By and large: Hoboken is a safe place to live: but there is always room for improvement.
Panera and all three Starbucks have recently made the decision to eliminate or severely reduce their in restaurant seating. None of these outlets are in the sixth ward, but it still affects sixth ward residents. There are several reasons for this change, but regardless of those reasons: this reduces the quality of life for the residents who use the seating. The affect of this change probably also affects the tips the employees make and the revenues of those businesses.
Recently, the city lowered the citywide speed limit from 25 to 20: but I’m not sure if the problem was with the extra 5 miles per hour. While no one can argue that reducing the speed limit will lead to some improvements in safety, the bigger issue is with cars moving at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour.
Likewise all of our bike lanes are currently direct flow. I’d like to see all bike lanes be made contra-flow so bicycles can ride with traffic in the car lanes and against traffic in their own lane: another dramatic improvement in safety and one that is likely to increase the number of cyclists and ultimate reduce the need for cars in town.