Ocean City's Asbury Avenue Named the Best Downtown in South Jersey

Ocean City has once again topped the State in a public opinion competition.

Ocean City’s Asbury Avenue was named the Best Downtown in South Jersey in the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association’s (APA-NJ) 2014 People’s Choice Awards.

It won with 63.5 percent of the vote, beating out Collingswood (25.3%) and Millville (11.2%).

Ocean City received the most votes in the entire state.

It collected a total of 4,996 votes. Hoboken had the most votes in North Jersey with 2,576, and Red Bank collected 2,325 votes to top voting in Central Jersey.

Results were announced on Monday.

“We are very excited Asbury Avenue in Downtown Ocean City has won the People’s Choice award,” Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian said. “Our downtown is a vibrant part of our community year round. We have unique stores and wonderful shop owners, restaurants and galleries. The City of Ocean City, Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Merchants Association work together to provide our residents and visitors with a great downtown experience.”

Asbury Avenue is lined with over 100 mostly family-owned businesses. It is generally regarded as “the heart of the island.”

“Shoppers are charmed by quaint, coastal boutiques; enlightened by art and music studios; pampered with one-of-a-kind salons, spa and fitness destinations; and treated to eclectic eats and sensational sweets,” the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce said in a release issued Monday afternoon.

“Great places happen because they are planned for and implemented by people who set high marks for themselves and their communities,” APA-NJ President Charles Latini, Jr., AICP said. “They take hard work, planning and re-planning as time stretches across political tenure, but all of them are places their citizens take pride in. The interest in voting reveals this pride.”

In July, a panel of planning professionals had selected the contestants from nominations submitted by the public, and the 11,421 online ballots cast by the public determined the competition over the past five weeks.

“What better way to pick the top downtowns than to hear from the people who know them?” Linda E. Wills, AICP, APA-NJ Great Places Chair, said. “These downtowns offer inspiration to communities looking to make their own downtowns great. They have overcome many obstacles, and today, they reap the benefits from forging effective public and private partnerships and securing the investments needed to attract, retain and grow businesses.”

Ocean City will receive a plaque at a local award ceremony and a place on the map of Great Places in New Jersey at njplanning.org.

Earlier this year, Ocean City became the first town to take first place in each category of the annual New Jersey Top 10 Beaches poll, conducted by by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Coastal Research Center.