Growing up in Brooklyn, NY as a kid i remember how much of an attraction Atlantic City was back in the day... Even if you didn't gamble AC was well known as a weekend gateway to catch a comedy show or musical performer and if you did gamble it was Las vegas on the east coast. These days things have changed and AC looks more like a ghost town. Billionaire investors have scattered the U.S. & abroad looking for greener pastures and AC has since become a forgotten land.
Realtytrac recently did its annual list of most vacant homes in a U.S. city and NJ's very own acclaimed Atlantic city unfortuantely made the list.
The national vacancy rate is 1.6 percent, but in Flint — the emptiest metro area in the nation — it’s 7.5 percent. In Detroit, it’s 5.3 percent. Other (relatively) empty cities include Youngstown, Ohio (4.4 percent); Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas (3.8 percent); Atlantic City, New Jersey (3.7 percent); Indianapolis (3.0 percent); Tampa (2.9 percent); Miami (2.8 percent); Cleveland (2.8 percent); and St. Louis (2.6 percent).
Vacant homes present challenges for cities and states and the need for development is vital. Let's hope NJ figures out a plan to revitilize the historic AC & all that it has to offer. The crowds have gone, the big name acts no longer schedule a stop there and the streets look abandoned. it's pretty sad to see the city turn out this way but if history repeats itself there will be a turnaround in the years to come...for New Jerseyians let's just hope it's much sooner than later.
