# It's a beautiful day in the Camden neighborhood **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784 "2009-04-02T23:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/1 "2009-04-02T23:45:37Z")
While cleaning up a vacant lot in preparation to turn it into a community garden, I and my teammates found 15 used syringes, plus one open syringe packet. We haven’t found many condoms, but I don’t think this means that people aren’t having illicit sex in filthy lots, but that they’re not using condoms when they have illicit sex in filthy lots, which is no consolation to me. Also, the last two days there’s been a heavy trucker turnout on Hooker Row, which my Americorps team has to drive past everyday. Ah, Camden NJ. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/2 "2009-04-03T01:49:04Z")
yay camden! I live nearby and park at Ferry Ave. every day. I hate driving through there. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/3 "2009-04-03T14:06:05Z")
Sigh…reading this stuff makes me sad. My mom grew up in Camden in the 40s and 50s, and she had about 200 relatives living within a few minutes’ walk. Whenever she talks about that period in her life, it is with considerable warmth and nostalgia. They sure weren’t rich, but it was peaceful there. So what the hell has happened to Camden in the interim? ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/4 "2009-04-03T14:40:58Z")
Ah, Camden. Makes Philly look and feel like paradise. Of note, the Church of Scientology was founded in Camden. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/5 "2009-04-03T14:49:45Z")
I’m moving to Cherry Hill in a few months. It’s amazing two cities so close to one another can be so different. This is unhelpful for your current situation, but maybe we can get together sometime. I wouldn’t mind a little neighborhood cleanup. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/6 "2009-04-03T15:44:46Z")
Did you see Earl or Patty the Daytime Hooker? StG ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/7 "2009-04-03T17:26:31Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Sigh…reading this stuff makes me sad. My mom grew up in Camden in the 40s and 50s, and she had about 200 relatives living within a few minutes’ walk. Whenever she talks about that period in her life, it is with considerable warmth and nostalgia. They sure weren’t rich, but it was peaceful there. > > So what the hell has happened to Camden in the interim? Hell if I know, but New Jersey just doesn’t seem good at urban-ish cities. Jersey City isn’t awful anymore but I understand was quite…exciting back in the 70’s/80’s. Trenton and Newark are both pretty miserable places, and Camden is, well, Camden. > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I’m moving to Cherry Hill in a few months. It’s amazing two cities so close to one another can be so different. > > This is unhelpful for your current situation, but maybe we can get together sometime. I wouldn’t mind a little neighborhood cleanup. It’s kind of like Camden is the black hole for all the crime that side of the Delaware, and everywhere else is this ridiculous perfect picture of modern, gentrified suburbia. In 2005, Camden was ranked as the most dangerous city in America, with more violent crimes per capita than, say, Detroit. That same year, some magazine ranked Moorestown the best town in America - a distance of about ten miles separated the most idyllic from the most hellish. (Out of curiosity, did you pick Cherry Hill or is a work-related move? I grew up there, and it’s great if you’re a family with kids, but I imagine that any number of bordering towns (Collingswood, Haddonfield, Maple Shade, etc) would be a bit less…dull. [Though I’m biased as I’m desperately trying to avoid moving back in with my parents this summer…]) ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/8 "2009-04-03T20:51:35Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > It’s kind of like Camden is the black hole for all the crime that side of the Delaware, and everywhere else is this ridiculous perfect picture of modern, gentrified suburbia. In 2005, Camden was ranked as the most dangerous city in America, with more violent crimes per capita than, say, Detroit. That same year, some magazine ranked Moorestown the best town in America - a distance of about ten miles separated the most idyllic from the most hellish. My teammates and I like to joke that Satan must be imprisoned under Camden and seeping his evil into the water supply; it’s the only way to explain how this city can be surrounded by beautiful towns like Collingwood and still be so shitty. If you cross a road from Camden into Collingswood it’s like crossing over an invisible wall. The blight lifts and suddenly you’re in the most perfect, genteel suburbia you can imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/9 "2009-04-03T22:28:58Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > (Out of curiosity, did you pick Cherry Hill or is a work-related move? I grew up there, and it’s great if you’re a family with kids, but I imagine that any number of bordering towns (Collingswood, Haddonfield, Maple Shade, etc) would be a bit less…dull. [Though I’m biased as I’m desperately trying to avoid moving back in with my parents this summer…]) I’m starting grad school in Philly this Fall, so we’re moving. My husband attends school in New Brunswick (which is where we live now) so our living quarters must be within reasonable distance of both. We have checked out a number of apartments in Cherry Hill but haven’t signed the dotted line yet. We checked out Collingswood but decided it wasn’t worth the extra commute… haven’t checked out Maple Shade yet though, thanks for the input. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/10 "2009-04-04T01:29:11Z")
