Tuesday, February 26, 2008
1 Picture = 1000 Words - Asbury Park
My time in Asbury Park is rapidly drawing to a close. I really like living here, and I really like being so close to the ocean... but the apartment, the commute and being so far out in the suburbs is making it impractical for me. This picture is a photo that I took and played with shortly after I moved to the city two years ago.
Labels: asbury park, photo of the week, travel
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Asbury Park, Then&Now: The Casino
This is part three in an irregular series showing the differences that two years can make in the struggle of a down on its luck city trying to recapture its glory days a resort on the New Jersey shore.
Huge changes happened with the Casino. This is what I saw when I moved to Asbury Park in April of 2006.
As you can see. It's not pretty. The buildings had been vacant for the better part of two decades and were falling apart. This was one of the touchstones of beauty left to rust that gave Asbury Park its nickname of "Debris by the Sea" that it is sometimes referred to.
Here's what the Casino looks like today. And it's a big change!
May not look different at first glance, but notice the blue sky to the left of the Casino? That half of the building wreckage has been completely razed and is scheduled to be rebuilt. The second "before" picture no longer exists. Work is supposed to start in earnest on rebuilding the pier and restoring the rest of the casino this year. Will it happen? Who knows. But at least a degree of progress is being seen in this location.
Huge changes happened with the Casino. This is what I saw when I moved to Asbury Park in April of 2006.
As you can see. It's not pretty. The buildings had been vacant for the better part of two decades and were falling apart. This was one of the touchstones of beauty left to rust that gave Asbury Park its nickname of "Debris by the Sea" that it is sometimes referred to.
Here's what the Casino looks like today. And it's a big change!
May not look different at first glance, but notice the blue sky to the left of the Casino? That half of the building wreckage has been completely razed and is scheduled to be rebuilt. The second "before" picture no longer exists. Work is supposed to start in earnest on rebuilding the pier and restoring the rest of the casino this year. Will it happen? Who knows. But at least a degree of progress is being seen in this location.
Labels: asbury park, travel
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Asbury Park, Then&Now
So what kind of difference can two years make to a town struggling to regain its tourist trade on the Jersey Shore? Let's take a look.
One of the most iconic pieces of Architecture in Asbury Park was the modern Howard Johnson's that lived on the boardwalk for decades. After falling on hard times, the building, part of the "Fifth Avenue Pavilion" had really begun to deteriorate. The HoJo still opened, but it was what you remembered in name only. Possibly the food was the same too, my single experience at the old Howard Johnson made me think they were still using the same meat from the last time they opened it, years before. Here it is in April of 2006.
A new restaurant and a new attitude for this pavilion has shown up since 2006. This is how it looks today.
It's more than a fresh coat of paint too. The building has been rehabbed and the inside gutted and rebuilt. The old Howard Johnson's is now the Salt Water Cafe, an upscale restaurant on the shore. In its first summer it did so well, that the restaurant is surprisingly still open for the winter, despite every other business on the boardwalk shuttered til summer approaches. The one sad thing is that the walkway that hikes up the restaurant's side is still broken. It leads to a second story bandshell that sits atop the pavilion, but is currently unsafe. There are plans to remodel this bandshell and reopen it for events, but this promise has been made for years, with few results as far as the bandshell has gone.
One of the most iconic pieces of Architecture in Asbury Park was the modern Howard Johnson's that lived on the boardwalk for decades. After falling on hard times, the building, part of the "Fifth Avenue Pavilion" had really begun to deteriorate. The HoJo still opened, but it was what you remembered in name only. Possibly the food was the same too, my single experience at the old Howard Johnson made me think they were still using the same meat from the last time they opened it, years before. Here it is in April of 2006.
A new restaurant and a new attitude for this pavilion has shown up since 2006. This is how it looks today.
It's more than a fresh coat of paint too. The building has been rehabbed and the inside gutted and rebuilt. The old Howard Johnson's is now the Salt Water Cafe, an upscale restaurant on the shore. In its first summer it did so well, that the restaurant is surprisingly still open for the winter, despite every other business on the boardwalk shuttered til summer approaches. The one sad thing is that the walkway that hikes up the restaurant's side is still broken. It leads to a second story bandshell that sits atop the pavilion, but is currently unsafe. There are plans to remodel this bandshell and reopen it for events, but this promise has been made for years, with few results as far as the bandshell has gone.
Labels: asbury park, transformations, travel
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
