Elizabeth

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For a die-hard shopper’s trifecta, Elizabeth offers no sales tax on clothes or shoes and half the tax on big-ticket items including personal goods and home electronics.

And there’s an entire exit on the New Jersey Turnpike devoted to mega shopping centers like Ikea, the super-sized Swedish home store, and Jersey Gardens, the state’s largest outlet mall.

When you’re ready to let your credit card cool off, head to downtown Elizabeth, New Jersey’s own world microcosm. With 35 languages spoken within its borders, the state’s fourth-largest city takes diversity to new levels.

There’s no better spot to try out some of its Latin flavor than on Morris Avenue, often dubbed “Little Colombia.”

Don’t Miss:

• The Art Deco Ritz Theater (1148 E. Jersey St.), home of live entertainment since 1926

• The addictive Swedish meatballs served up in Ikea’s cafeteria (or bulk-packaged to bring home)

Did you know? Popular Science named Elizabeth one of America’s 50 Greenest Cities in 2008. The designation took into account the city’s efforts to “green up” over the past four years, including planting more than 1,000 trees, implementing large-scale recycling programs, renovating all parks and green spaces in the city and developing alternative energy sources that will soon turn brown fields into energy fields.

Elizabeth STORIES