This Wall Street Journal article discusses the misperception of the extent of the damage to Atlantic City, that is keeping some tourists away.
Revenues from Atlantic City don't just go into the pockets of merchants - they help pay for many state programs that folks rely on so this is important. Please keep in mind that a few photos from news coverage may not reflect what you'll see when you go down there.
I certainly hope that merchants, residents and others in the area work to get video and photos out that show a more positive side of the area. When we talk about recovery at the New Jersey shore, it will mean doing lots of work, some of which have to be in response to perceptions because it is a tourist area as well as home for many New Jerseyans.
This is in no way to minimize the heartbreak and heavy physical damage that many along the shore suffer even as I write this. But we do need to be discerning about how we refer to damaged areas that are also tourism spots.
As word gets out about which areas were hit more badly, perhaps the generic term 'the shore' will not unwittingly and unintentionally be used in a way that can actually be harmful to Atlantic City's tourism.
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