How's the shore doing?

This follows up on the post from yesterday: how are gas prices affecting the shore season?

In the good news corner, Atlantic City saw an upswing in traffic over the July 4 weekend compared to the July 4 weekend of 2007.

According to the South Jersey Transportation Authority, 97,133 cars passed through the Pleasantville toll booth of the Atlantic City Expressway on July 4, a 14.2 percent increase from the 85,026 cars in 2007. And that doesn't include cars coming in from other roads that lead into Atlantic City.

Also surprising: the Beach Boys played a free live concert on July 4 at the Atlantic City Hilton and drew 50,000 people. The Hilton folks had expected 5,000 to 10,000.

Even Lucy the Elephant made out: she saw a 5 percent increase in visitor counts over the same period last year, with tours and retail sales both running ahead of 2007’s.

All good. But bad signs? By all accounts, street traffic along Asbury Avenue in Ocean City was down last Thursday during their very popular Downtown Market Day. Some of the shops and restaurants are saying business is down, too -- not the worst they've seen, but down.

Could it be that people are visiting but spending less? Not eating at restaurants, and not tempting themselves with shopping? Perhaps. I know I do the same at home. But based on the constant backups on the Atlantic City Expressway, I'd say that the shore is going to do fine this summer.