by Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

North Jersey being better than Central or South Jersey is the most obvious statement of all time -if you live in North Jersey. More restaurants, more museums, more parks, more shops, best restaurants, best pizza, more things to do, more of everything that means anything. North Jersey is where it's at. Here are 11 reasons why North Jersey is superior to Central or South Jersey.

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Aristide Economopoulos I The Star-Ledger

I don't want to live in no damn woods

The most common stereotype North Jersey residents have about South Jersey: There's no there there. It's all woods and hillbillies and gun-racked pickup trucks. As a South Jersey resident myself, I don't believe this, but I get the underlying point. If you prefer a faster, more frenetic pace of life, you'd probably last ten minutes in South Jersey. Besides, in North Jersey, there's more to do and see, more life, more restaurants, more everything.

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Alex Remnick I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Diner Central

New Jersey is the Diner State — more diners here (about 600) than any other state — and North Jersey is its neon-lit, stainless-steel-shiny heart. The major highways — Routes 3, 4, 17 and 22 among them — are jammed with diners, many open 24/7. Among my favorites: Tops Diner in East Newark (pictured at left); the Pompton Queen in Pequannock; the Victoria Diner in Branchville; the Tropicana Diner in Elizabeth; the Park-Wood Diner in Maplewood and the Chit-Chat Diner in Hackensack. They were among the ten finalists in our N.J.'s best diner showdown.

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The home of Jersey attitude

It takes a tough cookie to live in New Jersey, especially North Jersey. You have to deal with a myriad of maddening problems, plus deal with constant insults from outsiders who treat New Jersey as the armpit of the nation. Say what you want about Chris Christie, but the one thing that Jersey guy's got is serious Jersey attitude. Is there anyone with even half as much verve in South Jersey?

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Aristide Economopoulos I The Star-Ledger

The big city

Bright lights, big city are a quick PATH ride away if you live in Jersey City or Hoboken, and proximity to Manhattan is a big selling point for those considering a move to Bergen or Hudson counties. If you live in South Jersey, a trip to New York is a serious trek; you'll spend half the day just getting there. South Jerseyans will say we've got Philadelphia, but sorry, it's no New York City.

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Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

High Point

High Point is one of those places, like Lucy the Margate Elephant and the Great Falls in Paterson, that I'm always astonished to find most Jerseyans have never visited. No one would ever confuse New Jersey with Colorado, but High Point, at 1,803 feet, offers breathtaking vistas and the state's cleanest air. There's a beach near the summit, believe it or not, but make sure you drive all the way to the top, to the monument. The last time I was up there, on a gorgeous late summer afternoon, I had the place to myself.

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Chris Monroe I For The Star-Ledger

We love the nightlife, we love to boogie

Outside of Atlantic City, is there any nightlife at all in South Jersey? So North Jerseyans would say. Clubs, bars, concerts, assorted hip happenings: North Jersey's partying heart beats well into the night.

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Best restaurants

Four of Zagat's five top-rated Jersey restaurants are in North Jersey, and Montclair, Morristown, Hoboken, Jersey City and Ridgewood, to name a few, are jammed with high-end restaurants. At the other end of the spectrum, most of the state's gourmet/specialty food trucks are based here; Hoboken's Pier 13 and downtown Jersey City are prime spots for those meals-on-wheels.

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Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Museums

Start with the world-class Newark Museum, proceed to the always-fascinating Liberty Science Center, meander over to the Morris Museum: North Jersey is packed with museums big and small, mainstream and offbeat — witness the 130-year-old wedding cake at the Grover Cleveland Birthplace in Caldwell. We're not calling you uncultured, South Jersey, but let's be honest, on this score you can't compete.

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Frances Micklow I The Star-Ledger

Real downtowns

There are most surely downtowns in South Jersey, but they're all small-town downtowns. North Jerseyans, who crave crowds, hustle and bustle, can't get enough of Hoboken, Jersey City, Morristown and Newark, whose Ironbound is the state's liveliest ethnic neighborhood. My ultimate Jersey fantasy: finding a street parking space in Hoboken as soon as I drive into town. Like I said, it's a fantasy.

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Tim Farrell I The Star-Ledger

Pizza!

I've eaten at more pizzerias in New Jersey than anyone (nearly half of the 1,500 overall), so I can safely say South Jersey is no match for North Jersey when it comes to the world's most popular food. Santillo's in Elizabeth had a long run as number one in my NJ Pizza Power Rankings — then it was replaced by Vesta in East Rutherford. Both North Jersey. I'd love to see a true North Jersey-New York City pizza showdown some day. Don't assume the Big Apple would win that.

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John Munson I The Star-Ledger

The Skyway

I have to make space here for my favorite Jersey road, bridge, highway, hell, my favorite Jersey sight, period. The Pulaski Skyway is three-and-a-half miles of pure chaos or charm, depending on how you look at it, snaking and slithering across a shadowy world of warehouses (including one filled with five million bottles of booze), bustling container ship depots, belching smokestacks, truck stops, train tracks, power lines, bars, one jail and one sewage treatment plant. It's so New Jersey, and not New Jersey at all. I'd want to be buried under it, if there weren't so many bodies buried under it already.

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Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Why is North Jersey better than Central or South Jersey?

"Because it is'' is not an acceptable answer! Here's your chance, North Jersey, to tell us why your part of the state is the best. Why is it superior to Central or South Jersey? Let us know in the comments section.

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Ed Murray I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

More about North, Central and South Jersey

Why Central Jersey is better than North or South Jersey

Why South Jersey is better than North or Central Jersey

How to talk like a real Jerseyan