Camden, New Jersey
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The City of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey in the United States. It is located just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 79,904.
Camden is the home of a branch campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The USS New Jersey is preserved as a museum on Camden's Delaware River waterfront near the New Jersey State Aquarium and the Tweeter Center. Campbell's Field, the stadium where the Camden Riversharks minor league baseball team plays, is located between the aquarium and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Riverfront State Prison is immediately adjacent to the stadium on the other side of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Campbell Soup Company's main offices are here, however, its Camden plant closed in 1996.
The Delaware River Port Authority (or DRPA) maintains its main offices in Camden, owns the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which connects Camden to Philadelphia, the PATCO Hi-Speedline's three Camden stations, the RiverLink ferry to Penns Landing in Philadelphia, and numerous area port facilities.
New Jersey Transit's Walter Rand Transportation Center is located at Broadway & Mickle Blvd. Besides being a major hub for New Jersey Transit buses and Greyhound Lines, the Walter Rand Transportation Center is also a PATCO and River LINE station.
In 2004, Camden was awarded the title of "America's Most Dangerous City" by the Morgan Quinto Corporation [1] (http://www.morganquitno.com/cit05pop.htm#25), moving up from third place in 2003 and beating out 354 other dangerous cities considered for the award.
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History
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Walt Whitman lived his last years in Camden and is buried in Harleigh Cemetery on Haddon Avenue.
From 1901 through 1929 Camden was headquarters of the Victor Talking Machine Company, and thereafter to its successor RCA Victor, the world's largest manufacturer of phonographs and phonograph records for the first two thirds of the 20th century.
Camden is the place where the first drive-in theater opened, invented by Richard Hollingshead, on June 6, 1933.
Camden was once the home of a New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard.
On September 6, 1949 mass murderer Howard Unruh went on a killing spree in his Camden neighborhood. Thirteen people died as a result. Unruh remains confined in a state psychiatric facility. In 1996, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman frisked Sherron Rolax in Camden, which many alleged violated Rolax's civil rights. In 2004, Morgan Quitno Press (http://www.morganquitno.com/) also ranked Camden as the US' "most dangerous city", or city with the highest crime rate, adding to its already infamous reputation.
Based on statistics reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Camden was the third-most dangerous city in the U.S. during 2002, and the nation's most dangerous city during 2003. "Most dangerous city" is based on crime statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft. [2] (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/11/22/dangerous.cities.ap/index.html) City Councilman Ali Sloan-El, responding to 2004 news about the 2003 statistics, cites Camden's poverty as an important contributing factor to its high crime rate. The demographic data from the Census indicates about a third of the city's residents live below the poverty line.
Politics
Camden has historically been a stronghold of the Democratic Party. The city is chartered under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council). The Mayor and City Council are elected in non-partisan elections in May. Municipal corruption is rampant. Of the five most recent former Camden Mayors, Angelo Errichetti, Arnold Webster, and Milton Milan have been convicted of crimes ranging from embezzelment to laundering drug money and taking bribes.
Gwendolyn Faison is presently Mayor, and a street has already been renamed in her honor.
Camden was once a center of production of everything from pens and soup to ships and phonographs. Camden has moved into the 21st century well prepared as a center for New Jersey's fastest growing industry: government. Government, education, and healthcare are the three biggest employers in Camden, however most employees commute to Camden and live in nearby suburbs such as Cherry Hill.
Geography
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Camden is located at 39°56'14" North, 75°6'22" West (39.937195, -75.106186)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 26.9 km² (10.4 mi²). 22.8 km² (8.8 mi²) of it is land and 4.0 km² (1.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 15.03% water.
Camden borders Collingswood, Gloucester City, Haddon Township, Pennsauken, and Woodlynne.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 79,904 people, 24,177 households, and 17,431 families residing in the city. The population density is 3,497.9/km² (9,057.0/mi²). There are 29,769 housing units at an average density of 1,303.2/km² (3,374.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 16.84% White, 53.35% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 2.45% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 22.83% from other races, and 3.92% from two or more races. 38.82% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 24,177 households out of which 42.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.1% are married couples living together, 37.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% are non-families. 22.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.12 and the average family size is 3.62.
In the city the population is spread out with 34.6% under the age of 18, 12.0% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 16.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 27 years. For every 100 females there are 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $23,421, and the median income for a family is $24,612. Males have a median income of $25,624 versus $21,411 for females. The per capita income for the city is $9,815. 35.5% of the population and 32.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 45.5% of those under the age of 18 and 23.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
External links
- City of Camden (http://www.ci.camden.nj.us/)
- BJ Swartz's City of Camden page (http://www.eticomm.net/~kelta/camden.html)