A Place Called Home

One of the major dilemmas we've faced returning to America is finding somewhere to live.

Thanks to Tina's brother, that problem is over. And how!

Now we've got a place to live in the Township of North Brunswick.

That's in New Jersey, which is really good as far as I'm concerned. After our week long visit in October, I decided that New Jersey was a lot nicer than Long Island. More space. More trees and still only half an hour or so to the centre of Manhattan.

Of course, we don't know what to expect with this apartment. We haven't seen it. I don't think I've ever even driven through North Brunswick. But thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I do know this much about it.

North Brunswick - a Place called Home

North Brunswick is in Middlesex county, New Jersey. It's a sprawl from nearby New Brunswick, originally founded by German settlers in the 1600s. The British occupied the region during the Revolutionary War and anglicised the surrounding area.

Just over 36,000 people live in North Brunswick and it's a reasonably affluent place. The average family income is over $70,000. If you took a cross section of 10 North Brunswick residents, 6 would be white, 1 would be African American, 1 would be Hispanic and 1 would be Asian. The final person could be any of the above!

Francis "Mac" Womack III is the current mayor of North Brunswick - although his term is due to finish in December 2007. The township is in the twelfth congressional district and is represented in the houses by Democrat Rush D. Holt Jr.

Although North Brunswick has a fairly diverse population, it has a long Italian American history. For the last two decades, an annual celebration of Italian Culture has been held climaxing in a stunning fireworks display.

North Brunswick even has an important place in modern British culture. Tim Howard, born in North Brunswick, was the first American to play for Manchester United!

It's funny to think that this little slice of small town America will soon be our home!