The New Jersey shore town associated with the beginning of Bruce Springsteen's career has just made an impressive list. Asbury Park has made Newsweek's list of the 25 "most popular" beach towns in the U.S.A. When I was growing up in the early 1970's Asbury Park was a family resort with a historic carousel, rides on the boardwalk and a Howard Johnson's shaped like a flying saucer. I loved eating there. One or twice each summer my mom and I would take the bus to Journal Square in Jersey City and take the NJ Transit Bus to Asbury Park. The town was in slow decline then but I was too young to notice. By the 1980's no one was going to Asbury Park anymore. Almost 20 years ago The Soprano's filmed some scenes on the empty boardwalk there. Today Asbury Park's comeback is complete. It's no longer a shore town known rides and arcades. Several of Asbury Park's old hotels have been beautifully restored. There are many excellent restaurants and bistros to choose from. Newsweek described Asbury Park this way: "There is more to the town than it's Instagram-able beachside, as Asbury Park boasts a vibrant art and music scene and an assortment of independent boutique shops." Asbury Park was the only New Jersey shore town to make the list.
Source: NJ.COM