We’ve heard a lot over the past several years about Camden’s efforts to turn the corner (powered by millions in tax credits and crony capitalist schemes); pre-pandemic, the national media slobbered all over the Christie-South Jersey Machine county police force as a model for other urban centers around the country. Similarly, the Christie A.C. takeover continued by Phil Murphy was hailed by many Trenton insiders as the right path forward.
Well, ‘Camden Rising’ turned out to be more dream than reality according to the latest census data, Save Jerseyans. A.C. didn’t pan out much better.
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According to newly released data, the City of Camden – an industrial power house in the first half of the 20th century – shrunk from 77,344 residents in 2010 to 71,791 in 2020.
Meanwhile, Jersey City added 44,852 residents, Newark added 34,409, Paterson added 13,533, Elizabeth gained 12,329, Union City added 2,134, and even Trenton picked up 5,958. Atlantic City did join Camden in shedding residents (1,061), but Camden’s 7.2% drop dramatically exceeded the Boardwalk Empire’s relatively modest -2.7% contraction.
U.S. metro areas nationally added residents over the last 10 years as millennials and immigrants bouyed the country’s urban centers, some of which had steadily continued to lose population from the late 20th century through the early years of the 21st.
There are redistricting implications. The 5th Legislative District which includes Camden is off by about 10,000 residents, and South Jersey’s collective of legislative districts (1-8) are cumulatively off by over 50,000. The end result could mean diluted power for the mighty South Jersey Democrat Machine when the new map is drawn later this year (though it won’t go into effect until 2023).
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