Journal Square, Jersey City

Journal Square sits near the geographic center of Jersey City, on a gentle rise between the Palisades ridge to the east and the Hackensack River lowlands to the west. The name technically refers to the plaza at the intersection of Kennedy Boulevard, Bergen Avenue, and Sip Avenue — but in practice the neighborhood extends well beyond the square itself.

The broader Journal Square area includes five distinct sub-neighborhoods: the commercial core around the PATH station, St. Aedens to the south (named after the Catholic parish), The Island to the northeast (a triangular block bounded by rail lines), Mill Creek along the western edge, and the St. Joes residential streets to the north. Together they hold 4,152 properties across ZIP codes 07302, 07304, 07306, and primarily 07306.

Interactive map · Boundary based on 4,152 property records · © OpenStreetMap contributors

The area around what is now Journal Square was farmland until the mid-1800s. The transformation began with the railroads — the Erie Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad both built lines through the area, and the junction of multiple transit routes turned a rural crossroads into a commercial hub. By 1900, Bergen Avenue was a thriving retail corridor, and the neighborhood was filling with the row houses and small apartment buildings that still make up most of its housing stock.

The Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (predecessor of PATH) opened its Journal Square station in 1911, cementing the square as the city's transit hub. The golden age followed: the Loew's Jersey Theatre opened in 1929 as a 3,200-seat movie palace with a Baroque interior designed by the Rapp & Rapp firm. Department stores, banks, and office buildings clustered around the square. The Jersey Journal newspaper gave the plaza its name.

Decline came in waves. Suburban flight in the 1950s and 60s emptied the stores. The Loew's closed in 1986. By the 1990s, Journal Square was rough — cheap rents and a reputation that kept investment away. The PATH station kept running but the neighborhood around it hollowed out.

The revival started slowly in the 2010s and then accelerated fast. Journal Squared, a three-tower luxury rental complex, began rising in 2015 and eventually brought over 1,800 units to the square. The Loew's was saved by a preservation campaign and reopened as a performing arts venue. India Square, the stretch of Newark Avenue west of Kennedy Boulevard, became one of the densest concentrations of Indian restaurants in the Northeast. New towers keep going up — the skyline here has changed more in the last decade than in the previous century.

The residential streets around the square tell a different story from the towers. St. Aedens, The Island, and the blocks south of Montgomery Street are still classic Jersey City — pre-war frame houses on 25-foot lots, two- and three-family homes with shared driveways, corner bodegas. These areas are where most of the 4,152 properties in the Journal Square dataset actually sit, and where most of the residential sales happen.

India Square is the neighborhood's most distinctive feature — a stretch of Newark Avenue between Kennedy Boulevard and JFK Boulevard packed with Indian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani restaurants, grocery stores, jewelry shops, and sari boutiques. It's one of the most vibrant South Asian commercial districts on the East Coast, and it anchors the dining scene for the entire area.

Beyond India Square, the food options have exploded in recent years. Rumba Cubana draws crowds for Cuban sandwiches and mojitos. Würstbar does craft sausages and beer. Ani Ramen brought a noodle outpost from Downtown. White Star Bar on Brunswick has the same cult burger as the Downtown original. Sapthagiri on Newark Avenue is a destination for South Indian vegetarian — dosas, idli, uttapam. Filipino, Dominican, Colombian, and Korean spots fill out the blocks around the PATH station. Bergen Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard both have substantial retail corridors — not curated boutiques, but the practical kind: grocery stores, pharmacies, barbers, laundromats, and hardware stores.

Lincoln Park, a 273-acre park shared with the West Side, is a 10-minute walk south. It has a lake, a 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, playgrounds, and running paths. Pershing Field, with its indoor pool and ice rink, is a 15-minute walk north into The Heights. Washington Park (2.7 acres) sits right off the square.

The population is remarkably diverse. Journal Square has long been a gateway neighborhood for immigrants — South Asian, Filipino, Latin American, Middle Eastern, West African. The 2020 Census showed the area as one of the most ethnically diverse in Hudson County, with no single group forming a majority. The new towers have added young professionals to the mix, but the residential streets remain deeply multicultural.

Transit is Journal Square's superpower. The Journal Square Transportation Center is the hub of the PATH system on the New Jersey side, with direct service to both 33rd Street (Midtown Manhattan, 22 minutes) and the World Trade Center (Downtown Manhattan, 18 minutes via Hoboken or Newark transfer). Trains run every 5–10 minutes during rush hour.

The transportation center is also a major bus hub. NJ Transit routes fan out in every direction — north to The Heights and North Bergen, south to Bayonne, west to Newark, east to Hoboken. The 119 bus runs express to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Total door-to-door to Midtown: 30–45 minutes depending on your exact location.

For drivers, Kennedy Boulevard runs north-south through the center of the neighborhood. The NJ Turnpike entrance is accessible via Routes 1&9, about 10 minutes west. Route 139 to the Holland Tunnel is a straight shot east on Sip Avenue.

Walk Score rates Journal Square at 92 ("Walker's Paradise"). The flat terrain makes biking practical, and Citi Bike stations dot the area around the PATH station. For pure transit access, Journal Square is arguably the best-connected neighborhood in Jersey City.

PS 5 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) at 252 Claremont Avenue serves much of the Journal Square area for elementary grades. It rates a 4/10 on GreatSchools. PS 20 on Claremont Avenue and PS 23 on Cottage Street are nearby K-8 alternatives, both mid-range on ratings.

The standout options are charter schools. KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy and Jersey City Community Charter School both serve the area and have higher ratings than the zoned district schools. As with all Jersey City charters, admission is by lottery.

For high school, William L. Dickinson High School is the zoned school for much of Journal Square. It rates 1/10 on GreatSchools with a 79% graduation rate. The Academy of the Sciences magnet program within Dickinson is more competitive. McNair Academic High School (10/10 on GreatSchools, ranked among the top high schools in New Jersey) is a magnet school that draws citywide — admission is by entrance exam.

Private options include St. Peter's Preparatory School, a Jesuit school on Grand Street (technically Downtown, but a short bus ride), consistently ranked as one of the top Catholic high schools in the state.

Safety varies block by block, which is true of most urban neighborhoods this large. The area immediately around the PATH station and the new towers is well-lit and heavily trafficked — it feels busy and safe at most hours. The residential streets further out are quieter and vary more.

CrimeGrade gives Journal Square a B+ for violent crime, which places it around the 70th percentile nationally. That's a meaningful improvement from a decade ago, driven by increased foot traffic, new residents, and investment in the commercial core.

Flood risk is low to moderate. Most of Journal Square sits at 40–80 feet above sea level, well above the coastal flood zones that affect downtown Jersey City. Some western edges near the Hackensack River lowlands have higher flood risk, but the core around the PATH station and the residential streets are solidly in FEMA Zone X (minimal risk).

That's the neighborhood. Here's what the actual property records show for Journal Square's 4,152 properties.

Price per sqft normalizes for building size and filters out portfolio-sale outliers.

Real transactions from Hudson County records. Click any property to look it up.