--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "sandpiper15" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
>
> --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com> ,
> "nobepeymay" <nobepeymay@> wrote:
>
>
> > if the bw is really
> > that dissappointing why bother even coming here when you could
spend
> > your time somewhere else?
> >
>
> The situation in Asbury Park neither will, nor even could, be as
simple
> as "you can always go somewhere else." During and immediately
> following Hurricane Katrina, plenty of people outside the United
States,
> may of whom had never been to New Orleans, were genuinely horrified
> <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/g/a/2005/09/07/worldviews.\
> DTL> and disappointed by the devastation and government reaction
to the
> tragedy there. They had no financial ties to the city and
certainly paid
> no taxes to the government whose responsibility it was to provide
> security, and then relief, to the citizens displaced by the flood.
Yet
> they were no less sincerely distraught because of it. This is
because
> New Orleans, arguably more than any other American city, occupies a
> special place in the collective conscience of people outside the
United
> States. It is home to a cultural legacy (namely jazz) as
indispensible
> to the global community as French Impressionism, Tango, Greek
> playwriting, or the Egyptian pyramids. So when the cradle of that
legacy
> was so visibly damaged, the impact was felt far more deeply and
> personally a world away than when the small towns of Illinois and
Iowa
> flooded last month.
>
> A parallel phenomenon exists with Asbury Park, albeit on a less
global
> scale. Despite its decidedly undemocratic roots, the town
eventually
> evolved from Asbury Park, NJ into Asbury Park, U.S.A. a national
> playground on the level of a Niagara Falls, a Hershey, a
Williamsburg,
> or a Coney Island. The town's cultural legacy, warts
>
<http://www.publications.villanova.edu/Concept/2007/07_papers_html/Go
ldb\
> erg.GreetingsfromJimCrow.htm> and all
> <http://books.google.com/books?id=RaT7Ip9RXZ8C> , became America's.
> Conversely, the residents' concerns, vis-à-vis redevelopment,
> became America's. Thus, when Madison Marquette indeed restores a
> Paramount Theatre so well, they are rightly lauded by those both
in and
> outside the city. When they couple such high-quality restoration
with
> low-quality letdowns like the 5th Avenue Pavilion and the container
> shops, however, many outside the city feel as robbed as they would
if
> they lived for 30 years on Sewall or Emory. When the developers
ignore
> key aspects of signed agreements with the city, and the city's own
> representatives forgive it with an almost-flippant "those plans
were
> supplanted," it is not only city residents' faces being slapped.
> Much like the Katrina situation.
>
> Now, of course there is no comparison between Madison Marquette
and the
> government in terms of authority or consequences. No one has lost
there
> lives due to MM's actions or inactions and it would be difficult to
> imagine a scenario where anyone would. But, as they must surely
realize
> by now, in taking on this project MM has entered into an unwritten
yet
> tangible covenant with every American concerned with his or her
> nation's cultural legacy regardless of residence. Our heritage
> is in their hands. That is why you can't simply tell someone
> disappointed in the current direction of the boardwalk, "There are
> other places you can go." Those who want to see Asbury Park finally
> fulfill its promise economically, socially, culturally are
> not looking for someplace to go. They are desperately seeking some
> assurance that quality is not the province of the well-connected,
that
> citizens of any background can still enjoy unfettered access to
> community resources, and that government and the private sector can
> indeed meet their bottom line while still being held to the
highest of
> standards. Merely driving on to Point or Wildwood will not assuage
them.
>
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sandpiper,
as usual interesting points, i really enjoy reading your posts....
What I was attemting to point out is that stucco versus brick on the
boarwalk pavillions or the color of the stucco should not dissuade
anyone from giving the boardwalk and AP in progress a second chance.
Maybe I am oversimplyfying, but this is the way I see it. The
poster, as far as I remember, was only speaking to the appearance of
the boardwalk and lack of progress from a development standpoint not
the cultural and social aspects you reference. In fact, I am not
sure if the poster is upset because they did not see 3,000 condos
in place?
I agree that you can't swap out what AP was and even still is for an
experience in another Jersey Shore town.
Just for the record I do not want south beach in AP....if I want a
south beach experience I would rather go to south beach to get it.
John
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