--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "Gabrielle Obre" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > i find this need to see asbury as some sort of iconic town living up > to its past interesting.
I think Dan Wolf nails it pretty well here. Read the first four pages: http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader?ie=UTF8&p=S00F&asin=1582345090 It's not the past, it's the promise. > why can't it simply be a town of great music, > delicious food, a fun place to drink, a safe place to spend money, a > good place to have a business etc. No reason at all. > in my experience it is those things > right now. In your experience. Not in Nae's. Listen to what she has to say here at 0:50, particularly in regard to redevelopment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYYuJs_2tm0 > i was chatting with a man with architect experience and as we had some > wine at the bb we fantasized about what would look great along the BW. > my first dream was an Alexander Calder like sculpture/bdg...off to the > Whitney to see his Paris works. That would certainly beat a dog-doo-beige wastewater treatment plant. ;) > i never thought i would be in the position of defending a developer, > but i would like people to think about what it takes to open the > number of businesses they are linked to, create the number of jobs in > those businesses Straight up question here, because I really don't know. How many of those jobs went to Asbury Park residents, particularly teenagers or young adults without the transportation to get jobs in other towns? Maybe alot, in which case, hats off to MM. Again, I don't know, but it's worth examining. > and deal with the politics, red tape and suspicious > citizens, and the legacy of widespread corruption and decay. i don't > see MM as any sort of Saviour, but lets be real...what would AP look > like right now without them? about the bandstand...what are the *&^ > facts? why would there have been repair if it was doomed? i have > asked this before. Fair point, but maybe that legacy of widespread corruption and decay is what's making some people so suspicious. > too much already..but...it seems clear to me that the success of a > community doesn't lie in the fulfilling of pet agendas of an > individual or small group. asbury is not going to live or die based > on shipping containers, a bandshell or if the water park is open > this summer or next. each of us are going to have disappointments > to our own ideals, but its not about us as individuals. True, but since Asbury Park is built out to the point where you can't ivite Toyota to build a factory there (a la rural Mississippi or Kentucky), nor can you go the sports stadium route (like they are on the site of an old brownfield in Harrison), the city is limited in how it can rev up its tax base while also creating new jobs. Condos may be able to do the former, but not so much the latter. Thus, reviving the service sector is a logical place on which to rest much of the city's fortunes. It already seems to be working along Cookman. As you reasonably asked, "Why can't it simply be a town of great music, delicious food, a fun place to drink, a safe place to spend money, a good place to have a business etc?" (to that I might add "a decent place to raise a family", but that's a different thread for a different time...). It can be all those things, but only if enough people are convinced that it's the right place to spend their dollars, either as visitors or entrepreneurs. So while it is technically true that the city will not live or die on shipping containers or bandshells, there is still a fair debate to be had as to what effect those containers and that bandshell will have on visitors and investors. Will they think, as you do, that the containers are eclectic and inviting? Or, will they think, as Jack does, that they make the boardwalk look like a perpetual construction site? Will they think the loss of the bandshell is no big deal and stay for the food at the Salt Water Cafe? Or will they think, "This place looks like Belmar. Why don't we just drive there?" Beyond that, there is a component to the bandshell situation (and the organ, and the carousel, and Metropolitan, etc.) that is often either overlooked or derided. The quality of life in any town or city, particularly one trying to attract visitors by distinguishing itself from its competing neighbors (Belmar, Point, Seaside), is inarguably enhanced and enriched through its cultural artifacts. The cynics will point out that the bandshell is only 46 years old. Grand Central Terminal was only 62 when the Penn Central wanted to knock it down. That didn't stop Jackie Onassis from helping to lead the successful drive to save it, just as she had years earlier with Lafayette Square, and for the same reasons. So were Grand Central and Lafayette Square just Jackie's pet projects? Or did New York and D.C. benefit immeasurably from her (and Brendan Gill's and David Finley's) passion? Anybody can build a train station, but when you're in Grand Central, you know you're in New York. Anybody can build a pavilion, but when you're on top of one watching a performance while also looking out over the Atlantic Ocean, you know you're in Asbury Park. These are the things that help make each place THAT place. So yeah, Asbury Park can survive with shipping containers and without a bandshell. But will it still be THAT place? All that said, your post was lucid and well-reasoned, and your passion for the city infectious. Keep on keepin' on. ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
