One of my life’s missions is to debunk the myths my fellow Americans have about my home state of New Jersey. It tends to be the butt of many jokes. The armpit of America. Densely populated with nothing but industrial complexes in sight. Though there are many truths to these myths, very few people know that there are a few counties throughout NJ that are committed to preserving open space, maintaining what is left of its agricultural industry and from that creating parks and recreational systems. Since the northern and central part of NJ are bedroom communities of NYC, commuters have a better quality of life in counties dedicated to conservation. It is a nice balance of residential developments with protected open space and urban and semi-rural. Case in point is the county I live in; Monmouth County.
I absolutely love my county in NJ. Within a 30 – 45 minute radius I have several county parks I can go to for the following: biking, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, camping, fishing, and the list is endless. I can just take a deep breath and revel in the beauty of all that nature has to offer. Whenever I want to be alone, I just go to a local park to enjoy the trees, lakes, wild animals, fresh air, and the wind. Just yesterday I saw a magnificent sunset at a local reservoir. In the morning my friend and I walked a walking trail at a county park in a town surrounded by horse farms. On my drive back home I took pictures of horses grazing on a farm and said to myself: am I really in NJ? I am sure many people reading this may never have known that parts of NJ are still semi-rural. I would like to add that I am also 20 minutes from the beautiful Jersey Shore from where Bruce Springsteen hails and where the infamous Jersey Shore was filmed!
Many people who move to Monmouth County, NJ commute to NYC and decide to live here partly because of the quality of life it has to offer. Most of them are stressed with a 2-hour commute both ways on a train or bus and a job with long hours in the city. However, in summer, spring and fall residents of my county make use of our parks and recreational system. It gives them the opportunity to enjoy nature and all the activities the parks have to offer. It helps ease the angst and stress of working in the worlds largest and hectic city. As more and more metropolis’s in the US are set to become larger and have suburban sprawl I feel it is essential for counties and states to conserve some land for parks and recreation systems for people to enjoy and be in touch with nature. Urban life has its benefits but being in nature is still critical to our well-being.
I just recently found out that the Monmouth County Parks System in NJ has been conferred by the National Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies and sanctioned by the American Academy for Parks and Recreation Association. The County Park System was the first park & recreation agency in the nation accredited and is one of only 71 such accredited agencies in the nation to have achieved such an honor. The park’s website says that in 2018 alone Total County Park Visits were 6,426,576!!
I hope more county and state governments in urban metropolis’ will develop some type of conservation efforts that can create parks and recreation systems the way my county in NJ has.
Author: Laavanya Pasupuleti
Editor(s): Cole Schenck
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