WTF happened to Atlantic City?

Discussion in 'BS Forum' started by Cman68, Feb 21, 2016.

  1. Cman68

    Cman68 The Dark Admin, 2018 BEST Darksider Poster

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    OMG! Was there yesterday and I was absolutely floored by what I saw. Come in on the Blackhorse Expy and turn left, you're on a preview of what post-holocaust America might look like. There's perhaps 3 or 4 viable casino/hotels left.

    We drove north and once we left the last outpost of the old casino driven.AC, we saw the carnage. Drove north on Pacific avenue until it dead ended. Saw folks just meandering around without much purpose. I would imagine they used to work at the dead casinos/hotels. Vast swaths of parking lots fenced in to keep people from parking although a $15 parking fee was pretty much normal for anywhere with a light still on. Wifey and I figured it was best to just keep driving and do a rolling tour instead of a walking tour.

    It has been almost a decade since we've been there and although it's February and its cold, it certainly appeared as if the area didn't ride out the recession & Hurricane Sandy particularly well. The north side looks like something out of an apocalypse sci-fi movie. Single bldgs standing trimmed in plywood, perhaps a person or two trying to get someplace. I half expected Mel Gibson to come around a corner driving a severely modified vehicle of some kind.

    This stood in sharp contrast to the southern section of Atlantic City. Ventor I believe the GPS said we were. This area survived only because you could tell it was "old money". The difference was night and day. Streets clean with people actually living there, walking around with kids and such. Houses well kept, stores that were actually open. Yeah, the north side used to be "da hood" and the southside is anyone's guess but if any sane person had their druthers, they'd druther be living on the southern side of AC. If it were me and I had options, there's no way in hell I'd still be living in AC waiting for the resurgence. Just pack what you can and GTFO ASAP.

    If Mr. Trump wants to do for America what his investments did for Atlantic City, it may well be time to get out while you still can. All Cruz and Rubio have to do if they want to sting Trump, is to go to Atlantic City and just shoot footage of the north end of town. They could do entire spots in front of both dead Trump casinos, ask the Master of Bankruptcy what happened and wait for the usual bullshit deflection Trump is so well known for.

    Again, coming into AC on the Expy, we saw signs advertising which C list celebrity was coming and when. I was wondering just WHERE they were going to perform after my visit. Oh well, if Sophia Loren and Patty LaBelle can visit AC, who's to say just how bad things really are. I can say with confidence that the chances of a return visit to AC probably will not happen again in my lifetime. Simply no reason to go there again with all the other options available.

    Sad... Just F'n Sad..
     
    #1 Cman68, Feb 21, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2016
  2. NotSatoshiNakamoto

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    People were talking about the downfall of AC and the casinos when our genius governor was raffling off casino locations in NYS. Sounds rough - there used to be some great strip clubs in AC ;-)
     
  3. Brook!

    Brook! Soft Admin...2018 Friendliest Member Award Winner

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    2 reasons if you ask me Grandpa C.

    1) 10 years ago AC was a preferred destination because New Jersey residents couldn't gamble on their smart phones. Now they can.

    2) AC is just too far to NY and within 10 years, a lot of options opened up for New Yorkers and for some Philly people. It isn't really worth it to drive 2.5 hours to AC anymore.
     
  4. Walt White

    Walt White Well-Known Member

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    Holy shit. Haven't been down there in over ten years.

    I guess you didn't see the boardwalk or the beach. Wonder if that's fucked up too.

    Sounds like a wasteland there now.
     
  5. NYJetsO12

    NYJetsO12 Well-Known Member

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    Yes it's sad . My wife is from Phil and had so many connections include a place in Margate which was sold

    Trump not all to blame. Gambling has come to three or four other neighboring states plus Vegas. There's your reason for demise
     
  6. Petrozza

    Petrozza Administrator

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    You make it sound like if Trump didn't buy casinos there, AC would still be thriving. AC was thriving when it was the only East Coast location to gamble. That's not the case anymore. There are now casinos in CT, PA, and there's even a small one in Queens. There was a time when big boxing matches were held in AC, just like in Vegas. Now it's either exclusively in Vegas, or on rare occasions at MSG or in Los Angeles.
     
  7. Greenday4537

    Greenday4537 Well-Known Member

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    You were in my neighborhood and didn't think to pop in and say hello? Rude.

    Ventnor is pretty night. It's where I went for salsa lessons.

    AC is not that great these days. Doesn't help you went in the off-season. You shouldn't expect it to be busy at all this time of the year. In the summer, it gets tons busier. I do salsa Monday nights at Robert's Rooftop at the Trump in the summer. Despite being Monday night, it gets super packed. Most of the summer AC is packed.

    Otherwise, other neighborhoods I don't feel so safe. Everything's run down. It's run by a super corrupt council. Other than Harrah's, Borgota, and the strip on the boardwalk, there's nothing worth doing there.
     
  8. NotSatoshiNakamoto

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    [​IMG]
     
  9. Cman68

    Cman68 The Dark Admin, 2018 BEST Darksider Poster

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    Trump portrays himself as the last word on deal making and running successful businesses. He's supposed to be the answer to every question regarding running the economy. When you look at his recent efforts, I'm not so sure he can still make that claim. The failed casinos, Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Shuttle to name a few.

    Perhaps AC was doomed once other states legalized casinos, but Trump's poor judgement in all of these investments can't be ignored nor can the country bankrupt its way out of another Trump fck up. Where was his plan B? That would be bankruptcy.

