Camden, NJ

Camden is situated along the scenic Delaware River, with Philadelphia, Pa., just on the other side of the river. About 80,000 people live in Camden. The RiverLink Ferry links Camden and Philadelphia and treats riders to a waterfront tour on each passage.

NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS

Camden began as little more than a suburb of Philadelphia, until a sudden population influx occurred in conjunction with the rise of industry during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Waves of immigration gave the city a diverse ethnic population. The city grew outward from its waterfront center.

• The Camden Waterfront sits on the Delaware River and is only a mile from Philadelphia's historic district. Nearby Cooper Grant neighborhood houses the Camden campus of Rutgers University. Camden's minor-league baseball team, the Riversharks, play in Campbell's Field near the river. The waterfront is considered the safest part of an often crime-plagued city. Its newest condominium development, the Victor Lofts, is located in the former headquarters of the phonograph company RCA Victor. Its denizens have easy access to Philadelphia, just a short ride or walk across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
• The Parkside neighborhood is located just east of the waterfront area, across several highways. A middle-class residential neighborhood, Parkside is convenient to several urban parks and health-care centers and located near a high-speed rail line to Philadelphia.
• Fairview, formerly known as Yorkship Village, was the first planned community in the United States funded with federal money. Electus Darwin Litchfield was the designer of Yorkship Village. He took inspiration from the United Kingdom's garden city movement, which attempted to create entire communities, complete with residences and businesses, encircled by greenbelts. During World War I, construction of homes for the shipyard workers of Camden's New York Shipbuilding Corporation commenced. A concerted effort at revitalization has helped restore the neighborhood's historic homes; residents say they enjoy the convivial community feeling. Located across Newton Creek south of the center of town, it is also one of Camden's most integrated areas.
• Cramer Hill, located across the Cooper River east of the waterfront district, is an upwardly mobile community whose original population of German immigrants has largely given way to Latinos. Its main thoroughfare is River Avenue, which runs from the Delaware River all the way to the city limits and beyond. A controversial redevelopment plan, proposed in 2003 with limited community input, was rejected.

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

Camden was once a center of industry, but over the decades the city fell victim to issues of poverty, crime, and a stunted economy. In recent years, however, the city has made attempts to improve conditions and revitalize the economy. Most of Camden's workforce works in service, sales and office, and production, transportation, and material-moving industries.

Camden is best known as the home of the Campbell Soup Company. While Campbell's world headquarters have remained here for decades, the Camden plant closed in 1996. The company is renovating and expanding its Camden corporate offices, adding to the revitalization of the Camden area.

The Cooper University Hospital, which is nationally recognized as a leader in the area of trauma, calls Camden home.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

• The Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts allows residents and visitors alike to enjoy a rich and vibrant variety of cultural fare, including jazz concerts by world-class musicians, performances at the Garden State Dance Festival, painting, sculpture, and photography exhibits, and classical theater from Moliere to Shakespeare. The Center also offers special youth programs to educate and entertain children about musical theater, storytelling, and more. Ticket prices are affordable, and the Center is conveniently located on the Camden Waterfront.
• The South Jersey Performing Arts Center (SPAC), another outstanding local presenter of music, theater, and dance, is also on the Camden Waterfront. From October through May, SJPAC hosts some of the nation's finest talent. The Camden Waterfront also houses the New Jersey State Aquarium and Camden Children's Garden, live concerts at the Tweeter Center, and Wiggins Park. This popular venue also boasts Campbell's Field, a new 6,500-seat baseball park, where the Camden Riversharks minor-league baseball team plays. The USS New Jersey, America's most decorated battleship, is berthed on the Camden Waterfront and is now a museum; it's open seven days a week.
• Susquehanna Center (formerly the Tweeter Center) seats up to 7,000 people and presents artists and special events throughout the year.
• Campbell's Field Baseball Park, home of the Independent League's Delaware Riversharks, boasts a beautiful view of the Delaware River and the Ben Franklin Bridge.

FOR VISITORS

• Adventure Aquarium is located on the Camden Waterfront. It features four "adventure zones" and even offers visitors the opportunity to swim with sharks.
• Walt Whitman House was most likely the final home of poet and writer Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and is now a museum open to the public. Whitman died in Camden, and his grave is in Camden's Harleigh Cemetery. Walt Whitman House is a historic residence and is registered in the National Register of Historic Places.
• Battleship New Jersey Naval Museum and Veteran's Memorial features docent-led tours through the Battleship New Jersey, one of the largest battleships ever built.
• Camden Children's Gardens is a four-acre interactive garden for children.

EDUCATION

• Rutgers-Camden is a satellite campus of Rutgers University, a four-year, public university.
• Rowan University, a four-year, public university, is based in Glassboro, New Jersey, and has a campus in Camden.
• Camden County College is a two-year, public college. One of the three campuses is located in Camden.