2012: IT'S NOT THE TRENTON I KNEW!

All I can say is "WOW!" It sure isn't the Trenton I knew. A few weeks ago I was on my way to Mass at Sacred Heart Church on South Broad Street. The police had my normal Hamilton Avenue route closed off due to a large amount of traffic going into the Sovereign Bank Arena, resulting a detour. I took a right at the railroad tracks and exited to Perry Street where I headed back on Perry Street to North Warren. As I tooled down North Warren Street heading to the new intersection with South Broad Street, I tried to focus on what was as opposed to what is. Passing the ever familiar St. Michael's P.E. church brought me into a completely changed landscape. No theaters, no shops, mostly tall, glass-encrusted office buildings! As I crossed over to South Broad Street in the Mill Hill area, I was rudely aware that the Trenton I remember has morphed into a city dominated by N.J. and other high rise office buildings. Yeah, I miss the Trenton of my young years.

Anonymous said...

I've been wondering,What was life in trenton before the 90's? My family is from trenton, lived all over from north trenton, da burg, to South trenton right at franklin park on woodland. And even after I heard certain parts of trenton(excluding downtown and north) were still a nice place to live after the riots until the around mid 90's.r I guess im just asking what was life like, how did the enrgy of the city feel? Now you go into trenton and you feel like you have to be aware of everything around you because you don't know what can happen. Parts of if not all of the burg is not nice and it's now flowing down into the franklin park area. But in the 70's and before what was trenton like Is trenton really as bad as it seems. It's horrible because I hear great things about trentons past. I drive through and I can see and imagine how awesome trenton was just not too long ago. I wish trenton could back to the way it was in the 50s,60s, and 70's. I would certainly live there, it sounded liek the place to be, a nice place to raise the family. It would be apprecitaed if somebody could respond to my questions. Also, has anyone stayed in the city, whats it liek to live there now?! Is there constant gun fire, muggings, and robberies? Or does this stay in certain parts of the city. What's the franklin park area like currently?!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Thanks for the comment, Anonymous. In order to find what the Trenton of yesteryear was like back in the day, you don't have to go any further than THIS website! Page through the 7,300 plus pages! You will see photos of downtown Trenton when it was a viable and vibrant city and a time when law and order was in style. You will see photos of high school Saturday night dances that didn't require a police officer to keep the peace. You will find an era when Coke was Coca Cola and drugs were in a pharmacy, a bitch was a female dog, and music was music, and not a screaming cacophony. Today, the dregs who are committing all or most of the crimes are granted plea bargains and many are turned loose back on society. Just check the news and note how many articles tell of the capture of a criminal with a long "rap sheet."