The City of Cape May has lost its convention hall and doesn’t know what to do?
The city and our county is undergoing so many changes, it really makes it hard to decide. Among the major changes is the nature of the population. If the population were just increasing or decreasing a little, one could project future needs from that, and from there make his plans.
But our changes are of a more complex kind. Our county, which used to be the stepchild of New Jersey counties, now boasts some of the most expensive real estate in the state. This is impacting our population enormously: people of average income cannot buy property here any more. Add to that, property taxes are shooting up because local governments have taken advantage of the rising property values by not commensurately lowering tax rates.
So families find it ever more difficult to live here.
And another change: rooming houses, motels, B&Bs, and affordable houses are being replaced by condos, luxury home and mansions whose faces we far too seldom see.
So where do the people live who maintain this place? increasingly out of the county.
So as the gentry replace the common folk, how does Cape May County, Cape May in this instance, plan for its future needs? Will the community require a community center? Will the gentry living in Cape May be around enough to darken its doors?
Who knows? Perhaps Avalon’s example could be helpful here. Is their new community center used enough to warrant the price and maintenance? My guess is, yes.
But it is not an exact parallel, because their library money paid for it, not new taxes.
What about something more than a community center…something that would accommodate lots of people all at one time? Is there enough energy in Cape May to draw to the city the numbers of people which the prior generation worked so hard to attract? Remember, that was a hungry generation who did not have money when they moved to Cape May.
Even if the answer is “Yes” to that, will the city have enough remaining lodging to accommodate the crowds of the past?
As time passes, things change. The reality is, just as prior generations built our communities, it is now on us and future generations to build on their successes and to cooperate to build Cape May County. We can accomplish far more with far fewer tax dollars that way, and create for ourselves a home of which we are even prouder.

Art Hall, publisher