About 8,830 residents cast ballots for mayor, about 24 percent of the city's 36,373 registered voters.
 Camden residents average home assessment is $29,000, one tenth of average area assessment. Under the  the city is not allowed to raise its tax rate until 2012. New homebuyers do not have to pay property taxes for the first five years of ownership. Poverty rate statewide: 8.2% Camden: 32.8% The unemployment rate is three times the New Jersey and national average. Per capita income in the city is under $10,000, a mere 40 percent of the figure in neighboring suburbs.
            46.5% of all persons are twenty-five years of age or younger.
African Americans (53%),Hispanic groups (38.8%),white ethnic groups (15.7%),Asian citizens (2.5%). Over 45% receive some form of public assistance. While in the second richest state The City of Camden has the highest poverty rate in the United States, and consistently ranks at the top as most dangerous. 
        However, two key parts of the city, downtown and the expansive, and mostly abandoned industrial warehouse district Ferry. Ave. PATCO Light Rail LINE  station area are virtually resident free, (meaning little displacement and inconvenience for residents due to development) and  geographically isolated  from crime. These two areas are ripe for visionary New Urbanist and Transportation Oriented Developers with an eye for value. Yorkship Village, a third area, " is a lively mixed-use central square, with a graceful interconnecting street pattern. In a city with extreme levels of poverty and unemployment, Yorkship Village endures as a humane place to live." Yorkship Square already has all the elements of New Urbanism in place, a brick neighborhood built to last in 1917. However, the social situation in the neighborhood portends every classic point of potential friction for gentrification. If the social and class issues can be ameliorated, from a design point of view,Yorkship Village in the Fairview section is ready for Urban Pioneers and regeneration now. An abundance of infill development opportunities exist in the form of vacant lots, abandoned buildings and homes.

The state offers strong incentives to offset perceived risk premiums.  City administration, until recently was notorious for corruption and incompetence. U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and Gov. Corzine have achieved the seemingly impossible: Ridding Camden of the corrupt and instituting professional administration. Though various loose ends are still being tied, and the upcoming trials of Camden's disintegrating oligarchy are hot in the news, now is the time to join pioneering New Urbanists like Carl Dranoff and Yaromir Steiner, and plant your flag in Camden. With a population of 80,000, Camden is not densely populated. In the 1950's, Camden's population was 125,000. If you are as bold as Dranoff and Steiner, and have a good sense of market timing, consider Camden. Now is the time for Camden, now is the time for you.

Photos of Camden, NJ       Demograhics