Atlantic City, New JerseyAtlantic City, New Jersey
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atlantic_City_-_cityscape_looking_West.jpg
Author: Giants135
photo licensing

Atlantic City is a resort city in New Jersey. The city covers 17.4 sq mi (53.4 sq km) and has a population of 36,000 (2011 estimate), within a metropolitan area of 266,000 people. It is within Atlantic County, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, fronted by a stretch of islands facing the ocean.

Atlantic City can be considered the Las Vegas of the East Coast (even though it is older), as it is renowned for gambling, entertainment, shopping and dining. Locations within Atlantic City are used for the US version of the Monopoly board game, although St Charles Place is not longer in existence (its site is now the Showboat Casino Hotel), while Illinois Avenue is now Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The Broadwalk in Atlantic CityThe Broadwalk in Atlantic City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boardwalk-02.jpg
Author: Italo2712
photo licensing

Atlantic City has been the site for a resort town going back to the mid 19th century. It was incorporated in 1854, but even before then, a commercial hotel The Belloe House has already been built there.

By the 1870's Atlantic City was already a booming resort town. There were two railway lines built to connect it with major cities of the East Coast to transport vacationers there. Atlantic City enjoyed prosperity and growth through the early part of the 20th century, the result of which there were a number of grand hotels built at that time. It only began to lose its luster after the Second World War, when the growth in automobile ownership enabled Americans to travel farther, and not limit them to vacation in Atlantic City. At the same time, newer resorts such as Miami Beach and Bahamas posed a challenge to the aging resort, which saw declining room occupancy numbers. By the late 20th century, Atlantic City was plagued with crime, poverty and general neglect.

Entrance to Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic CityEntrance to Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taj_Mahal_Atlantic_City_New_Jersey.jpg
Author: Jrballe
photo licensing

To give the resort city a chance of survival, New Jersey voters approved casino gambling for Atlantic City, making it the only city on the East Coast where casinos are allowed to operate legally. This led to the opening of the first legal casino in Atlantic City in 1978, with many more to follow.

Prosperity did not return immediately. For a while, Atlantic City was still being compared unfavorably against Las Vegas. It didn't help when more casinos opened in Las Vegas and Connecticut also allowed casinos to operate. Renewed interest finally returned to Atlantic City when Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn developed a new roadway that allowed newer casinos to be built. However, many of the casino projects never left the drawing board.

Broadwalk entrance to Resorts, Atlantic CityBroadwalk entrance to Resorts, Atlantic City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Resorts_Atlantic_City_-_Boardwalk_Entrance.jpg
Author: B64
photo licensing

Today, Atlantic City has been compared, in the words of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to an "antique car" that requires lots of tender loving care in order to work.

Visiting Atlantic City, New Jersey

The Atlantic Expressway connects the city with Philadelphia while the coastal Garden State Parkway connects it with Newark and New York City. You can also fly to Atlantic City, landing at the Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), which is about 9 miles from downtown.

Places of Interest in Atlantic City, New Jersey

  1. Absecon Lighthouse

  2. Atlantic City Aquarium - Ocean Life Center

  3. Atlantic City Historical Museum

  4. Broadwalk

  5. Lucy the Elephant

  6. Monopoly Monument

  7. The Water Show at The Pier Shops at Caesars

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Discover with Timothy YouTube Channel

 Discover with Timothy Food Channel

 Learn Penang Hokkien YouTube Channel

SojiMart Videos

Latest from Discover with Timothy: Gurney Bay - what to see and do there

About this website



Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.

Copyright © 2003-2024 Timothy Tye. All Rights Reserved.