Spending a Spring afternoon on the beach (kinda) with my family
After watching some very cool films–including my nephew’s–I got to stroll leisurely on the boardwalk in Asbury Park with my family. This troubled community has been struggling for years to rebuild itself. For too long, good-hearted but misguided souls halted renovations in town due to a desire to rekindle a long-lost past.
Asbury Park was once a resort town with serious historical significance, but it had been in a poverty spiral for several decades. The truth was that the midway-style attractions of the Palace, Casino and such simply were not enough to sustain any prestige in the town. Finally, after years of fighting, developers have been allowed to move in to rebuild the town.
Of course there are concerns that the poor will be forced out by all of the money. However, the developers have presented plans that include low income housing. In a beautifully ironic twist, all of this has lead to a plan to actually rebuild the the Palace, Casino and such. I guess it just took the right injection of cash to come before trying to rebuild the fun. My fingers are crossed that they’ll get it right.
