For a city/metro if its size AC does have really high transit ridership.
I def. think AC has enough cachet now that it's ready to start doing a little more as far as residential construction is concerned. I think having light rail or at least some form of BRT connecting Brigantine with AC, Ventnor, Margate, and possibly Ocean City and definitely back to park'n'rides on the mainland - would get that kick-started.
As far as the schools go, most big cities have relatively shitty school systems (compared to the suburbs that surround them) and for the most part it's not people with kids that are filling up most downtowns - it's the bookend demographic. One of them, the baby-boomers, is the fastest growing segment of the population.
Anyway - a few pics from Atlantic Ave. and "the Walk" along Michigan Ave. (it connects the train station/convention center with the Boardwalk). It's not like it's some bombed out shell of a city and I think most people can see the potential.
the Walk outlet shops.
