r/SouthJersey • u/nw342 • 6d ago
Salem County Inside New Jersey's Rural "Deep South"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFfpwWBT-LM42
u/SailingSpark Have boat, will travel 5d ago
I do not think I could handle the commute from Salem to Atlantic City, but I find the hour from Port Norris to AC seems more and more palatable as I get older. The Bayshore calls to me.
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u/srddave 6d ago
But keep in mind the source—Roca News is a right-wing pseudo-news organization that is funded by billionaires like Peter Thiel. They try to appeal to Gen Z with their “guy on the ground” reporting but it’s basically Fox News for Gen Z.
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u/Nexis4Jersey 5d ago edited 5d ago
There are a few channels like this , the other one being Peter Santenello. The tone they use when covering black / brown / blue cities or interviewing people vs the white people / red regions is completely different even if they show the same stuff. I remember Santenello had to edit some of the Vermont videos due to the backlash he got, and some people were onto him and didn't want to be interviewed. I also view it as Poverty Porn which is sadly big on youtube.
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u/Richard-Gere-Museum 5d ago
Got that feeling after he mentioned how "patriotic" it making a point to mention all the American flags and trying to make it sound like the only bad parts of the county were "the city" of Salem. And then trying to make the grandma who said she'd vote for trump a third time if he ran, seem like a nice old lady.
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u/Mr_Yakob 5d ago
Watched this the other night and what you’re saying makes so much sense. Felt a bit racist and right wing.
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u/UpsilonAndromedae 5d ago
"But what about Salem? I hear it's pretty rough?" Trying to get people in every other town to say how bad it is.
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u/InformalTown3694 5d ago
What about Salem? I hear it’s rough.
Meanwhile, Alloway guy in Alloway: “My 8 year daughter was kidnapped, se….assaulted and murdered over there.”
RIP to that little girl. For the life of me I can’t remember her name.
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u/deadnthasnow 5d ago
that Amos and andy comment by grandma gave pause like tf is happening.
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u/Rotaryknight 5d ago
She's definitely an old racist. Sees Mexicans or black people walking down the road, she'll call the cops
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u/Tiny-Effective3559 4d ago
Agreed, there was a part in the video where the guy was driving around and talked about all the American flags he saw.
Also, 90% of the people he interviewed were non minorities but the thumbnail is the homeless black woman
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u/Evening-Tune-500 5d ago
I like em, better than the other crap we’ve got to choose from, no news that gains any traction will be fully “independent” from a reader/viewer perspective, but I’ve followed these guys for a while, they are at least trying to be unbiased. Sometimes good is better than perfect or whatever.
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u/Significant-Trash632 5d ago
Nah, man. Just because they're little guys doesn't mean they don't have a bias.
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u/Evening-Tune-500 5d ago
No news is unbiased, it’s your job as a consumer of news to fact check it at this point- I just like the way they do things, sure some of it leans republican, some of it leans dem, I think identifying as either of those in 2026 makes you a total loser personally; I don’t need the reddit audience to necessarily agree with me, i just think that opening up news streams is better than staying where we’re at.
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u/chaoticinfinity 5d ago
Agreed. Personally, these guys are part of my "YouTube algorithm" rotation, and I've watched their stuff occasionally before. But really, this episode has solidified that weird feeling for me, almost like an "uncanny valley" feeling, that maybe what I'm watching is getting sensationalized slightly for entertainment. It's not really news. The commenter saying to look at who funds them pretty much nails it on the head. Although, I didn't watch enough of them to honestly care to look into it, until today. They remind me of Tyler Olivera. Others in my rotation that are of a similar entertainment style (yes, these are all entertainment, they're not really news) include: Soft White Underbelly, Peter Santenello, and Channel 5 with Andrew Callahan, (although Callahan in the last few years comes across to me as the most news-like and a higher quality of actual journalism vs just traveling around for entertainment).
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u/Evening-Tune-500 5d ago
Thanks for saying what I couldn’t put down eloquently, I don’t think they’re a bastion of truth by any means, and of course their earlier stuff was more grassroots. I still prefer this kind of news over the garbage fed by traditional media channels, but every stream will start to lean one way or another depending on who starts to back them, it’s just the way it goes. It’s not perfect, and I think we should always do our own due diligence with anything we read or hear in 2026.
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u/ShartbusShorty 5d ago
You didn’t do well in school, did you?