    Trump talks a lot of shit but provides precious few details just like Sanders although Sanders does seem to have a plan in place. As it stands, ask any of the former employees of Trumps ventures how painful it was when the end came. I'd be real curious how the north end of AC views Mr. Trump.

    One thing for sure... Atlantic City NJ is circleing the drain.
    We weren't expecting a ghost town north of Bally's. In the heart of downtown we did see life pretty much on the level we expected. This was a relatively warm Saturday afternoon so the surprise was all the closed hotels in the northern part of AC and a lack of people. It was such a shock that we drove all the way to the end of the road and then turned around and headed south. There are evidently two Atlantic Cities. From downtown south it appeared to be life as usual. From downtown north? Desolation.

    Can Atlantic City be saved? Not as a purely gambling mecca. You got guts Green. I salute you for staying. Maybe if they turn AC back into a resort town first, your town stands a chance to recover.
     
  10. Greenday4537

    Greenday4537 Well-Known Member

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    I live 15 minutes outside AC. I'm not sure it can be saved. The casinos are really its biggest point. Without those, AC will be nothing. And since every other state nearby now allows gambling, what draw is there to go to a run down city to do what they can do near home?
     
  11. Cman68

    Cman68 The Dark Admin, 2018 BEST Darksider Poster

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    Hard to say Green. Maybe turn it into a departure point for Atlantic Cruises? The water is certainly deep enough to accommodate large ocean liners. Just a passing thought. Just imagine what a deep pocketed investor would think just rolling into AC...

    If the leadership is as lousy as you say it is, AC is doomed. Someone with imagination is gonna have to step up and plot a new future. Somehow, some way AC is gonna have to find some attraction during the winter months to get people there besides gambling. Up here, we have a similar problem with Gettysburg, PA. Once you've toured the battlefield, there's nothing else to do. They had an opportunity for a casino but turned it down because it wouldn't fit with the historical feel of the area. They could have used the jobs trust me.

    Now? 3 5star hotels are bleeding money there. Major investments from Marriot, Wyndham and Hilton flushed. Outside of the summertime and the annual biker's rally and the annual battle re enactment, there's no reason to go to Gettysburg if you've been there once. It now has a major drug problem as there's nothing else to do. Those young people that can get out have already left.

    Just another example of a city or town being shortsighted. JMHO.
     
    #11 Cman68, Feb 21, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2016
  12. Dierking

    Dierking Well-Known Member

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    Don't forget the New Jersey Generals, the USFL and the three dollar anti-trust judgment.
     
  13. nyjetsmets89

    nyjetsmets89 Well-Known Member

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    Bums and taffy
     
  14. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    New Jersey would be absolutely foolish to not approve a Meadowlands area casino in wake of trying to save the wasteland that is Atlantic City IMO. AC is going to die regardless if they approve a casino elsewhere in Jersey, why not keep all of that money in state rather than send all of that money to PA and CT when Atlantic City gets its final nail in the coffin a decade from now.

    I've been a couple times as an adult now, I truly wish I could've experienced it when it was popping off 15 years ago though.
     
  15. abyzmul

    abyzmul R.J. MacReady, 2018 Funniest Member Award Winner

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    There are plenty of reasons to hate Donald Trump. Atlantic City being a shithole isn't one of them.
     
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  16. MJK

    MJK Well-Known Member

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    There's no doubt Atlantic City is a shit hole but it's also not a great time to go in the middle of the winter. I usually go to Mohegan Sun in the winter and AC in the summer when there's other shit to do besides being stuck in a 40 year old casino with old ladies.
     
  17. Br4d

    Br4d 2018 Weeb Ewbank Award

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    What everybody else said. AC was special because it was the only place you could legally gamble on the east coast. Then you got the Connecticut casinos. Then the NYS casinos. Internet gambling became a big thing.

    The other thing is that the coast isn't a great place to be any more. Insurance rates are through the roof and the only insurance you can get in a lot of places is federally subsidized and very iffy due to that. Rich enclaves will be fine, because the rich can self insure. Anything that relies on the middle class is going to go away in our lifetimes. Maybe sooner rather than later.

    It really sucks to see places you love go to hell. I spent many a summer on the outskirts of Detroit as a child and teen. The neighborhood my grandparents lived in is about 30% occupied right now. Their house is still there and occupied but I can remember the names of all the families around them who lived in houses now vacant. It's like watching civilization fall in microcosm.
     
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  18. Greenday4537

    Greenday4537 Well-Known Member

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    http://6abc.com/politics/investigation-councilman-confronted-over-city-car/1187139/

    After councilmen and councilwomen abused the city cars too often using them for personal use, they developed a sign out system so you could only get one when you really needed it for work. George Tibbitt then began to sign out the car and use it to aid his construction business that he ran. He'd also sign it out so his son could have a vehicle to drive.

    Just one of the more recent issues. But the leadership is so inept, the state is going to be taking over the day-to-day operations.
     
  19. Brook!

    Brook! Soft Admin...2018 Friendliest Member Award Winner

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    Hi MJK

    How is Mohegan Sun for families with kids? Do you go thru the Casino to get to your room like in AC? For the past 5 years, I haven't stayed at a Casino hotel and I really missed playing slots while sipping my beer at the bar.
     
  20. Cman68

    Cman68 The Dark Admin, 2018 BEST Darksider Poster

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    Wow... That guy has a brass pair doesn't he.. I can see why AC is going bankrupt and perhaps that might be best for now. They're gonna have to create other reasons to go to AC besides gambling. Easier said than done it would seem.
     

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