Blogfinger

By Paul Goldfinger, MD.  Editor Blogfinger.net

Cookman Avenue. Asbury Park 7/17/21 Paul Goldfinger photo.  Click to enlarge.

By the Biergarten. Blogfinger photo. 7/17/21  Click to view the people.

Are we clear about diversity in A. Park? Paul Goldfinger. 7/17/21

Ocean Grove– a pretty typical neighborhood group. July 3, 2021. Paul Goldfinger. ©  Click to view the demographic.

OG Great Auditorium Choir Festival. Little diversity. Blogfinger.net  Paul Goldfinger photograph.  7/11/.21.

Paul Goldfinger,   Editor@Blogfinger.net   July 18, 2021.  Ocean Grove, NJ

I had a conversation this morning with a neighbor.  She is a 20-something college student.  I mentioned to her that I was on Cookman Avenue last night and it seemed that almost everyone was white and 20-30.  I said that there doesn’t appear to be much diversity over there.

“Oh no,” she said:  “Asbury is very diverse while Ocean Grove is not.”   She said that OG’s lack of diversity goes back to its founding when it was a Methodist religious community.  “Really?” thought I.

Me: “You are correct as to the monochrome color of OG 150 years ago, but the demographics of this town, although still mostly white, are different now.”

She:  Clearly baffled by where the conversation was going said,  “I’m on my way to dance class now.”

Editor’s notes:

If we are discussing the paucity of “people of color” in the Grove, that is largely based on socioeconomic reasons . And that  has nothing to do with the Camp Meeting Association.

It is remarkable how the main tourist street in A. Park is mostly young and white.  I guess it caught on in the last few years and quickly gained a reputation for being youthful, trendy and alive.

Last night, on Cookman Avenue, security people were screening customers waiting to enter a live music venue, but everyone else seemed mostly to be eating, drinking and socializing.  The restaurant scene is the most interesting component in town.

Asbury has been heading in one direction for  the last 10 years or more. But it may be over-rated. New condo’s are very expensive.  They are about to put a rooftop bar on that beachfront high rise and a private beach below.  There is little  affordable housing over there.  Even the west side, where there are some wide beautiful streets with plenty of street parking,  has become very expensive.

Speculators are around. I know someone who has doubled his money on a trendy  condo near the ocean.

Then there is the live  music scene which attracts tourists as do the bar hopping choices.

Main Street has an unkempt blue collar feel, and there is concern about crime.  There is a Hispanic community and an African American community, but it all is mostly self-segregated.

OG has a sort of diversity, but its demographics are socioeconomic based mostly.    The truth is that both towns are lacking diversity, but in different ways.  And we have the CMA which sets itself apart from the rest of us.

Not all segregation of groups is based on evil.  Sometimes people self segregate and have little diversity where they live.   I know Jewish people who would never buy or rent in Ocean Grove because of its past history. African-Americans rarely showed up at the Doo Wops even though many of the  performers were black. Except for a few in the crowd, they didn’t even come to see the Blind Boys of Alabama, but that paucity of African-Americans in the GA audience was their choice.

Since diversity issues can sometimes be explained by choices,  it is not always necessary to publicly address diversity observations.  I noticed that Cookman Ave. was populated by mostly whites last night, but  it is not a diversity problem for A. Park.

PRAGUE PHILHARMONIC.   “The Countess from Hong Kong” from the film Charlie Chaplin