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To: OESY
I truly believe that Camden is beyond fixing. I was born in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, went to St anthony of Padua School and lived in the Cramer Hill section of the city in the 60's. It was urban, but Cramer Hill was still a community back then. I was there 2 years ago and felt as if I'd entered some weird parallel universe where everything was ugly and bombed out. Our old house was still lived in but about 6 of the other 9 houses in the row were collapsed. The block literally looked bombed out.

I went to my old Church, thought I'd attend Mass..no way. The one Mass of the day was over and the Church was locked up and the entire campus...Church, rectory, convent and school were locked behind a chain link fence with barbed wire at the top. I drove there the same way I used to walk to school and nearly every building I passed on River Road from the old RCA building to the school was boarded up, burned out, collapsed or all three. It was the most ugly and depressing thing I've ever seen. I've never seen even a Hollywood portrayal of urban blight that came close to what I saw that day.

12 posted on 12/29/2004 6:21:37 AM PST by pgkdan
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To: pgkdan; OESY

At this point Camden is hopeless. There is no tax base, no market, no skill base. There is no conceivable tax break or subsidy that would induce any businessman who values his life to set up shop there.

It only serves as a concentration of those too poor or dysfunctional to be able to afford to move.


21 posted on 12/29/2004 6:41:10 AM PST by Sam the Sham
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To: pgkdan
was born in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, went to St anthony of Padua School and lived in the Cramer Hill section of the city in the 60's. It was urban, but Cramer Hill was still a community back then. I was there 2 years ago and felt as if I'd entered some weird parallel universe where everything was ugly and bombed out. Our old house was still lived in but about 6 of the other 9 houses in the row were collapsed. The block literally looked bombed out.

I was born in Cooper Hospital, but a few years ago I spent a lot of time at Lourdes when a family member was ill. The Camden hospitals still offer the best care for the seriously ill outside of Philadelphia.

Camden is so depressing that I have a great deal of sympathy for anyone who has the misfortune of living or working there.

42 posted on 12/29/2004 7:40:36 AM PST by independentmind
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