Thursday, January 17, 2008
Asbury Park, Then&Now
This is the start of an irregular series of posts about my hometown, a Jersey Shore resort fighting to get back to becoming an attraction. I will share the changes I have seen over the last two years.
I live in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This was a seaside resort town that has now been dealing with 30+ years of serious problems. Starting with race riots in 1970 and having enjoyed massive endemic corruption, this former jewel of the Jersey Shore was allowed to rot for decades.
Every few years, a redevelopment plan rears its head, promising to make the boardwalk and waterfront shine and bring Asbury Park back to its glory days. The last big push that Asbury Park had before its current fight for renaissance was in the 1980s. The end result was this.
Condos that were never completed and abandoned. The shell stayed in place for twenty years, only being torn down in the Spring of 2006. This photo was taken when I first moved to Asbury Park in April of 2006.
With the current redevelopment plan, condos again were called to be constructed on the same block. And two years later, it looks quite different.
See the change? Yet, the end result is the same. In December, the developer ran out of money and "mothballed" the project. This time only three stories were built instead of 16, but again another abandoned worksite litters Asbury Park, just one block from the beach.
This block was a symbol for Asbury Park and its attempts at greatness, and its results of falling short. Will this new project be resurrected? Will we finally see something nice replace construction blight? The jury is still out.
I live in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This was a seaside resort town that has now been dealing with 30+ years of serious problems. Starting with race riots in 1970 and having enjoyed massive endemic corruption, this former jewel of the Jersey Shore was allowed to rot for decades.
Every few years, a redevelopment plan rears its head, promising to make the boardwalk and waterfront shine and bring Asbury Park back to its glory days. The last big push that Asbury Park had before its current fight for renaissance was in the 1980s. The end result was this.
Condos that were never completed and abandoned. The shell stayed in place for twenty years, only being torn down in the Spring of 2006. This photo was taken when I first moved to Asbury Park in April of 2006.
With the current redevelopment plan, condos again were called to be constructed on the same block. And two years later, it looks quite different.
See the change? Yet, the end result is the same. In December, the developer ran out of money and "mothballed" the project. This time only three stories were built instead of 16, but again another abandoned worksite litters Asbury Park, just one block from the beach.
This block was a symbol for Asbury Park and its attempts at greatness, and its results of falling short. Will this new project be resurrected? Will we finally see something nice replace construction blight? The jury is still out.
Labels: asbury park, reconstruction, travel
Roger, 7:22 PM
