It's sometimes difficult to find a parking space in downtown Westfield, NJ. Contrary to what you might think, that can be a good thing. It means this busy commuter village of 30,000 residents has become a destination for high end shopping and high visibility dining, and lots of people want to be there.
How did this come to be? And what makes Westfield NJ different than any number of well-off suburbs in the New York metropolitan area?
For one thing, the street layout has an open, breezy feeling, with the NJ Transit station spilling its passengers right onto Elm Street,
a "restaurant row" that is especially appealing during the warm weather months, when every eatery has outdoor cafe tables out front.
For another,
Westfield NJ decided years ago to energize its shopping core by inviting high end national brand mall stores into its downtown, intermingled with local unique merchants. In a region where mall shopping has become the norm,
Westfield NJ is able to compete with the malls as an alternative destination.
It's become a fun place to spend the day or evening: shopping at brand name retailers such as Ann Taylor, The Gap, Victoria's Secret, and Aerosoles, along with quirky local boutiques and service businesses, then grabbing a bite at any of the numerous and varied cafes and restaurants right there.
So, unlike other commuter towns in New Jersey or New York, which can feel rather insular and provincial, focusing in on their residents and wary of outsiders, with downtown merchants struggling to lure enough business to stay afloat, Westfield NJ has come up with a mix of retail and dining that satisfies the needs of its residents while also attracting the spending power of visitors from other places. The result is a town that always feels like the place to be, with a vibrant street life and upscale tone that feels a bit like being on vacation.
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