“Toto: This isn’t Kansas!”

“What can the most populous county in NJ have in common with the many, much smaller counties that I constantly visit,” I thought as I rode in the cab from the Newark airport to Tenafly, NJ. And even though it is called the Garden State, I didn’t see any farm fields in my hour ride. I’m sure that I passed thru at least a dozen towns or more on the ride, but there was no discernable difference from community to community as we sped by the towns.

I’m always a bit apprehensive when I go to larger, more metropolitan areas like this, wondering if my message will resonate. What I’ve always found and found out again this week in Bergen County, is that while the towns might be bigger and closer together the dreams, concerns and problems are much the same all over this great country of ours.

First though let me tell you about Bergen County. This northern most NJ County is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The 2003 census showed a population of 884,118, but the county’s rapid growth is quickly pushing it close to 1 million. Put another way, if Bergen County were a state, it would have a population greater than six states (DE, SD, ND, AL, VT and WY). Most surprising to me was that there are 70 municipalities in the 239 square miles of the county. Some are less than 1 square mile in size.

Most of the towns in Bergen County are in the 10,000 to 20,000 population range, not unlike a lot of towns that I visit. In talking with the mayors, council members, planners, chamber execs and others at my talk I found that they have many of the same questions that similarly sized towns have all over the county. Issues that they raised were: traffic concerns, brain drain, housing costs, taxes, schools, etc. If I’d closed my eyes and just listened to the questions I could have been in Kansas.