Asbury Park Redevelopment

Since my last post I have continued to try and find more primary sources regarding the displacement of residents due to gentrification. I came across a few blogs discussing the situation at the boardwalk and how there is 33 apartment buildings and 22 houses that will be knocked down to make room for the new beachfront. I also came across a documentary entitled "Greetings from Asbury Park," which details the life of a 92 year old Asbury Park woman whose house is being seized by eminent domain. I have not yet seen the film, but have read a synopsis. It contains footage of neighbors of the woman, public policy experts, and scholars who all give their take on the situation within the city.

Along with the blogs and the documentary, I have found records of two town assembly meetings discussing some of the problems within the city. Most of the discussion, which took place in 1994, details changing the perception people have of Asbury Park. But the only way to change the perception is to make real changes within the city, including better low income housing and a larger polic presence. I also came across another state assembly meeting discussing eminent domain and its effects on New Jersey. It details the city of Long Branch, which shares the same geographic location and problems as Asbury Park.

Tomorrow I will be going to the Asbury Public Library to see if I can find any resources.

Hist 501 research

Today, I continued research on my paper. With my topic being Asbury Park, I wanted to focus on the gentrification taking place within the city. I did a search for newspaper articles to get an idea of some of the issues going on in the city with regards to gentrification. Most of the articles I found mostly contained stories regarding the redevelopment taking place at the beachfront. But since I want to focus on the use of eminent domain and the displacement of the local residents due to this gentrification, I was not happy with the results of information regarding this aspect of my topic.

I also did some research on social explorer and looked at the maps documenting the racial demographics in the city. I found that the demographics really did not begin to change until the 1970's. I still have some work to do to find out how the gentrification is affecting the local residents.

Hello

This is my first post.