Hard work pays off
There is an old saying: “It takes 20 years of hard work to become an overnight success.”
We believe that’s true.
After more than two decades of hard work and revitalization efforts at the Hammonton School District, the downtown area, the uptown district, Hammonton’s Little Italy and the Hammonton Business Park, along with the housing stock throughout town, Hammonton’s real estate prices are skyrocketing.
Many solid decisions helped make this possible. Among the best of them were:
• Keeping town hall at Central Avenue and Vine Street.
• Reinvesting in the Hammonton School District with a new high school, early childhood education center as well as complete renovations to the Hammonton Middle School and Warren E. Sooy Jr. Elementary School.
• Support of MainStreet Hammonton, the Hammonton Revitalization Corporation and the sweeping revitalization of the downtown area.
• Redefining the town’s commercial areas into the downtown area, the uptown district, Hammonton’s Little Italy, the Hammonton Business Park and now, the Railroad Corridor and preserving the history and character of those areas.
• The creation and perpetuation of events and festivals throughout the year in the downtown and uptown areas.
• Renewing and preserving the character of the park areas throughout the town.
• Remodeling the existing home stock and building new homes that fit the character of the existing community.
• Maintaining a commitment to revitalization without moving toward gentrification, which often displaces longstanding residents.
You may have noticed that the theme running through the list above is that the decisions, in most cases, leaned toward preserving the town’s unique character. As property values soar, let’s remember that it’s mainly because decisions were made that embraced Hammonton’s unique character and saw that it had value. Let’s hope decisions continue to be made that way now that the town is an overnight success after 20-plus years.