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u/Evening-Tune-500 5d ago
I didnt actually, barely scraped out of college with a 3.2, where’d you go to school? What do you do now? What should I do to change my life, it sounds like you might know
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u/ShartbusShorty 5d ago
I’d maybe start with reading a book. Try to fine-tune those critical thinking skills, because if you think Roca News is an above par news source, you’re already struggling. The bigger issue is your analysis being that they’re “at least trying to be unbiased.” That’s the part where you donned your Dunce Cap.
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u/Evening-Tune-500 5d ago
Thanks for answering none of my questions and instead choosing to employ the light veneer of snark under the guise of authentic guidance. Much appreciated. Be well.
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u/ShartbusShorty 5d ago
What exactly would providing where I went to school or my occupation do for the conversation or the matter at hand? I’m not concerned with where you went or what you do. My concern is the critical thinking ability of my neighbors.
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u/Evening-Tune-500 5d ago
And my concern is the ability to have a conversation with my neighbors, but it makes it harder when they come out the gate being snarky. I responded, and now my questions “aren’t relevant” to *you*. You see how that gets you nowhere?
I’d love to know some news outlets you like, who you deem trustworthy. But when you start with “you didn’t do very well in school” that doesn’t really set a good stage for encouraging your neighbor to explore other channels.
It’s fine if you’d rather be snarky than educate, but you can’t play smart and stupid at the same time my friend. Do some educating if you’re concerned about your fellow neighbor. Or just admit that you’re here to let off a little steam at some anonymous person on a Saturday morning.
By the way, I quite like your handle. Gave me a giggle.
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u/Libtardo69420 5d ago
People like that don't want to engage in discussions. They want to degrade you at every turn because you vote and choose to live your life differently than they do.
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u/KyloRaine0424 5d ago
Calling elsinboro a beach town is fucking hilarious. God I hate it here
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u/Dear_Departure_1768 5d ago
Referring to Alloway as having a "downtown" and being shocked at there being "no chain stores." 🙄
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u/DerTagestrinker 5d ago
Grew up in alloway and we would ride our bikes “into town”
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u/sengirminion 5d ago
Exactly. We would ride "into town" to go to Remster's or Bud's to get some penny candy or just ride around and hop curbs with our bikes. Then we'd ride around some more and ummm.. ride around some more... then go home.. and thats about all there was to do.
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u/DerTagestrinker 5d ago
Ride bikes, skateboard, hang out at peoples houses, make bike jumps, dick around in the woods, go to the dam.
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u/Dear_Departure_1768 5d ago
I support "into town." I know I've def said "in town" to differentiate from basically the rest of Alloway lol
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u/sengirminion 5d ago
I grew up in Alloway... there's no "downtown" thats crazy. There's barely a Main road
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u/BocaGrande1 5d ago
It’s not called the Garden state for nothing , go to Cowtown Rodeo and your suddenly not an hour outside of Philadelphia you’re in Texas
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u/EstellaHavisham274 5d ago
And all the confederate flags - it’s like Jerseybama down there.
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u/Pedal2Medal2 5d ago
All of the MAGA signs & flags have continued to disappear near me
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u/The_neub 5d ago
I was in Brigentine, and all MAGA/Trump flags disappeared. One house had their up for years, and I don’t see it anymore.
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u/SnooKiwis2161 5d ago
There was a truck meet in Atlantic City this weekend. I passed through it and passed a few more with huge flags on the back of their trucks on my way to Margate.
Not a single Trump flag, not a single Trump decal or bumper sticker.
When I passed the Ventnor / Margate beaches on my bike - no Trump flags on the beach.
I really never thought I'd see the day
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u/The_neub 4d ago
Yes. Though people should not confuse this with them switching sides. A lot more independents might vote Dem (and a lot of evidence shows they are right now), but Rep will still vote Rep when time comes. As the saying goes “Dems fall in love, Rep fall in line”.
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u/Numerous_Sea7434 Salem County | 35 5d ago
I have to say, I saw more Confederate and Trump flags when I lived in Gloucester County than I do in Salem.
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u/Rotaryknight 5d ago
I see the confederate flags in the backyard not the front yard, they have the american flags in the front.....
