We're not building large residential tracts anymore. The northern end of Route 70 as seen from Monmouth County over the Manasquan River and Brielle Bridge. Meanwhile, Brick's commercial property developers are beneficiaries of the 1990s economic boom. Long eclipsed by Dover Township, its neighbor to the south, Brick's shopping districts were rejuvenated with the arrival of major national retailers. It's the economy.
Interest rates are low.
Everything's been right. Amid the blizzard of dollar signs, the township and conservationists are managing to save a little bit of open space as well. This sports-crazy town has public football fields in addition to school gridirons, and now a deal to build a recreation area on another old farm at Drum Point Road and Old Hooper Avenue. Critics have said it's too little too late for a town whose name was synonymous with poor planning and the go-go Shore building booms that occurred from the 1960s into the '80s. But one former antagonist from those days says the town's attitude has changed 180 degrees.