By Paul Goldfinger, Editor at Blogfinger.net. Census data above from 2010.
Main Avenue, Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
Re-post from June 2011. This is a good time to put this up again, because we can look forward to census numbers for 2020. When our article came out following documentation of a population drop in the Grove as measured by the 2010 census, it led to a fascinating discussion of diversity in the Grove in the article below.
Read the comments to see how the conversation was going 9 years ago. I think you will find it interesting, and it will provide the basis of ongoing discussion reflecting the last 10 years.
June 21, 2011. Ocean Grove, New Jersey Blogfinger.net
Eileen and I have lived in Ocean Grove for ten years, and the demographics in this little town seem to change like the shifting sands down at the beach. We have noticed obvious differences such as the number of houses which have gone from wrecks to beautiful restorations. We have seen more small children, more teenagers, more young families, more BMW’s, more sophisticated city types, more blacks, more Jews and a Chinese family which has a house near ours. Even the shops have shown a more sophisticated tendency. Just walk into some of the new ones like the Emporium, April Cornell, and All You Need is Cake. This year the Great Auditorium will welcome Tony Bennett and Paul Anka among other stars.
On Blogfinger we have tried to highlight the lively lifestyle and the diversity which is blossoming before our eyes here in the Grove. We have interviewed authors, artists, tourists, composers, journalists, Emmy winners, soldiers, stage directors, actors, playwrights, novelists, historians, students, and even two Grovers who are on the staff at the Museum of Modern Art.
In 2000, the census told us a lot about the demographics in Ocean Grove. Of the 3,903 housing units, 1,331 (57%) were renter-occupied. There were many other parameters that were measured. The 2010 census data has been slow in coming, but a small piece of it has been released, and that shows a drop in the population from 4,256 to 3,342—a 21.48% decline.
At first glance, this might suggest trouble—-but does it? When we bought our house in 2001, it was a two family which had been converted to that from the original one family, we think sometime after 1950. We did some surgery on the place and brought it back to an official one family—thus one tiny component of population reduction.
From talking to some realtors, we know that many of the houses which had been rental properties are now being used as second homes by folks that love to come here for escapes from cities and who use their homes year round. They don’t get counted in the census, while renters do. The census counts you at the place where you live most of the time. The 2010 data should show fewer rental units. We’ll see.
One thing which is clear is that despite the apparent population drop, this town gets better and better as a unique place to call home. Gentrification you say? Perhaps—to some extent. But some up-scaling is good for a town, and it seems to me that there is sufficient diversity here, due to a variety of factors, that the old fashioned qualities of the Grove will not be extinguished.
Tell us how you see the trends in the Grove and tell us why you think the census population count has dropped.
REBECCA LUKER “On My Way to You.”