*Safer* neighborhoods, streets in Camden NJ (Trenton, Pennsauken: middle-class, lofts, townhouses)

[SinisterCadre]

I hear about the waterfront a lot in terms of safety when compared with the inner city in Camden. What areas in Camden are *safer*? What areas have undergone the most change, in terms of revitalization?

[solibs]

I wouldn't really call any part of Camden "revitalized" but downtown/waterfront/Cooper Grant neighborhoods aren't dangerous by any means. No one lives there but Rutgers students, a few professors, and some professionals in the Victor Lofts. The rest of the area is an office park and parking lots. There are new lofts going into the old RCA warehouse next door - same developer - and there are a ton of new townhouses slated for that big parking lot between the ballpark and the aquarium. There are also a lot of new twins going up in Cooper Grant right now (that's the neighborhood right next to the Rutger's campus.

The transit is great. All of the South Jersey buses are right there. PATCO takes you to Center City, it's $1.30, it takes 5 minutes and runs 24/7. The Riverline takes you to all the towns up to Trenton and in 6 years or so we'll have the PATCO extension to Glassboro.

My brother has been in the dorms there for 4 years. I went to school there, too, trouble free. The only downside to it, really, is that all the action is in Center City. The area is still light on conveniences.

Aside from that the area called Parkside which is more or less behind Lady of Lourdes Hospital (near the Collingswood border) is decent. Fairview, which is also next to Collingswood and cut off from the rest of Camden by Newton Creek, is a reasonably integrated neighborhood. That's a rarity in Camden.

Cramer Hill is along the river in East Camden and is a more or less middle-class (at least upwardly mobile) Puerto Rican neighborhood but I'm not sure what's going on there now as there were/are plans for "redevelopment" that were highly controversial. In any case, it's not a bad neighborhood and is likely to only get better.

If you had to pick anywhere I would say Parkside because it has better transit - as it's close to the Ferry Ave. PATCO station and also because there's quite a push behind it. It's already a pretty stable neighborhood and I think they're looking to take the successes of Haddon Ave. in Haddonfield, Westmont and Collingswood straight through to Camden as Haddon Ave. basically runs from the Ben Franklin Bridge out to to 295.

Cramer Hill has the Riverline stop at 36th St. but it doesn't run as often or as late and neighboring Pennsauken is far less affluent than Collingswood.

[Jerseyt719]

Not trying to be a downer, but I worked in Trenton for a while and many that worked with me were from Camden.
In the two years I had to be there, EVERY ONE of those people from Camden, and yes, I mean every one of them, had someone in their immediate family shot or stabbed. I was flabbergasted. I'd heard of it being not a great place, but that floored me.
A guy we know was sent there to fix something, a camera on a pole, and he was surrounded, brought down and beaten within an inch of his life.

[MoorestownResident]

Cottage Living recently named a revitalized Camden neighborhood one of the most desirable in the country:

Camden neighborhood ranked among nation's most desirable | CourierPostOnline.com | Courier-Post

That said, Camden on the whole is very undesirable and crime-ridden but the State has been pumping hundreds of million of $$ into the city; private development along the Delaware has helped. Areas around Rutgers-Camden are considered OK and reasonably safe.

[dhanu86]

North camden isn't as bad, less blacks -not to be racists, and more hispanics, new development.

[Badfish740]

Originally Posted by dhanu86

North camden isn't as bad, less blacks -not to be racists, and more hispanics, new development.

BTW-I don't think the edit made it seem any better...

[dhanu86]

Originally Posted by Badfish740

BTW-I don't think the edit made it seem any better...

it's the truth, if im racists so is the US census and all these jobs who ask your race etc. Im voting for Obama if that makes it better

[solibs]

North Camden used to be the worst part of the city. It's cleaned up a lot in the last 10-15 years but I still wouldn't live there. Stick with Downtown/Waterfront, Parkside or Fairview.

[Badfish740]

Originally Posted by dhanu86

it's the truth, if im racists so is the US census and all these jobs who ask your race etc. Im voting for Obama if that makes it better

I just found it humorous.

[SinisterCadre]

Thank you all for the input. It is appreciated