Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen gave his annual “State of The City” address on Tuesday, where he shared updates on the city’s progress and announced his administration’s plans — including a multimillion-dollar renovation for the city’s transit hub.
Speaking at the Walter K. Gordon Theater at Rutgers University Camden, Carstarphen announced his administration’s plans to commit to a $250 million renovation of Walter Rand Transportation Center into a state-of-the-art mixed-use facility.
“This is Camden’s front doorstep and this project along with the Cooper expansion will change the appearance of downtown Camden,” Mayor Carstarphen said.
During his address, he touched on some of the prominent projects during his term such as the completion of renovations along 27th Street, repairing several aging roads, and renovating parks across all seven wards, since his election in 2021.
Additionally, he claimed the city had spent $6 million on clearing debris and non-hazardous waste within city limits.
Carstarphen said $138 million has been allocated to renovate Northgate Apartments, one of the city’s primary struggling residential living spaces. He outlined that the renovation will repair Northgate’s malfunctioning elevators, its common spaces, and make upgrades to its apartment space amenities.
The mayor also highlighted that S&P upgraded the city’s bond rating to an “A,” which he called a major economic step forward for Camden.
“This has essentially raised Camden’s credit score,” Castarphen said.
This story was produced as part of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University’s South Jersey Information Equity Project fellowship and supported with funding from the Independence Public Media Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the NJ Civic Information Consortium.
