ok, South Jersey, here's your chance to show your SJ pride and passion. Why is your part of the state better than North or Central Jersey? What makes it special? Let us know in the comments section.

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John Munson I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

More about North, Central and South Jersey

Why North Jersey is better than South or Central Jersey

Why Central Jersey is better than North or South Jersey

How to talk like real Jerseyan