Descriptive_Essay_on_Atlantic_City,_Nj

Dear Town Council Members, I was born and raised in Atlantic city, NJ and have lived here for most my life. I am not proud to say that I am disgusted by the way it looks here. There are a lot of homeless people here, theft and drug usage, and terrible violence. Atlantic City is a popular tourist attraction because of the many casinos but before you get to there you have to go through the city and it really is a terrible sight. I’m 22 years old and I still won’t walk through Atlantic City by myself because I feel so unsafe. There is one homeless shelter here in Atlantic City on Bacharach Boulevard and it’s overcrowded. This may be why I see people sleeping on park benches or in local parks. A lot of home developments were torn down in place of casinos and casino parking lots. The only developments left are full and aren’t taking new applicants forcing people to sleep wherever. And with the few job opportunities there aren’t many places to go. It’s a shame because I feel it affects our appearance to tourists. There is a park right off MLK blvd, it’s a veteran park and drug addicts hang out there. People just stay there and get drunk and buy drugs from other random addicts til the sun sets. Right around the corner is a shopping center, there used to be a grocery7826241-1164776 store but it was shut down I believe because of continuous thefts. Inside the local CVS and Family Dollar things are locked up to prevent theft, and certain medicines aren’t available because the high risk of theft. They are all under constant surveillance and being recorded causing locals to be followed through stores. It hurts, because some people can’t travel out of Atlantic City and cannot get their medicines. Violence here is shameful. There has been an increase of gun violence in the past 4 years. No one comes forward because of the retaliation of talking to the police and they fear they won’t be properly protected. Just last year 40 officers were laid off; this causing more violence because there aren’t enough officers to cover certain areas and people are getting away with murders and crimes. Atlantic City use to be a beautiful place, with the beaches and casinos. But now it’s like a slum town, infested with rats, drugs, and abandoned buildings. Building Atlantic City back up is going to be a long project because they’re fixing all the wrongs areas. They’re more worried about the tourists than the people who live here and raise families. We need more homes, parks, schools, and jobs other than casinos. If we work together we can achieve those things sooner than later.