7 South Jersey Towns That Look Nothing Like They Used To
As the Bob Dylan song goes, "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and that certainly includes the way South Jersey looks and feels these days.
Many of the towns and cities that you and I remember from childhood have been overdeveloped and are almost unrecognizable from just a couple of decades ago.
Open farmland or wooded areas are now planned neighborhoods. A new strip mall has been built across the street from another new strip mall. A local mom-and-pop business is now competing with a big corporate chain just down the street.
With that in mind, we recently asked our Facebook followers: What’s one South Jersey town that has changed dramatically since you were a kid?
The answers were interesting, and there were definitely some towns that came up more than once.
Some of the responses focused on towns that have experienced massive growth. Others were more personal, with locals remembering what a particular town looked like when they were growing up.
Here are seven South Jersey towns our readers say have changed dramatically since they were kids.
Mullica Hill: Development and Suburbanization
Mullica Hill was a very different place when the area had a population of roughly 1,000 people in the late 1970s. Today, development around Route 322 has dramatically changed the landscape.
Ocean City: Loss of Landmarks, Expensive Housing
Local resident: I’d say Ocean City, was born there in 2001. From the old 9th Street Bridge, the old SuperFresh, all the gas stations they use to have on 9th, The Blockbuster, and Wawa on 4th Street. Even the old parts of the railroad, liked it when there wasn’t ginormous houses everywhere to. Even having Subway on the boardwalk was awesome.
Sicklerville / Winslow Township: Explosive Suburban Growth
Local resident: Sicklerville Cross Keys area!! Especially since AC Expwy. Exit 41 opened.
The area around Berlin-Cross Keys Road has undergone dramatic development in recent years, with new retail and commercial development changing the landscape considerably.
Galloway Township: Transformed by Growth
Local resident: Galloway Twp has changed so much, especially once the 80's came around and ever since. I grew up in Linwood, and it's surely not the old Linwood I grew up in either.
Glassboro: Rowan-driven Transformation
Before Rowan University rapidly expanded, Glassboro was a sleepy little college town. That has certainly changed over the past several years with multi-story hotels, planned development near Rowan's campus, huge medical facilities, and more.
Cape May: Tourism, Affordability, and Preservation
Local resident: Cape May. Went there as a kid starting in 1990, and went until 2005, then I started going down there for short 2-3 day summer trips with my own kids past few years… It once was affordable to a middle class family, rooms were 120-160 a night in summer. Now? 399-600… It’s not just a seaside town, it’s got wineries now, and all sorts of things for younger adults with and without a family.
Local resident: Cape May was a place you could ride horses in the 80’s, now all the land is bought up and too many people. The victorian homes were victorian homes with electric, now most are so modified for modern convenience you might as well stay in a franchise motel. There are a few that resist modernization still, but city folk keep buying them and converting them, like putting up lightning fixtures from Lowes and getting rid of the electric converted gas fixtures. It’s sad.
Marlton / Evesham Township: Development, Traffic, Suburbanization
Marlton has become one of South Jersey's busiest suburban communities, with shopping centers, restaurants, office buildings and housing developments filling in much of the open space that once surrounded the area. And anyone who regularly drives Route 73 knows just how much that growth has affected traffic.
38 Photos Show Just How Drastically South Jersey Has Changed in 15 Years
Gallery Credit: Chris Coleman
Chris Coleman is a South Jersey native and has been a cornerstone of the Atlantic City radio market since 1998. He serves as Brand Manager for WPG Talk Radio 95.5 and afternoon on-air personality for Cat Country 107.3. A five-time President's Circle award winner and Townsquare Media's 2024 Content Creator of the Year, Chris covers news, events, and stories of interest across Southern New Jersey. Story tips: chris.coleman@townsquaremedia.com
