Nostalgia and developing amenities in America’s Playground
Monopoly City. America’s Playground. A.C. Over 175 years, Atlantic City has collected nicknames, entertainment venues and loyal Jersey Shore tourists like seashells from the sand. Saying Atlantic City has a storied past would be the understatement of the century. And, as is the case with many established coastal towns, that story is not without political pitfalls, economic backsliding and plenty of resiliency from longtime residents. Population, tourist turnout and a reputation as a premier seaside resort town have turned as the tides, making reinvention of both infrastructure and industry integral to Atlantic City’s identity since it was little more than a sand bar past salt marshes. Developments in family fun, renewable energy, and higher education are all in the city’s future, joining the longstanding, twinkling lights that flash atop casinos and spin around the Steel Pier’s Ferris wheel.
The Orange Loop business district covers three beach blocks in Atlantic City.
The ferris wheel is the centerpiece of the Atlantic City boardwalk.
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Diversifying Atlantic City’s entertainment, casino and healthcare industries
At its inception, Atlantic City was imagined as a coastal health resort town – think boarding houses designed to fill with crisp, salty sea air. Over decades, larger luxury hotels rose up to meet increasing demand from tourists that arrived by train from Philadelphia, grown in part by the kinds of Prohibition-era backroom gambling that inspired HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.” In response to declining tourism later in the 20th century, a new economic era began following a 1976 referendum vote when Atlantic City became an East Coast version of Las Vegas by legalizing casino gambling. Over the years, glitzy, themed resorts have been built, demolished and rebranded. A.C.’s current entertainment and employment central nervous system is made up of nine casinos. Lined up as they are along the historic Atlantic City Boardwalk and Inlet areas, the metaphor takes on an almost literal form, forming a curled, vital economic pathway along the shoreline of Absecon Island.
Competition for a share of the city’s nearly 30 million annual visitors means that casinos and other entertainment venues always have something going on. “One of the best things about Atlantic City, it’s a shore town that doesn’t close. Ocean City and Brigantine, they roll up in October. Here, you can go see a show, have a fine meal and be well-entertained in the middle of winter,” says Anthony Marotta, a real estate professional with Keller Williams Jersey Shore who does business in Atlantic City and other Downbeach shore towns. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino sets the bar high, headlining live music performances 365 days a year. While the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall no longer hosts the Miss America Pageant, it still draws history buffs to the Atlantic City Experience and the Atlantic City Laborers Museum. Summer heat and a corresponding influx of tourists heralds the return of several popular annual events, including the August Atlantic City Airshow which brings hundreds of thousands of spectators out to the beachfront. On the city’s bayside, sculpted fish float under the Atlantic City Convention Center’s glass ceiling, a hub for trade shows, concerts and food festivals of varied sizes throughout the year.
Adult-centric entertainment has been on the rise along the eastern seaboard, spawning yet another shift in Atlantic City’s priorities. “Now, a lot of states have casino gambling. Way back when Atlantic City had a monopoly on the East Coast, if you wanted to gamble, you either went to Atlantic City or Vegas,” says Mayor Marty Small Sr. “With those demographics and dynamics changing, we have to diversify what we offer here in the great city of Atlantic City.” The Steel Pier, shadowed by its iconic flashing Ferris wheel, has long answered the call for family entertainment, opening new rides and attractions on a pier that has stretched out over the open ocean for over 125 years. Firmly on land, a Dave and Busters has replaced a club once owned by musician and entrepreneur Jay-Z. The Orange Loop, so called because of the colors of its corresponding Monopoly board streets, is branding itself as a trendy, up-and-coming collection of businesses like a beer hall, yoga studio and artsy coffee shop. Tourism isn’t the only driving force of development – wind turbines have churned over the bayside since the 2000s, and Atlantic Shores is currently working to develop an offshore wind farm miles out in the ocean between Atlantic City and Long Beach Island.
AtlantiCare is the primary healthcare provider for much of southeastern New Jersey and is the city’s largest employer outside of the casino industry. Several specialty clinics and a larger HealthPlex are scattered throughout Atlantic City and surrounding barrier island towns. The block-long AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center – Atlantic City Campus between Pacific and Atlantic avenues is a larger hub for emergency room visits, psychiatric care and stroke treatment.
All of the casinos on the Atlantic City Boardwalk have a view of the ocean.
AtlantiCare is the largest hospital in Atlantic City.
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Varied residential development from the Atlantic Ocean to the bayside
Homes in Atlantic City are never more than a few blocks from the water, a fact which has spawned varied residential developments over the years. High- and mid-rise condo buildings line up along the beach block, often advertising panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and casino district. A couple of neighborhoods like Venice Park stretch blended blocks of detached prewar through midcentury single-family homes that wouldn’t look out of place in a landlocked New Jersey suburb. Rowhouses built in the early 20th century make up much of the rest of the city, some sporting fresh paint and others in need of serious rehabilitation. Atlantic City’s median price of $210,000 is far below the nation’s median of $416,700. Homes sit on the market for around 64 days, longer than the national average of 44.
