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Had no clue Camden was "the worst". I actually thought Newark was.
Camden is much worse, and considering how bad Newark can be, that is saying a lot. Newark has many fine restaurants and a museum and a library. At least some people want to live in Newark and there is a busy downtown.
There are people trying to make changes. I love the guy who talks about the suburban people coming into to Camden to make "purchases". Parts of the city still look quite pretty, but some parts look like a bomb hit it:
The worst part is that they all have the opportunity to improve themselves, yet most choose not to. They have a ton of options available to them. Philadelphia is right across the river, and Wilmington is commutable. Plus all the jobs in the burbs.
In Detroit, they don't have a thriving world class city 5 minutes away to find a job in...
Had no clue Camden was "the worst". I actually thought Newark was.
No. Because of Newark's history I understand the comparisons to Camden but with everything that's been happening in Newark over the last few years these comparisons need to stop. While Detroit and Camden remain consistently in the top five most dangerous cities in the nation, Newark hasn't been that high in a long time. It has since dropped down to around the mid 20's. Not much better but certainly not in the same class it was once in.
Newark's population is on the rise. There are market rate apartments opening up and the universities in the city are building more dorms because demand to live on campus has been going up. Restaurants and businesses are opening up downtown. The Ironbound neighborhood has a lot of pedestrian activity, even at night. Check out this website to see some articles about what's going on in the city. Glocally Newark*|*Think Global. Be Local.
Camden, on the other hand, has none of this. I wouldn't consider myself a pessimist when it comes to Camden. I still believe it can rebound but it has a much longer climb than Newark.
The thing most folks don't realize about Camden is how small it is and how rather contained it is. Camden only has around 77k residents, which makes it roughly a quarter the size of Newark or Jersey City. Cherry Hill, Brick, Woodbridge, Toms River, Lakewood, etc. are all around the same size as or bigger then Camden in terms of population.
Camden is also rather hemmed in by highways with 130, 76 and 676 all forming a border aorund Camden as well as the Cooper and Delaware Rivers and their tributaries. While not every community bordering Camden is nice, there are ones like Collingswood and some sections of Haddon Twp. that are rather desirable suburban communities and none of them have the issues that Camden has.
If one wants to compare Camden to other cities, bascially think of Camden, virtually the entire place, as being the worst neighborhood in a city like Newark or Jersey City. There are some areas of that neighborhood that are OK and others that are downright warzones. Downtown Camden, the area that comprises the waterfront, city hall and court buildings, Rutgers and Cooper Hospital is pretty much the only relatively safe area to be. I refer to it as the "Green Zone" owing to the huge police presence. Even then, you don't want to be hanging out long after an event at the waterfront ends or when night comes. People who work at the court buildings and Rutgers in Camden get armed escorts to their cars each night and Cooper probably has the largest security force of any hospital for a reason.
Camden is definitely worse than Newark, but it is not a major city. 9 sq mi, 77k people. That's it. You wouldn't even know it existed if it weren't for the news.
Unfortunately, while Newark and Jersey City have the positive pressure of Manhattan being unattainable for many companies and people, Camden has no such pressure from Philly. While Philly is a great city and is on the rise, it'll be a long time if ever before it is built out enough for people to consider Camden instead. That said, the waterfront is great, I've had tons of great times there over the years, and with renewed investment in RU-Camden and Cooper Medical School, I can see things begin to change for the better over the next 10-15 years.
Back to the OP. What does this have to do with Rock Center on NBC??? That show does not air this Thursday. There is an episode on Friday but in reading the description for Friday's episode I don't see how it has anything to do with Camden.
The thing most folks don't realize about Camden is how small it is and how rather contained it is. Camden only has around 77k residents, which makes it roughly a quarter the size of Newark or Jersey City. Cherry Hill, Brick, Woodbridge, Toms River, Lakewood, etc. are all around the same size as or bigger then Camden in terms of population.
Camden is also rather hemmed in by highways with 130, 76 and 676 all forming a border aorund Camden as well as the Cooper and Delaware Rivers and their tributaries. While not every community bordering Camden is nice, there are ones like Collingswood and some sections of Haddon Twp. that are rather desirable suburban communities and none of them have the issues that Camden has.
If one wants to compare Camden to other cities, bascially think of Camden, virtually the entire place, as being the worst neighborhood in a city like Newark or Jersey City. There are some areas of that neighborhood that are OK and others that are downright warzones. Downtown Camden, the area that comprises the waterfront, city hall and court buildings, Rutgers and Cooper Hospital is pretty much the only relatively safe area to be. I refer to it as the "Green Zone" owing to the huge police presence. Even then, you don't want to be hanging out long after an event at the waterfront ends or when night comes. People who work at the court buildings and Rutgers in Camden get armed escorts to their cars each night and Cooper probably has the largest security force of any hospital for a reason.
^^^^ This
After the '67 Newark riots everybody was leaving, my Grandparents left in 1969 and my Family in 1970.. When I would stay in Newark in the late 70s and 80s on occasion with my dad or uncles Newark was bad the pisans still had control of it but when they all went away on Rico charges it got even worse..
Then when the powers that be saw all the money they were missing out on they decided to rebuild parts of Newark and other parts are soon to follow.. I was just there in September and I can't believe the changes myself.. A lot of people that work in New York now live in Newark..
And they are cleaning up Jersey City too for the same reason..
Now Camden is a Different story sad to say there is no reason for them build it up and they will let it rot unless the surrounding areas get better then they will have a reason to build it up..
I honestly think Trenton is worse but that is in my own opinion..
The worst part is that they all have the opportunity to improve themselves, yet most choose not to. They have a ton of options available to them. Philadelphia is right across the river, and Wilmington is commutable. Plus all the jobs in the burbs.
In Detroit, they don't have a thriving world class city 5 minutes away to find a job in...
That was the point I was making. That was why I said detroit was much worse.
Had no clue Camden was "the worst". I actually thought Newark was.
Republican propaganda? Did you open the link and take a look around what this publication is about? Definitely not Republican...
At any rate, the despair found in Camden runs deep in too many places. No politician can fix it.
Philadelphia! Bad weather, sagging economy, weak downtown core, depressed people, dirty, high crime and lots of run down neighborhoods like N. Philly and Southwest Philly and lastly, the city constantly ranked among the worst in surveys.
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