Editing Maplewood, New Jersey (section)

==Community==
[[File:Maplewood Library jeh.jpg|thumb|Public Library]]
Maplewood is a diverse and family-friendly community. The township has a downtown area alternatively known as "the village" or "Maplewood Center". The structure of the downtown is largely unchanged since the 1950s. Maplewood won ''[[New Jersey Monthly]]'' magazine's Downtown Showdown in 2015, with the editor's noting the community's "myriad boutiques, art galleries and notable restaurants".<ref>Mullen, Maryrose. [http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns-schools/mighty-maplewood-wins-downtown-showdown/ "Mighty Maplewood Wins Downtown Showdown; With myriad boutiques, art galleries and notable restaurants, Maplewood has emerged victorious in the bracket-style elimination competition."], ''[[New Jersey Monthly]]'', September 29, 2015. Accessed November 10, 2015. "It's not New Jersey's biggest downtown, nor its best-known. But Maplewood, with its boutiques, art galleries and notable restaurants, has prevailed against all odds in New Jersey Monthly's Downtown Showdown, presented by Kings Food Markets."</ref>

Maplewood is home to a [[gay village|gay village or "gayborhood."]]<ref>Goldstein, Deborah. [http://patch.com/new-jersey/maplewood/where-the-gays-are-2 "Where the Gays Are - Are Maplewood and South Orange the gay-family Mecca of the tri-state area? Maplewood, NJ"], Maplewood Patch, July 27, 2010. Accessed April 23, 2016.</ref> In June 2018, Maplewood unveiled permanently rainbow-colored [[crosswalk]]s to celebrate [[gay pride|LGBTQ pride]] across the full year.<ref>Dryfoos, Delanwy. [http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/06/maplewood_rainbow_crosswalk.html "Town permanently painted crosswalk rainbow, because LGBT pride never goes away"], NJ Advance Media for [[NJ.com]], June 7, 2018. Accessed November 5, 2019. "In Maplewood, LGBT pride doesn't just happen during Pride Month in June. And officials in town are proving it with a permanent change to a busy township intersection. Maplewood plans to unveil Thursday permanent rainbow striped crosswalks -- joining just a few other towns in the world that have done the same thing."</ref>

Maplewood counts among its residents a large number of theater professionals working in [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] and [[off-Broadway]] productions, owing to the town's convenient rail access and relatively short commute via train into Manhattan. In 2010, a group of 32 of these actors and technicians formed their own repertory theater company and named it Midtown Direct Rep, after the NJ Transit [[Kearny Connection|line]] on which they all commuted.<ref>LaGorce, Tammy. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/nyregion/29artsnj.html?_r=0 "'Where Broadway Comes Home to Sleep{{'"}}], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 27, 2010. Accessed May 1, 2016.</ref>