You can own a condo over looking the water in Atlantic City.
There are many quiet streets along the water in Atlantic City.
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Four seasons at Atlantic City’s beaches and boardwalk
Sea breezes billow from the cresting surf of the Atlantic Ocean over wide, sandy beaches and Atlantic City’s iconic boardwalk. Once a removable collection of planks intended to reduce sand in hotel lobbies, the historic Atlantic City Boardwalk is now a permanent fixture that connects the northern tip of Absecon Island to the neighboring communities of Ventnor and Margate. Walking or jogging on the boardwalk is a popular pastime, but cycling is restricted to the morning hours during peak season. Unlike many nearby towns, Atlantic City’s beaches are free to access. No beach tags are necessary to relax in the sand, splash in the Atlantic Ocean or fish off of nearby jetties.
While many know the city’s hot, mid-80s summers the best, Atlantic City experiences all four seasons. Indoor entertainment becomes more popular through the winter, when temperatures fall below freezing.
Surfers love the waves at the Atlantic City beach.
The beaches are well maintained in Atlantic City.
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Shopping and dining at the Tanger Outlets and beyond
The Atlantic City Tanger Outlets complex sprawls just off the Atlantic City Expressway, placing dozens of retailers in a handful of walkable blocks filled with tidy landscaping, coves of benches and evenly spaced shady trees. Grocery shopping is trickier – outside of the Save-A-Lot at Renaissance Plaza, the nearest big name grocery store is ACME Markets in Ventnor Heights. Atlantic City’s vacation destination status has spawned a robust list of shopping and dining staples that span the commercial blocks of Atlantic and Pacific avenues as well as in-casino dining rooms and up-and-coming commercial districts. White House Sub Shop is known for their generosity with deli slices, the line for Happy Hour at Dock’s Oyster House runs down the block and the Knife and Fork Inn serves patrons in dining rooms where political boss Nucky Johnson once held court. Dozens of global cuisines are represented in well-known and hole-in-the-wall establishments alike. New Jersey’s Christian, and especially Catholic, majority are represented in churches like Our Lady Star of the Sea, but several other major religions are also reflected in the city’s masjids, synagogues and Hindu temple.
You can spend time in Atlantic City shopping at the Tanger Outlets.
You can easily walk the Tanger Outlets in Atlantic City.
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Riding the Jitney and taking the train to Philly
NJ Transit and Jitney buses take residents around the city. Extensive sidewalks and the boardwalk provide space to walk or bike around. To access the mainland, drivers take off on bridges over bayside salt marshes along White Horse Pike, Black Horse Pike or the Atlantic City Expressway. Atlantic City International Airport is about 13 miles away in Egg Harbor Township. Proximity to Philadelphia has long been central to Atlantic City’s growth and prosperity, and train passengers have a roughly 90-minute trip from Center City to the coast via the NJ Transit Atlantic City Rail Line.
Education at Atlantic City Public Schools and Stockton University
The city is served by the Atlantic City School District which earns a B-minus overall from Niche. Once students reach Atlantic City High School which also earns a B-minus, they may opt into dual credit classes done in concert with Stockton University. When Stockton University opened in 1971, it used Atlantic City’s Mayflower Hotel as a temporary campus as its Galloway Township main campus experienced construction delays. In 2018, the public university returned to A.C. in a brand-new campus in the Chelsea neighborhood which is home to over 500 students.
Atlantic City High School has 1,764 students in grades 9-12.
Pennsylvania Ave School educates students Pre-K to 8th grade.
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Mitigating crime and bayside flooding on a barrier island
Atlantic City’s crime rates are high. The data is skewed to a certain extent, as many who contribute to the crime rate are tourists rather than the population counts utilized by per capita rates. Regardless, FBI crime data reveals that violent crimes were nearly six times New Jersey’s rate of violent crime at 424.6 per 100,000 people at the end of 2023. Property crimes came in at 458.25 per 100,000 people at the same time, more than three times the state’s rate. Increasing camera coverage and police resources are some ways the city has chosen to fight crime. Community-centric solutions are also important to the city’s strategy, including the One Neighborhood Evolution unit that performs both direct anti-violence outreach and works to build relationships between community members through events.
For coastal communities, flooding is a fact of life. In Atlantic City, the highest-risk flood zones fall on the bayside rather than the oceanside. Storm surges following coastal storms and hurricanes, including Hurricane Sandy in 2012, have flooded homes and roadways for as long as the city has existed. Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone into building a sea wall, bolstering bulkheads and repairing infrastructure over the years. Despite citywide mitigation efforts, personal flood insurance is necessary for many living on the island.
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