This past weekend I went home to Point Pleasant New Jersey. I live in a small beach town along the Jersey Shore. Here people can visit the arcade, aquarium, fun house, bar, candy shop, or just spend the day on the beach. The people that spend there time here can be broken into two very separate categories, locals, and bennies. Bennies are people from out of town or vacationers who are also sometimes referred to as shoebies. These people use this space as a pure form of entertainment and a way to escape. They vacation here and only spend a small portion of the warmer months here. The locals spend they’re entire year here even in the winter. We call this space home, not a vacation space. The importance of the boardwalk to the community is that with tourism it attracts a large amount of revenue. This in some ways is a lot like what we read about collage campuses. While the space is a social space like the JMU quad, they’re always people selling things or promoting things to raise or earn money. Both of these spaces have two or more purposes. Local business owners that own shops and businesses on the boardwalk make a large majority of they’re money from tourism during the summer. This space is “privately owned” because a person owns each shop while the entire boardwalk is also owned by someone. What makes this space unique is that in some states the beaches are public space. Here in New Jersey the beaches are privately owned and you have to pay admission to enter. Tourism and publicity has come some change to the image of this space. Through shows like “The Jersey Shore,” our space has gained a different kind of reputation than before. When I was younger the space was known for its relaxed beach goers and small town restaurants. Now the Jersey shore boardwalks are associated with the television show that portrays our space as a place with trashy nightclubs and tasteless behavior.
Being from the shore in South Jersey, this picture reminds me so much of home. Like Point Pleasant, our shores are over crowded by "shoobies". I do not know what it is like up there, but some tourists do not appreciate what is our home. I work in Wildwood, and see the litter and vandalism that tourists do on a daily basis. It has been very controversial within the town that theres has been the building of condominiums. They attract more tourism and take away from the beauty and uniqueness of the town.
ReplyDelete-Steve Dombrowski
My family and I used to travel to the jersey shore every summer to a boardwalk area similar to this one. The difference between public and private spaces arises in this area. The boardwalk is traditionally a public space, where people socialize and walk, yet on all sides there are private shops. The shops surrounding the boardwalk resemble a mall like set up. Although there is more freedom on the boardwalk, like videotaping, there are similarities. shop owners in the interest of business are free to chase street performers and others away from their storefront similar to cops being able to reprimand shoppers for taking away from the consumerist feel of the mall. I have to wonder if the boardwalk and the mall will one day become interchangeable. -Jenna Fravel
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm from North Jersey, Pt. Pleasant beach and Jenkinson's Boardwalk mean a lot to me. Ever since I was little, it has always been a tradition to go there for my birthday. Each year I would spend the entire day on the beach and then go to the Tiki Bar for dinner. Afterwards I would go to the arcade and try to go on every single ride before going home. Though it was a vacation spot for me, it has become my second home and I have the negative attention it gets from the media. It doesn't truly represent the Jersey Shore I know and love and puts a bad light on a really great place.
ReplyDelete-Brittany Jeffers
Although I'm from North Jersey, Pt. Pleasant beach and Jenkinson's Boardwalk mean a lot to me. Ever since I was little, it has always been a tradition to go there for my birthday. Each year I would spend the entire day on the beach and then go to the Tiki Bar for dinner. Afterwards I would go to the arcade and try to go on every single ride before going home. Though it was a vacation spot for me, it has become my second home and I have the negative attention it gets from the media. It doesn't truly represent the Jersey Shore I know and love and puts a bad light on a really great place.
ReplyDelete-Brittany Jeffers
Because I once lived in Point Pleasant, this image struck my attention right away. I would consider the boardwalk as the “center” of the town, especially in the summer. As you mentioned, there are various activities for all ages to enjoy. With various things to do on this boardwalk, hundreds of jobs open up, which usually employ students who live in close proximity. The one thing this picture doesn’t show is how immensely crowded it gets on summer days/nights. This causes locals who flock there for relaxing beach days and bennies that visit for fun filled weekends to share space with people they don’t know, making it kind of like the “center” city of Manhattan.
ReplyDelete-Michaela Sibole Dr. H class