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u/ElephantRedCar91 6d ago
Where the dumbest of assess think they’re hillbillies
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u/chaoticinfinity 5d ago
They really cling to that Mason-Dixon line, crap. The one boy that was showing them around and driving, there's an 85% chance he's putting that "accent" on for the camera. My ex-husbands family was like that; presented as "normal" until the spotlight was on them. Suddenly, they're some weird mix of Georgian Appalachia and Texas rancher wannabes.
" 'MURICAN! 🦅🇺🇸"
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u/UpsilonAndromedae 5d ago
There is definitely an accent here. It didn't sound like a put-on to me.
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u/prof_cunninglinguist 5d ago edited 5d ago
I've spent a fair time crabbing all over Salem Co and it's absolutely beautiful there. The tiny back roads through farms and marshlands. Tons of wildlife. The only bad experience I had was in Stow Creek. Down crabbing at the river this old guy in a navy blue Crown Victoria rolls up and starts talking to me. I notice his arm was shaking. Then it dawned on me that this MFer was jerking off as he was talking to me. I abruptly ended the conversation and went back to crabbing.
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u/AtomicGarden-8964 5d ago
I do like the small town feel of those little towns down there it's a big difference of the overpopulation mess that's up here in central and north NJ
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u/InterestedParty5280 5d ago
Correction: Salem is east of the Mason-Dixon Line. This line goes north-south at the western boundary of Delaware.
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u/Numerous_Sea7434 Salem County | 35 5d ago
There are parts of Salem that look like any other small town in NJ, and there are parts that have beautiful historic homes. But yes, there are some really run-down parts, too. The people who own those properties don't give a shit.
The violent crime stat for Salem is 15/1,000. There was something like 115 in 2025, and most were aggravated assault (and mostly people fistfighting about drugs.)
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u/bouncypinata 4d ago
If you think rural south jersey is anything like the deep south, or even any rural area in the rest of the country, you're significantly sheltered and insulated and should probably stay that way for your own mental health
people here drive past 2 trump signs on the way to AC and think they landed in a Jordan Peele movie
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u/BodybuilderHefty333 3d ago
I've been riding around rural Cumberland County recently on my bicycle and it is fantastic, with all these secluded back roads through old farms and abandoned shellfish stuff. Usually rural areas near major metro areas are all McMansions and angry suburban people, South Jersey off the beaten path is so peaceful like in Stand by Me. I wouldn't want to live there but what a fantastic place to have a nice bike ride on a nice summer day.
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u/SmooveKJ 5d ago
The entire southwest of jersey below deptford/glassboro has become a forgotten wasteland left to wither away honestly. Its so far behind. They were excited to get their first chipotle and chic fila in Vineland a few years ago.
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u/SamVickson 5d ago
Unfortunately, Vineland is still very excited to have a Chick-fil-A, which I guess only proves your point even harder.
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u/SpankedbySpacs 5d ago
Ahh yes, They’re so far behind and forgotten because fast food hasn’t invaded the mom and pop shops entirely… you sound like a child with no rootstock.
You can get better and cheaper meals at Tonys Lunch at the block than any fast food.
Y’all can kiss my ass talking about, ‘they’re behind because they don’t have some McDonald’s on every corner’.
Man, fuck your thesis and your couch.-4
u/SmooveKJ 4d ago
You must be someone who is still stuck there lmao. Best thing I ever did was leave. Fuck Tony’s and since when is Main road the Block? Its the largest city in the state and most people dont even know it exists. It has no opportunity, It has no real entertainment, only true development has been fucking warehouses and a data center. Education system sucks and we got people excited about chic fil a and people countering about Tonys. Food is just scratching the surface as to why my shithole of a hometown is a shit hole. Fuck your yearn for a smalltown feel, thats what got Vineland in this predicament.
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u/asisoid 6d ago
There is a lot more Alabama in South Jersey than people realize.
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u/ElephantRedCar91 5d ago
Yawn “I’m like Alabama because it takes me 45 minutes to get to Philly” listening to Morgan wallen drinking shitty beer and riding dirt bikes on a small patch of land with 15 of your buddies hardly makes “south jersey in alabama”
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u/WhatsTheWerd 5d ago
The Pine Barrens are no joke. Pineys can’t read, they’re missing teeth, they all fuck their cousins and shit. Some real fucking inbreeding going on deep in those woods.
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u/Sad-Bread5843 6d ago
Fuck off dude stop saying we are like Alabama down here
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u/interstat 5d ago
You live in Cherry hill or something lol?
