Atlantic City, poor town

May 25, Ocean City

I was not able to convince myself to get out of Ocean City. I ached all over and just felt generally tired. I decided to keep my room and visit Atlantic City.

The bus station was close to the hotel. I took the 209 and it cost me $3.10. I was expecting a 15 minute ride since Atlantic City is only 8 miles away. In reality it takes an hour and a half since the City does not want the buses to use the immediate bridge according to the driver of my bus. I guess they want to discourage the use of public transport; another oddity of Ocean City.

My impression of Atlantic City is that it’s run down. It compares favorably to other depressed areas like Bridgeport CT or North Hartford but not by far. The streets are filled with idle people hanging on edges of sidewalks or leaning on walls. The main street away from the board walk has dollar stores, discount stores and liquor stores. On the boardwalk where all the casinos are, paint is peeling and the billboards are empty. The empty billboards bestow quite an impression of poverty. It’s difficult to imagine that no business could use publicity the week before Memorial Day. I got out of Atlantic City quite fast. It did not feel safe and there was nothing to do unless I wanted to visit discount dollar stores.

On the boardwalk!