Growing up in a small town, the most subtle change will always stand out.

It can be something as simple as a coffee shop going up in a corner that used to be a wooded area or a restaurant that now sits in the center of a once-vacant parking lot.

It’s safe to say, just like everything else, those changes become normalized, and the sight of the change is no longer jarring as it once was in the beginning.

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After a while, you start telling yourself that it was there forever.  It was never “new.”  When in fact, we probably hated the idea of change.

Now, some changes, no matter how long they have been in a certain location, will change the landscape so much, that you can’t help but say “Remember when this was just a stop sign and now it’s the entrance to a Stop & Shop.”

How about that forest?  Now, cleared out, and turned into a development filled with multi-million-dollar homes.

You get the idea.

We looked around the entire Jersey Shore and found some of the most obvious changes, some for the better, and some that you are still on the fence about but, hey, nothing we can really do about it now.

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Here's just one example of a big change.  Do you recognize this?

Let’s be fair, maybe, just maybe, you became accustomed to some of these changes.  You’re now happy about the new Wawa (ok, let’s be honest, we are always happy for a new Wawa – so keep them coming.). Maybe you hate the idea of a park that is now surrounded by two-dozen homes.

Either way, change is here to stay.  Let’s take a trip down memory lane together with some of these changes in and around The Jersey Shore.  We looked in Toms River, Seaside, Asbury Park, and so many more.

The Jersey Shore - Now & Then

 

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