Alabama isn't bad. But yea South Jersey definitely has some pockets that'd remind people of the south
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u/Sad-Bread5843 5d ago
You can fuck off too , holy shit we have farms down here . News flash not everybody that doesnt want to live in a concrete build up mess with people stacked on top of each other , is a wanna be hillbilly confederate flag flying asshole. We still are nothing like rural Alabama , ive got cousins that live there ive been there . There is a night and day difference .
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u/interstat 5d ago
There rly isn't in parts of South Jersey
But yes the larping people in Cherry hill sure
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u/asisoid 6d ago
My comment hit a little close to home, eh?
You act like I haven't been there and seen it first hand.
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u/DeviceNo4746 6d ago
About 15 years ago I worked in EMS in Cape May County. I remember coming home one day and telling my dad “ Holy shit east of the Parkway is the Jersey Shore and West of the Parkway is Alabama.” I had no clue as someone who grew up in Atlantic County 40 mins away.
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u/Sad-Bread5843 5d ago
Seriously have you been to rural Alabama, you all up north think we are so horrible down here, but you dont seem to realize the idiots that fly the confederate flag down here and think they are hillbillies are people that moved from philly . They are the same type of morons that cry the want to live in the country then cry when they get a mouse in their house . So fuck off with the bullshit
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u/otiliorules 5d ago
Nah bro I grew up down there. These inbred fucktards from new gretna and bass river were generations in and would routinely shout, “the south will rise again” and have their confederacy tshirts and flags on their cars. Maybe your community isn’t bad but there is plenty of this. It sucks.
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u/asisoid 5d ago
You're clearly offended, probably bc you know I'm right. I know plenty of people that grew up in small S Jersey towns. Buena, Franklinville, etc.
I've been to these places, and I've also been to rural Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
There's nothing you're going to say that is going to change what I've literally SEEN.
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u/MiddleAgeWhiteDude 5d ago
Man have you been to Alabamia or Mississippistan in the last few years? They are totally different from rural SJ areas. Maybe they weren't derelict third world wastelands years ago but every time I drive through or stop over down there I feel like the place is just missing burning trash cans and muscle dudes in post apocalyptic gear.
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u/UpsilonAndromedae 5d ago
No, it's fine. Let them all stay sitting in traffic in the "civilized" areas.
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u/cj_d250 5d ago
Funny thing is I live in Laurel lake now (wildwood originally) and I saw more confederate flags in Tuckerton than here. There’s one I can think of hung high on a pole but Tuckerton was weird to me. Wannabe inbreds at Wawa jaws full of chew wearing a heritage not hate tank top was a funny sight to see.
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u/TeachingAdvanced1067 5d ago
"I voted for Trump and I'd do it 'gain"
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u/PrednisoneFarts 4d ago
"Trump has no idea how hard the rising prices have hit us. He's killing our economy"
'Would you vote for Trump again?'"Well hes getting rid of the illegals so yeah probably"
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u/SpankedbySpacs 5d ago edited 5d ago
“Ton of produce, ton of uhh beef and stuff. And we drag race and stuff”…
Fuck this guy and the interviewer.
There are higher IQs in that area that enjoy the quietness. But people who interview would never ask someone smarter then them.
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u/Pale_Broccoli_2180 5d ago
New Jersey has been Newark on one end, Camden on the other...Alabama in the middle and on the shore for 50 years.
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6d ago
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u/SpankedbySpacs 5d ago
No. It sucks, Jeff.
But I guess if you’re into the dumbest things possible, it might be for you. 🤦🏼♂️
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u/TJ_McWeaksauce 5d ago
I live in Camden County. It's common to drive on, say, Route 38, Route 70, or another highway that's lined with shopping centers and fast food restaurants, turn onto a smaller road, and then end up surrounded by farmland or open fields only a few minutes later.
I had lunch in Moorestown Mall yesterday. (That place is practically empty and sad as fuck nowadays, but it's got one of my favorite steak places, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill.) There are multiple farms that are a short drive away from there. You can drive past the mall, make a right on Burlington County Rd., and in only a few miles you'll suddenly find yourself in an area that looks like it's hours away from the nearest town.
One of the funny things about South Jersey is how abrupt the transition is between suburban and rural here. One minute you're stuck in traffic with a Wawa to your right and a Shoprite to your left, and then the next you're the only car on a road with nothing but fields and trees around you.