We asked and you answered: Readers' picks for North Jersey towns with the worst parking

Yahoo

07-05-2025

New Jersey residents in general are never afraid to speak their minds. And on the topic of parking frustrations, NorthJersey.com readers had plenty to say.
Previously, we published a poll asking which local towns are the worst for parking. Forty people responded, with the majority coming within the first 24 hours of the story being posted.
The survey results highlighted the ubiquity of parking problems throughout the area, as respondents listed 20 different towns or sections of towns in their answers. Twelve were named multiple times, including five — Fort Lee, Hoboken, Morristown, Ridgewood and Paterson — that appeared three or more times.
NJ towns with the worst parking, according to readers
The source of readers' complaints focused primarily on the scarcity of parking in these five towns.
"Simply put, there are more people moving in and still the same amount of street parking and no parking spaces," read one response from Bill, a Bergenfield resident who named Fort Lee as the worst place to park. "It's very difficult to visit friends or relatives in this area and find anything conveniently close."
Charles F. Williams, of Montclair, faulted Hoboken for its "high residential demand, leaving bupkis for out-of-towners." A Mine Hill resident summed up the issue with Morristown parking succinctly: "There isn't any."
In some cases, respondents noted that bad parking experiences have reduced or even eliminated their trips to certain towns. This includes Oradell native Cynthia Shevelew, who blamed "the density of people vs. available parking" in Ridgewood.
"I actually stopped going into Ridgewood a few years ago because of this," she wrote. "I mostly go to Westwood now, but never on a weekend."
Marvin Bell, of Denville, said he no longer visits Morristown regularly after getting a parking ticket several years ago for "unclear signage."
Numerous respondents named their own town as having the most inconvenient parking situation, with municipalities like Dover, Garfield, Montville and Newton appearing on the list for this reason. Besides a lack of parking, other sources of frustration include costly meters and garages, minimal enforcement and the problems caused by overdevelopment.
"There was one free parking lot in the whole downtown area and they put a luxury apartment there," lamented one Hackensack resident who named the city on the list.
With such a variety of towns and reasons listed, the overall feedback from the survey was perhaps best expressed by one respondent in particular. When prompted to provide the worst place to park, the person wrote, "All of New Jersey."
These towns received at least three nominations:
Fort Lee
Hoboken
Morristown
Paterson
Ridgewood
What do you think, which is the worst in the region?
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey towns with worst parking, according to readers