What's Wrong With Cinnaminson?

As many of you have probably noticed, Cinnaminson has really been going downhill within the last few years. Many aspects of the township of have noticeably and seriously deteriorated. Areas affected include the stores and businesses, roads and highways, and community programs.

The township no longer has good retail shops like Caldor or Clover. Ames tookover the Clover building, but it too went out of business, leaving only Oddjob. Walmart and Sams has since opened up the road, but they don't have the quality or reputation of stores like Caldor or Clover. And a once thriving Main Line Shopping Center is now occupied by only a few small businesses. Gone are Channel, ABC Auto, Baskin Robbins, and Remember When Records. Supermarkets like Shop 'n Bag and Talk of the Town no longer exist, the only real supermarket is Acme. Which leads me to mention the horrible site of the old Acme Shopping Center on Cinnaminson Ave. For years the old Acme building has been vacant leaving only the Eckard. And just up the hill sits the empty Caldor building, a once prosperous and convenient store that sold quality goods at a fair price. Next to the Caldor was Wall To Wall Sound And Video, which closed some time ago and is now the Wood Workers Warehouse. Just up the parking lot from that is the Cinnaminson Mini Mall, yet another abandoned establishment. The mall housed the Cinnaminson Cinemas. Sure, it wasn't the nicest theater around, but it was something. The dining establishments of the township have taken many blows too. After the Burger King closed the building remained vacant for quite a while, then People's Pizza took over, but they too went out of business. A good independent Mexican fast food shop was Salsa's in the Colonial Square Shopping Center next to Dino's Pizza, but they too went out of business, and has since become a tattoo parlor. And my favorite steak house, Rustler, has not been in business for many years. The building where it once was is now a Big And Tall clothing store. One of the biggest blows came when Roy Rogers closed and became a Hardee's, which later became Boston Chicken and then Boston Market which has also closed. In late 2001 the historic Roy Rogers building, which was once a Geno's, was demolished and in the spring of 2002 a McDonalds was built on the site. When it comes to fast food, you can't beat a Roy Rogers Family Restaurant.

As far as the roads and traffic management goes, the situation isn't any better. One has to wonder what they were thinking when they decided to erect a traffic light at the intersection of Church Road and Lenola Road. I see no improvement in the flow of traffic along either road. And it has had a detrimental effect on the flow of traffic out of the Commerce Bank on Church Road across from the Wawa. The traffic light would have been a lot more useful at the intersection of Branch Pike and Forklanding Road. At this location it would not only serve to make the intersection safer for vehicles, but would also benefit the students of both St. Charles and the Middle School as a safe place to cross the street. And when it comes to the condition of the roads in this township, there isn't much good news here either. There are large potholes at many intersections throughout the township, and have not seen anyone fixing them yet.

What about the youth of our community? What are they to do on a Friday night? I remember a time not long ago when the township would have a dance at the Community Center on Riverton Road. It was great place to dance, converse with friends, and have a good time, but this is a function which has long since ceased. There isn't even a movie theater or quality fast food restaurant to retreat to.

Below is a list of businesses that are no longer in Cinnaminson.

**Stores And Businesses That Have Closed**
Business	Location
Acme	Acme Shopping Center
Ben Pilla's Speed Shop	Acme Shopping Center
Caldor	Acme Shopping Center
Thrift Drug	Acme Shopping Center
Village Thrift	Acme Shopping Center
Wall To Wall Sound And Video	Acme Shopping Center and Route 130
DNAP	Branch Pike
Antiques And Clocks	Church Road
Cook's	Cinnaminson Avenue
Cumberland Farms	Cinnaminson Avenue
Vintage Village	Cinnaminson Avenue
Cinnaminson Cinemas	Cinnaminson Mini Mall
Computer Ladder	Clover Mall
Gold Metal Sporting Goods	Clover Mall
Windsor Hallmark Cards	Clover Mall
Ames	Clover Square Shopping Center
Clover	Clover Square Shopping Center
All Aboard Travel	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Chicken Holiday	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Eck's Wallpaper	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Fish Factory	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Jewel Tea	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Salsa's	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Shop N' Bag	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Stationary Unlimited	Colonial Square Shopping Center
The House Of Bargains	Colonial Square Shopping Center
Pepino's Pizza	Mainline II Shopping Center
Sambo's	Mainline II Shopping Center
ABC Auto	Mainline Shopping Center
Baskin Robbins	Mainline Shopping Center
Channel	Mainline Shopping Center
Children's Sample Shop	Mainline Shopping Center
Dollar Store	Mainline Shopping Center
MAB Paints	Mainline Shopping Center
Remember When Records	Mainline Shopping Center
Rickles	Mainline Shopping Center
Talk of the Town	Mainline Shopping Center
Tastycake Thrift Shop	Mainline Shopping Center
Burlington County College	Riverton Road
Mobil Gas Station	Route 130 and Willow Drive
American Appliance	Route 130
Blue Lantern	Route 130
Boston Market	Route 130
Burger King	Route 130
Cinnaminson Liquors	Route 130
Color Tile	Route 130
Dakis Oldsmobile	Route 130
Schrey's Empire Diner	Route 130
Golden Eagle	Route 130
Haines Buick	Route 130
Hardee's	Route 130
Kian's Kitchen	Route 130
Lancaster Dress Company	Route 130
Omers	Route 130
Pasta Blitz	Route 130
People's Pizza	Route 130
Roy Rogers	Route 130
Rustler	Route 130
Shea's Liquors	Route 130
Woolco	Route 130

The Over-Development of Cinnaminson

Over the last 20 years our township has undergone many changes. Numerous new houses and housing developments have been built, taking away open spaces and causing more crowding and congestion. Below is a list of all the places where houses and housing developments have been constructed in the last 20 years.

**Construction**
Location	Name of Developement
Branch Pike	Poet's Walk
Branch Pike at Delores Drive
Branch Pike, Fork Landing Road near intersection
Church Road, Lenola Road, Forklanding Road	Smethwycke / Cinnaminson Crossing
Cinnaminson Ave near fire department
Parry Road between Riverton Road & New Albany Road
Riverton Road across from Wood Park
Riverton Road next to Library
Sweetwater Drive	Sweetwater

Population Shrinkage

In spite of all the new construction the population continues to shrink. Below is chart showing the population of the township for the past 30 years.

**Population**
Year	Population
1970	16962
1971	18066
1972	18298
1973	18005
1974	17348
1975	17633
1976	17753
1977	17512
1978	16992
1979	16909
1980	16072
1981	16136
1982	15922
1983	15952
1984	15865
1985	15645
1986	15558
1987	15359
1988	15429
1989	14983
1990	14583
1991	14745
1992	14746
1993	14801
1994	14785
1995	14803
1996	14822
1997	14795
1998	14803
1999	14778
2000	14595

The future of Cinnaminson is very uncertain. If things don't start to change soon Cinnaminson could become another Asbury Park.

Please write to me if you can think of any businesses that I've missed.

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