Downtown Ocean City ... Ocean City, New Jersey
The small barrier island community of Ocean City, New Jersey varying in size from about 12-15,000 in the winter months to 100-150,000 in the summer months is quite an interesting location. The largest of the resort communites gong south from Atlantic City, Ocean City has a year-round "downtown area" with a lot of local businesses operating year-round with a great deal of community encouragement and support. It's the kind of "small town feel" that many communities once had, but have lost with the sprawling developments beyond the town center. Of course, that couldn't happen here because we are clearly surrounded by water. There is only so much that you can do on this 7x1 mile barrier island (at its widest point).
Clearly, there are a variety of intersting designated section (I often talk about the Northend and Gardens), but our focus in this posting is the "Downtown." Obviously, the downtown is important year-round; but they make their "big money" in the summer with so many visitors to our community. The main section is Asbury Avenue from about Sixth Street at the north to about 14th Street at the south with the main hub from about Sixth Street to the end of 10th Street. There are a wide variety of mainstay stores that have stood the test of time here as well as ever-changing ones who arrive (some remaining with others moving on) for a year or two. You can find a number of great locations for breakfast and lunch here ... even dinner during the summer months.
Moving on to West Avenue which is the main street moving traffic from one end of the island to the other, you can also find a number of additional stores, businesses, convenience areas, restaurants, etc. in the same general area as described for Asbury Avenue. Although this area is much more car-dominated than the Asbury Avenue area, it still meets most of the needs of a year-round population.
Another section can be found along the 9th Street entrance street to Ocean City running from just before Bay Avenue in the west to Atlantic Avenue in the east. Generally, the west part of 9th Street has areas for car parking enabling visitors to park fairly close to the store or location they want to visit. As one goes further east, the parking gets more difficult causing visitors in the downtown to park and walk to their destination.
Because of the seven mile long distance from one end of the island to the other, there are additional isolated pockets of what I might describe as an "extended downtown" in and around "34th Street and another entrance to Ocean City ... and another "extended downtown" in and around 55th Street and the third entrance to Ocean City.
What prompted this posting was a recent front page story in the Ocean City Gazette (2/11/2009) ... "Vision plan see big changes for downtown." A planning firm has prepared a report being presented to the Planning Board of Ocean City this week. More details in a future blog posting.
Hope to see you in Ocean City, New Jersey ... in the Downtown sometime in 2009! Dap
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