Lights guiding me home, I cruised through downtown Newark...

There I was, speeding down Rt. 21 south, listening to Coldplay, when the line "lights will guide you home" from FIX YOU came on just as the Newark skyline came into view. Poetic, no? I was in a delightfully zen, dreamy state as it was, so I decided to nix my usual exit and keep going straight into downtown. It was about 10:15pm...and I was startled to still see people milling about on the street...and not crack addicts. Kind of a sad commentary that the sight of humans DOWNTOWN in the state's largest city at only 10pm-ish stuns me. I was also startled to see the new light rail, which i'd forgotten about. You go, Newark! I wrote a blog the other day about how conflicted i've always been about Manhattan. Well, and this may sound ridiculous, but i'm COMPLETELY comfortable in Newark...though, sadly, not in a "I'll DEFINITELY be free of the fear of gang gunfire" way. I feel like i've said this before on here, but I just find it so sad that Newark isn't a city I can "live and play" in. It's RIGHT FUCKING THERE...the state's biggest city. I'd LOVE to work, live, play there...if only there WERE a "there" there. It's actually worlds better now than a decade ago...the arts center opened in '97, construction has finally begun on a new stadium for the Devils, and MOST impressively, luxury apartments just recently opened in the 2nd tallest building in the city, which had been vacant for like 20 years. LUXURY apartments in DOWNTOWN Newark...THAT is what's needed...PEOPLE!! It needs to feel safe. It needs more restaurants and stores. I wish it still had "Bamberger's" like it did when I was little. It needs a lot still, but i've forever had faith in its eventual comeback. If I had the money, I might even be one of the pioneers in the new apartments. They've got a new, young, dynamic, educated mayor in Cory Booker, too. But while it was fun to take this random drive down Broad Street, with the windows open on this balmy late September night, Coldplay blaring, the tall buildings next to me, and surrounded by the various urban lights...it was more promise than reality. I'm glad I grew up next to it, but i'll be happier when I can walk out of a movie downtown at 11pm, then go get a beer, and not worry about being shot. Change is glacial.