Descriptive Essay On Atlantic City

I've been catching up on Atlantic City's history, borrowing books from the library like Boardwalk of Dreams, The Northside, and Casino gaming in Atlantic City, among others. After moving down here recently, I can't understand why the South Inlet looks like a 50 year old urban renewal project that ran out of cement 40 years ago, while the casinos have pulled in $150 billion dollars over the last 35 years. Ride down Pacific Avenue and you'll see whole blocks cleared out with an occasional house sticking out, some new construction, and a few lost tourists who wandered off the Boardwalk.

Last week I planned on visiting the Historical Museum on Garden Pier. I rode down New Jersey Avenue between the former Revel and Showboat casinos, looking for a place to park. The street was packed with cars, but I found an opening next to a driveway. There was no paint on the curb marking how close you could park to the end, but I thought I could squeeze in. With the city's $100 million dollar budget shortfall, they probably cut out frivolous spending like curb paint.

When I reached the Boardwalk, I couldn't find Garden Pier. It's been

downsized since the days when they held concerts on it, extending just a short distance off the Boardwalk. It now houses the museum and an art gallery. According to the sign out front, it's open Saturday through Wednesday. Unfortunately, I showed up on a Thursday. It was a nice day though, and the ocean and boards were more appealing than looking at pictures of hotels and dandies in rolling chairs.

When we lived on South Rhode Island Avenue 50 years ago, people were abandoning the neighborhood, leaving their homes vacant, not even bothering to put them up for sale. Closer to the beach, absentee landlords were squeezing the last dime out of their properties while they let them deteriorate. As a kid, I didn't care about the post WWII economic and technological changes that were reshaping the demographic landscape where lived and vacationed. Urban blight, white-flight, disinvestment, and sub-standard housing weren't part of my vocabulary. All I knew was the beach, fishing, and playing games in the boardwalk arcades.

It was late afternoon and I was getting hungry, so I headed towards Captain Starns.

I could almost hear the sea lions. There were some people on the beach, but few were venturing "Uptown" to stroll the boards. We used to call it the Inlet, the new name must have been cooked up by the $30 million dollar Do AC marketing team, along with the Tourist Zone trash cans lining the Boardwalk. A few blocks up, the Boardwalk ended at Rhode Island Avenue, so I cut over to the lighthouse. The property off the Boardwalk is still available for $345 a square foot.There were a couple of people on Pacific Avenue waiting for a Jitney, and I passed a deli and food market. When I walked through this area 20 years ago, I rarely saw anyone on the street. I thought I was in the twilight zone, with new apartments and condos, cars parked in attached garages, but no

people.

I decided to skip Starns and find a bench on the Boardwalk to sit and relax for a while. The first bench I passed didn't have a back rest and I assumed it was broken. The next bench also lacked a backrest and had metal bars dividing it along its length. In fact, all the benches lacked backrests and had metal bars because they were designed to prevent people from getting too comfortable – part of the "Do AC" campaign to keep the bums off the Boardwalk so they don't scare the tourists.

According to their website, the Atlantic City Rescue Mission "helps over 3,300 homeless and working poor people per year and is the largest provider of comprehensive services to about 20% of the entire state of New Jersey’s homeless population ... In 2008, they provided services to 2,312 men, 728 women, and 79 families with 146 children, and served 260,376 meals in the dining hall and 100,404 meals in food baskets. In addition, 98,894 beds were filled, an average of 270 per night."

The Rescue Mission opened in 1964, operating out of a storefront, helping a handful of people who drifted in. In 1970 they moved to their current location on Bacharach Boulevard. Today they can sleep 250 people and serve 600 meals daily. The Rescue Mission, along with other non-profits in the city and the AtlantiCare health system, provide social services, addiction counseling and medical care.

If you find the accommodations on the Boardwalk somewhat lacking, you can always crash at the mission.