I was listening from Oakhurst, some 4.5 miles or so away. I didn't
hear it. It was a link to the past. A reminder. Like many of you
growing up in Monmouth County, Asbury was the place to go to shop.
Remember National Shoes? Steinbachs? The Swan? The peddle/paddle boats
and those impossible to control motor boats?
I know a different Asbury Park than many of you. For the last 20+
years or so, I've been working with families that face the loss of
their homes to mortgage or tax foreclosure. Hard working families.
Many who lost their jobs when businesses packed up and relocated to the
malls or strip centers. Some took on SBA loans for (eventual) failed
business start-ups, while many were seduced by easy qualify loans which
placed their homes at risk. Many families fell apart due to drug or
alcohol abuse, and domestic violence that often results when you mix
economic woes and alcohol. Add a dwindling job base to a racially
charged atmosphere and you've got a city in decline. Single working
parents became commonplace. Grandparents raising grandchildren. But for
the most part, these folks survived their emotional and financial
hardships.
But will they survive gentrification?
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