Atlantic City in March: Not quite recovered from Hurricane Sandy

[Cirrus]

I have absolutely no interest in —. None at all. But I do like exploring interesting places, so this past March my wife and I spent a weekend poking around Atlantic City. We did discover that casinos are excellent places to go to the restroom.

The famous casino-lined boardwalk was pristine, as one would expect from such a cash cow. The rest of the city: Not so much. Everyone knows Atlantic City inland from the boardwalk gets dicey, and we were prepared for that. We weren't as prepared for the flood damage.

The northern boardwalk, which isn't lined with casinos, was completely destroyed. Behind it was a motley collection of flooded city blocks and beaches, strewn with bricks and other detritus.






Not only was the northern boardwalk gone, but its seawall was breached in several places.








Mere blocks away, the northernmost casinos are doing fine.




Towards the center of town, we found a parking garage from which we could survey the city. Unlike some resort towns, there is an actual city here.






This is the train station, which is attached to the convention center. Being the nerd that I am, that was the first place I wanted to check out. Yes, before the boardwalk.




Meh. Decent train service, but fairly unspectacular station. Passable, I suppose. Better than an Amshack.






The walk from the train station to the boardwalk has been redeveloped as an urban outlet mall. It's interesting, sorta.




The boardwalk, of course, remains mighty.


(fullsize)








































The beach beyond the boardwalk wasn't in such great shape. But this was in March, when the water was still cold. I expect now, in the heat of summer, it's been cleaned up.




Under the boardwalk there apparently lives a large clowder of feral cats. Interesting.






Inland from the boardwalk, besides the outlet mall, the central city is largely devoid of recent investment. Old buildings are filled with low-rent users. It's like walking through pre-gentrification 1980s DC.














Ever since Katrina hit New Orleans we all know what these blue tarps mean.




This is the bus station. It's actually pretty nice.










Spotted a cackle of grackles funnily disrespecting the fake owl clearly put up in a lost attempt to scare them off.




But even in the ghetto of inland AC, you can still see glimpses of the wealth that once flowed through there.

[Cirrus]

Parting shot. Scoll ---->

[Coldrsx]

Good lord

[Nexis4Jersey]

I was there a few weeks ago the Boardwalk looked fine I guess they repaired it. I guess you skipped the nicer Southern section of the city?

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

I was there a few weeks ago the Boardwalk looked fine I guess they repaired it. I guess you skipped the nicer Southern section of the city?

We went down to see Lucy the Elephant, but didn't take any pictures of the mcmansions or beach cottages. That's not what's interesting about Atlantic City.

But here's Lucy, in all her creepy glory. It's the eyes.

[Danny]

Very nice tour along Atlantic City, Cirrus! Thanks for your very nice shots. I always appreciate them.

I like the Boardwalk and those casinos, hotels and modern buildings. I hope they repair the damaged areas as soon as possible. I suppose Atlantic City will be usally very crowded by summer.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!

[MolsonExport]

Interesting. Parts of the city remind me of Donald Trump: You really don't want to look under the toupee.

[bobdreamz]

^ Haha! Anyways interesting quirky city! Thanks for posting the pics.

[RudyJK]

This photo set absolutely cures me of any curiosity whatsoever I may have had or ever will have about whether I would like to visit Atlantic City.

And the Branson thread get heaps of scorn?

[volguus zildrohar]

Lucy The Elephant is indeed in Margate, another town south of Atlantic City on the same barrier island. There really is no 'nice' section of AC once you leave the boardwalk. The rest of the city is truly economically battered.

There's virtually nothing there that would draw people like us here for anything more than a day visit especially if you live more than an hour or two away.

And would you believe that this is the second busiest Greyhound terminal in the U.S.?

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

There's virtually nothing there that would draw people like us here for anything more than a day visit especially if you live more than an hour or two away.

Yeah. I've lived barely 3 hours away for 20 years, and this was my first trip. I was there about 24 hours all told. It was interesting enough but I doubt I'll ever go back.

[mhays]

There's something disquieting about casino and tourist trap architecture after things degenerate a bit. AC seems to look a lot like Reno in this regard. You can see the edges of the toupee, and imagine that someone is hoping their old mirrored glass and bronze fittings are still shiny enough to draw enough horde for the upcoming debt payment.

Apparently AC has some decent urbanism though. Decent but apparently not renovated or recent.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Yeah. I've lived barely 3 hours away for 20 years, and this was my first trip. I was there about 24 hours all told. It was interesting enough but I doubt I'll ever go back.

I don't know--- Atlantic City seems like its a better local beach destination than Dewey Beach and it is closer and probabaly has less expensive hotels than Virginia Beach.

It is unfortunate to see all of the Hurricane Sandy destruction.

I had to go to Atlantic City for work a few years back one of the things I remember is how isolated this is. It is about 45 minutes or an hour off of I-95.

Cirrus-- didn't you also post Outer Banks photos? It would be interesting to see a compilation of all of the Atlantic coastal towns and communities (Charleston, Outer Banks, Virginia Beach, Ocean City, Delaware, Atlantic City, etc...).

[KevinFromTexas]

Thanks for the tour. Boardwalks on beaches is alien to me. All our beaches are pretty much left alone. I guess the most developed ones would be South Padre Island and Galveston. Galveston and Corpus Christi of course have huge seawalls, and South Padre Island is lined with highrises. But even SPI doesn't have a seawall.

[destroycreate]

This has got to be one of the most grimy and depressing cities in the US...

[dc_denizen]

Looks a bit like Niagara falls, if both the US and Canadian sides were the same town in the same country.

I worry that people get the wrong impression from these NJ beach towns. Take asbury park. It is surrounded by beautiful Ocean Grove, beach town Belmar, and quaint suburbs on the sea like Deal, long Branch, and Sea Girt. The blight (which is getting smaller) is restricted to a very concentrated area. Not sure if Atlantic city is the same.

I wonder what the urban area population of the NJ beach towns actually is. got to have some impressive density, at least in the summer.

[mrnyc]

very very interesting to see post sandy. the boardwalk looks ok. damages here and there, but nothing too bad vs the rest of jersey shore and long island. interesting cat program they have and i really lol'd at the grackles photo - ha! the rest of the town looks stuck in a time warp as always. looks a little better even than my memory of it from a quick stop through there years ago believe it or not. yeah, its all depressing. especially as i have no interest at all in — either. well, except with my life jaywalking sometimes that is.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

This has got to be one of the most grimy and depressing cities in the US...

It becomes more so once you leave the beachfront. But it is a city based on — so you need that grime. Atmosphere...

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by 202_cyclist

Cirrus-- didn't you also post Outer Banks photos? It would be interesting to see a compilation of all of the Atlantic coastal towns and communities (Charleston, Outer Banks, Virginia Beach, Ocean City, Delaware, Atlantic City, etc...).

I have a big set of Ocean City pictures, and a handful of loose Duck pictures. Never been to Myrtle or Virginia beaches.

[pdxtex]

i dunno. hurricane damage aside, id say it looks pretty cool. not every city can be extremely successful with high end shops and luxury services. —, at least the housing stock inland is occupied and dense. id say who cares what the business use is as long as there is a business in the first place. — shop or not, at least its making some money. this view looks cool as hell. way more dense then anything portland has.