That said, South Jersey is an entirely different beast. Primarily rural and farming communities (once the cranberry capital), it is much more poorer economically compared to its Central and North counterparts and has a very laid-back "Delaware" attitude. This is of course changing as the need for space in what has been the densest populated state becomes more populated. People get priced out of NYC, move to Jersey. Get priced out of north jersey move to south jersey.
Depending on where you draw the line for "South" Jersey, its definitely very rural down there, the definition of garden state. Head into the Pine Barrens a bit and there are cranberry bogs all over the place. Very cool, and you can easily drive alongside them.
If you're just dividing the state up into North and South, however, its a little different. I generally thought of LBI and down as South, and everything above as North, on the coast. For the west, probably Bordentown (the big curve of the Delaware) is the separator, so basically McGuire AFB cuts the state in two. But I think most of the division depends on which city you are a suburb of. SoJer is Philly, generally, and NoJer is NYC.
There is definitely no NYC to NoJer to SoJer diaspora. You either live in a NYC suburb or a Philly suburb, no one moves from one to the other for price. The crowd at the shore towns is a little different since they are generally not residential, but still Wildwood is mostly Philly, Seaside is mostly NYC (and their suburbs). I'd even argue that the move to north and south Jersey from the city is not a price consideration. What neighborhoods in NYC are these super wealthy people in Alpine, NJ fleeing from? Manhattan is the only place that is ridiculously expensive, and that is a relatively new development, certainly wasn't the case when "white flight" started. What the suburbs have is open space, golf courses, and, most importantly, less "downstairs people" nearby.
There are definitely some great, unexpected places to see in NJ. Check out the Delaware Water Gap or Highpoint, NJ in the mountains at the very northeastern corner. You wouldn't even know NYC existed from there.
