Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atlantic_City_-_cityscape_looking_West.jpg
Author: Giants135


Atlantic City is a resort city in New Jersey. The city covers 17.4 sq mi (53.4 sq km) and has a population of 36,000 (2011 estimate), within a metropolitan area of 266,000 people. It is within Atlantic County, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, fronted by a stretch of islands facing the ocean.

Atlantic City can be considered the Las Vegas of the East Coast (even though it is older), as it is renowned for gambling, entertainment, shopping and dining. Locations within Atlantic City are used for the US version of the Monopoly board game, although St Charles Place is not longer in existence (its site is now the Showboat Casino Hotel), while Illinois Avenue is now Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The Broadwalk in Atlantic City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boardwalk-02.jpg
Author: Italo2712


Atlantic City has been the site for a resort town going back to the mid 19th century. It was incorporated in 1854, but even before then, a commercial hotel The Belloe House has already been built there.

By the 1870's Atlantic City was already a booming resort town. There were two railway lines built to connect it with major cities of the East Coast to transport vacationers there. Atlantic City enjoyed prosperity and growth through the early part of the 20th century, the result of which there were a number of grand hotels built at that time. It only began to lose its luster after the Second World War, when the growth in automobile ownership enabled Americans to travel farther, and not limit them to vacation in Atlantic City. At the same time, newer resorts such as Miami Beach and Bahamas posed a challenge to the aging resort, which saw declining room occupancy numbers. By the late 20th century, Atlantic City was plagued with crime, poverty and general neglect.

Entrance to Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taj_Mahal_Atlantic_City_New_Jersey.jpg
Author: Jrballe


To give the resort city a chance of survival, New Jersey voters approved casino gambling for Atlantic City, making it the only city on the East Coast where casinos are allowed to operate legally. This led to the opening of the first legal casino in Atlantic City in 1978, with many more to follow.

Prosperity did not return immediately. For a while, Atlantic City was still being compared unfavorably against Las Vegas. It didn't help when more casinos opened in Las Vegas and Connecticut also allowed casinos to operate. Renewed interest finally returned to Atlantic City when Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn developed a new roadway that allowed newer casinos to be built. However, many of the casino projects never left the drawing board.

Broadwalk entrance to Resorts, Atlantic City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Resorts_Atlantic_City_-_Boardwalk_Entrance.jpg
Author: B64


Today, Atlantic City has been compared, in the words of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to an "antique car" that requires lots of tender loving care in order to work.

Visiting Atlantic City, New Jersey

The Atlantic Expressway connects the city with Philadelphia while the coastal Garden State Parkway connects it with Newark and New York City. You can also fly to Atlantic City, landing at the Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), which is about 9 miles from downtown.

Places of Interest in Atlantic City, New Jersey

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