As of 2025, Jersey City, NJ has experienced a property crime rate of 179.2 per 100,000 citizens, making this city’s property crime rate higher than the national average. Over that same period, 6 out of 10 families who make less than Jersey City’s middle bracket spend nearly, if not more than, 30% of their yearly income on housing. Interconnected with the issue of housing and affordability is the poverty rate; it is estimated that around 17.1% of Jersey City citizens live below the poverty line, marking this city significantly higher than the national average.
And most importantly, what I deem as a probable cause of all this mess listed above is education and the lagging behind of the Jersey City student. Despite New Jersey’s relatively strong educational system, it is reported that only 44% of our Jersey City students exceeded or even met curriculum expectations in subjects such as English Language Arts, and at even lower percentages in math, with a whopping 27.7%. Not to mention, the state average of graduation rates is 90%, while Jersey City students are only graduating at a percentage of 70%.
I’m very intentionally pointing to the flaws of Jersey City because it has increasingly come to my attention that there is an undermining of these flaws, or better put, a shifting of focus elsewhere. That elsewhere being The White House, when the priority should be locality. The priority should be Jersey City!
But the reality is that our neighbors, maybe yourself included, are more interested and tuned into what’s happening in national politics rather than their own state, their own city, and their own communities. This is reflected in the fact that Americans are significantly more likely to know the name of their president than their own mayor, councilmen, or governor. To a slightly larger degree, this is also reflected by local election turnout, or lack thereof. The media reflects this same trend, consistently covering and pushing national headlines instead of what’s happening just down the block.
This exclusive focus is exemplified in the kinds of questions our local leaders are asked. Take, for instance, the New York City Mayoral Democratic primary debate, where nine of the running candidates were asked by moderators, “The first foreign visit by a mayor of New York is always considered significant. Where would you go first?”
Every one of them answered with a country or territory in mind, except one. That exception was the rising 33-year-old Democratic Socialist, Zohran Mamdani, who stated, “I would stay in New York City. My plans are to address New Yorkers across the five boroughs and focus on that.” Because of his response, he received backlash and condemnation from both his opponents and the moderators, mostly because, as everyone spoke out and stated their wish to visit Israel (a country widely regarded as a cornerstone of U.S. national foreign policy), he was absent from that discussion and refused to entertain it.
Although it is a politician’s job to answer such questions about our foreign adversaries, I don’t believe it is in the interest or necessity for a mayor to visit such countries, nor to be as involved as, let’s say, a representative or senator. Questions should be designated according to his or her role, and that is not what we’re seeing. Why is that?
Well, there are a few critical conclusions that could be drawn from the shifting of focal attention from local to national headlines. First and foremost: the unpopularity of the current and leading administration within the White House. This alone has sparked rallying cries across the nation, leading many to keep a closer eye on the daily tasks of the current sitting president. But this doesn’t explain the full story, because the lack of local participation dates back to before President Trump even stepped foot in the White House.
Number two: the increasing power the executive branch has gotten a hold of. This is a trend that didn’t start with Trump but rather began with the presidencies that followed George Washington’s step down from office. The reality is, both Republicans and Democrats alike have increasingly expanded executive power, which has caused a shift in attentiveness toward whoever holds the great authority of the United States.
And lastly, number three: as described in what took place during the New York City Mayoral Democratic primary debate, media coverage tends to engage with issues pertaining to the national rather than the local. This in itself has its own few reasons, but the most important cause is viewership wants and needs. Engagement with national issues is desired more by citizens, so of course, corporations cater to that demand.
The tanking of attention paid to local politics compared to national is clearly presented in data sets. According to Pew Research, 81% of Americans say they’re interested in presidential election news, with 54% extremely interested. In contrast, only 70% say the same for local elections, and fewer than half (34%) express high interest levels. This is a small trend pointing to a much larger issue.
I’m providing this data set not to discourage you from actively engaging with national politics. In fact, I believe that if it is in your prerogative and you feel an obligation to tend to what you believe should be prioritized, then you absolutely should. But because of the political climate we are all enduring, and the worry many of you have, it becomes all the more vital for every individual to strengthen community, locality, and state institutions. National politics is far from everything, and to claim otherwise ignores the countless successes of cities being better served by their local institutions.
For example, why is it that Brownsville, Texas ranks as the lowest cost of living in the U.S.? Or that South Burlington, Vermont ranks as one of the safest cities in America? Or that Ann Arbor, Michigan has the highest levels of educational attainment, with 57% of residents holding at least a bachelor’s degree?
The answer to these questions is not entirely clear, but what is certainly clear is this: as much as the White House may be affecting your everyday life, local government affects you in ways the federal government never could. These individual cities and states did not achieve such progress by relying on national politics. Instead, it was engagement with local governance that proved to be the key.
So, I urge you, don’t be stagnant. Get involved in local elections. Research city budgets. Look at the policies affecting everyday New Jersey, Jersey City residents. Have pride in the great city of Jersey City. And most importantly, never lose hope.
Jersey City deserves more attention than it’s receiving, and it’s up to us to give it the rightful attention it needs.
