To get a longer perspective on Camden, I've here today to chat with Jamaal "Champ" Behnett Ali, owner of Total Car Care. First, though, I must get into a jabbering mood, so I slip into Off Broadway for two bottles of Yuengling. The afternoon crowd is a bunch of middle-aged farts like myself. This bar has signs everywhere prohibiting just about everything. "ANYONE LEANING ON MIRROR WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY" is one I haven't seen. On the jukebox, the O'Jays bark, "What they do!" Then croon, "They laugh in your face / All the time they want to take your place / The back stabbers."
I follow Champ into his spartan office. He's only been open since February. "OK, Champ, so you were born in Camden?"
"Yes, born and raised, and I'm 62-years-old."
"You never lived anywhere else?"
"No."
"OK, so you've seen all the changes in Camden""
"Yes, I have."
"You think it's getting better or worse?"
"Better."
"Wow, really? What do you mean?"
"The policing is better. The mayor is better. There are fewer drug sites. If a neighborhood had 50 drug sites before, now it's down to five or six."
"Fifteen?"
"No, fifty! Fifty or sixty!"
"Fifteen is bad enough, but 50?!"
"Yeah, but now there are much less. Camden's no longer an open air drug market."
"But the demand is still there."
I follow Champ into his spartan office. He's only been open since February. "OK, Champ, so you were born in Camden?"
"Yes, born and raised, and I'm 62-years-old."
"You never lived anywhere else?"
"OK, so you've seen all the changes in Camden""
"Yes, I have."
"You think it's getting better or worse?"
"Better."
"Wow, really? What do you mean?"
"The policing is better. The mayor is better. There are fewer drug sites. If a neighborhood had 50 drug sites before, now it's down to five or six."
"Fifteen?"
"No, fifty! Fifty or sixty!"
"Fifteen is bad enough, but 50?!"
"Yeah, but now there are much less. Camden's no longer an open air drug market."
"But the demand is still there."
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