We went from Philly to Camden searching for… for… that stuff that’s 95% alcohol… Everyclear, while visiting the States. We found a liquor store, found the damned booze, and while we were there ten people materialized out of nowhere to try to sell us drugs and just generally be lurchy. I am grateful that there were eight of us, and that we got out safely. On the way back one of the guys decided we should put a sign over the Philly/Camden bridge that said, “Camden: The Disneyland of the North!” and charge a fee to go. And then charge another, slightly higher fee as they came fleeing back. A month after we visited that magazine declared it the most dangerous city in the U.S. We were quietly terrified. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/11 "2009-04-04T12:31:08Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I’m moving to Cherry Hill in a few months. Quick hijack: We went to The Cheesecake Factory for my wife’s birthday dinner yesterday. When The Littlest Briston asked where it was, we informed her it was “in a town called Cherry Hill”. She immediately let out a soft “wow!” and got a look of pure wonderment on her face. A few minutes later, she piped up from the back: “Are we at the Strawberry Mountain yet?” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/12 "2009-04-04T13:05:21Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Quick hijack: > > We went to The Cheesecake Factory for my wife’s birthday dinner yesterday. When The Littlest Briston asked where it was, we informed her it was “in a town called Cherry Hill”. She immediately let out a soft “wow!” and got a look of pure wonderment on her face. A few minutes later, she piped up from the back: “Are we at the Strawberry Mountain yet?” Altogether, now: AWWWWWWW! Seriously though, there’s a Cheesecake Factory??? That settles it! ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/13 "2009-04-04T17:40:59Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Altogether, now: AWWWWWWW! > > Seriously though, there’s a Cheesecake Factory??? That settles it! Yes, but I swear to god, every time I’ve been in town since it opened, I’ve gone at least once to try to eat there, and there’s been a wait of _at least_ an hour. I don’t know what the hell they’re putting in the food, but it’s mad popular. Also, whatever band of idiots designed the new shopping center it’s in deserve to be beaned with a hammer, because the traffic flow is astonishingly awful. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/14 "2009-04-04T19:18:14Z")
Camden is an example of what happens when a blue collar city is abandoned by industry. camden used to be the home of RCA, cambell Soup, and dozens of other companies. The large payrolls and good tax base paid to keep the city running. Now, all of these firms are gone-leaving poor people and minimum wage jobs. Result: city is crumbling, no services, infrastructure decaying, and streets given over to criminals and junkies. Not a nice place. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/15 "2009-04-04T19:26:29Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Camden is an example of what happens when a blue collar city is abandoned by industry. camden used to be the home of RCA, cambell Soup, and dozens of other companies. The large payrolls and good tax base paid to keep the city running. Now, all of these firms are gone-leaving poor people and minimum wage jobs. Result: city is crumbling, no services, infrastructure decaying, and streets given over to criminals and junkies. > Not a nice place. So it’s like a microcosm of Detroit? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/16 "2009-04-04T19:33:23Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Yes, but I swear to god, every time I’ve been in town since it opened, I’ve gone at least once to try to eat there, and there’s been a wait of _at least_ an hour. I don’t know what the hell they’re putting in the food, but it’s mad popular. Huh…we went there at 6:00 on a Friday evening. The parking lot was jam-packed, and there were about 20 people ahead of us on the waiting list. Thing is, the place is so huge, we were at our table after a 10 minute wait. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/17 "2009-04-05T09:28:41Z")
I go through Camden a couple of times a year to go to the Aquarium. I feel safer in Baghdad. Olive, I am currently deployed with a Cherry Hill cop (he’s about 4 feet away from me right now). PM me if you need to know the scoop on a particular area. Offer expires in a month or so. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/18 "2009-04-05T13:49:12Z")
My team cleaned up a soccer field yesterday. Syringe tally: 3. Also, if anyone in the area is a soccer fan, the Camden Youth Soccer Club is in desperate need of volunteer coaches. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/19 "2009-04-05T15:42:35Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Camden is an example of what happens when a blue collar city is abandoned by industry. camden used to be the home of RCA, cambell Soup, and dozens of other companies. The large payrolls and good tax base paid to keep the city running. Now, all of these firms are gone-leaving poor people and minimum wage jobs. Result: city is crumbling, no services, infrastructure decaying, and streets given over to criminals and junkies. > Not a nice place. Nitpick: Campbells is still in Camden - they sponsored the (actually very nice) minor-league ballpark there. RCA was there through their merger with GE, then GE sold their buildings in Camden to Martin Marietta, which shortly became Lockheed Martin, and then Lockheed Martin sold it to the then-new L-3, which is still in Camden. Regardless, you’re right in that the sources of major outside income for the city can probably be counted on one hand (Waterfront stuff, Rutgers, Campbells, L-3, the ballpark, and nothing else comes to mind.) ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784/20 "2009-04-25T00:35:55Z")
Oh wow. Not only did my team narrowly avoid witnessing a drug bust day before yesterday, but yesterday a prostitute approached some of my teammates, announced, “Awwww shit. ANYBODY WANT TO GET THEY DICK SUCKED?” and then hitched up her skirt to reveal her hay-hay. My teammates have been joking about creating a television show based on _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ called _It’s Always Gloomy in Camden_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-camden-neighborhood/491784.md?page=2)