Hometown Emotions
The opportunity to speak with two Glassboro locals helped give me a better understanding of Glassboro well before I arrived in 2016. To them, the personal attachment to old Glassboro will never go away, but they embraced the change and appreciate the benefits. Unfortunately, Carmen moved out of Glassboro before any major redevelopment happened, but he said he's happy to see the culture and economy of his childhood home town flourish. Meanwhile, Andrew was born and raised in Glassboro, and has no intentions on leaving. He says the redevelopment project is a fresh rebirth of Glassboro, and that the opportunities for community building and professional development are endless. He said, "student programs, such as Back to the Boro, are one of the many beneficial ROIs this area has seen that has not been talked about nearly enough." As far as ROIs go, we both agree that the retail shops and attractions are tremendous assets to the local economy. According to them, the rewards out weight the risks.
However, growing pains continue to affect the community that refuses to adapt to the new college town forming in what used to be a small, sleepy town. Take one Facebook post for example, in the group "You Know You're from Glassboro If You Remember?" After shots were fired at a house party next door, a woman named Francine writes, "We once had beautiful neighborhoods, a beautiful college that was respected and that educated many and enabled them to find good jobs! But our town has taken a turn for the worse. What was once beautiful has now become a PRETTY SHITTY place to live." Her post was met with a tremendous amount of support, far different than the opinions I received during the in person interview with Glassboro locals. Many Facebook users blamed the Glassboro "slum-lords," money hungry realtors renting properties to questionable groups of college-age students.
Other citizens have embraced the change, reminding everyone of the deteriorating conditions downtown Glassboro has faced since the 80s. Many users agreed that they would rather deal with growing pains than see Glassboro fade away completely. It is time to bridge the gap and bring these "old timers" and students together to create one big, thriving community.