Editing Ocean City, New Jersey (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Ocean City beach - before and after.png|right|thumb|upright=1.2|Aerial view of Ocean City's beach before (left) and after (right) a [[beach nourishment]] project]]
According to the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]], the city had a total area of 11.56 square miles (29.93&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), including 6.72 square miles (17.39&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 4.84 square miles (12.53&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of water (41.87%).<ref name=CensusArea/><ref name=GR1 /> The island is about {{convert|8|mi|adj=on}} long.<ref name="acoe"/> [[Local government in New Jersey#Unincorporated communities|Unincorporated communities]], localities, and place names located partially or completely within the city include Peck Beach.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/infobank/localnames.txt Locality Search] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709092825/http://www.state.nj.us/infobank/localnames.txt |date=July 9, 2016 }}, State of [[New Jersey]]. Accessed May 21, 2015.</ref>

Ocean City is situated on a barrier island bordered by the [[Strathmere, New Jersey|Strathmere]] section of [[Upper Township, New Jersey|Upper Township]] to the south, the [[Marmora, New Jersey|Marmora]] section of Upper Township to the west, and [[Somers Point, New Jersey|Somers Point]] and [[Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey|Egg Harbor Township]] across the [[Great Egg Harbor Bay]] to the north. The eastern side of Ocean City borders the [[Atlantic Ocean]].<ref>[https://global.mapit.mysociety.org/area/837898/touches.html Areas touching Ocean City] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028052540/https://global.mapit.mysociety.org/area/837898/touches.html |date=October 28, 2019 }}, MapIt. Accessed March 1, 2020.</ref><ref>[http://chnj.njpn.org/cape-may/ Cape May County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226193503/http://chnj.njpn.org/cape-may/ |date=February 26, 2020 }}, Coalition for a Healthy NJ. Accessed March 1, 2020.</ref><ref>[https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/gis/maps/polnoroads.pdf New Jersey Municipal Boundaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031204213712/https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/gis/maps/polnoroads.pdf |date=December 4, 2003 }}, [[New Jersey Department of Transportation]]. Accessed November 15, 2019.</ref>

Since 1951, the beach has been [[Beach nourishment|replenished]] more than 30&nbsp;times, potentially the most of any beach in the country, in response to erosion caused by storms. A $5&nbsp;million replenishment project undertaken in 1982 that added {{convert|1200000|cuyd}} of material had largely disappeared within two and a half months after a series of nor'easters.<ref>Pilkey Orrin H.; and Clayton, Tonya D. [https://www.wcu.edu/WebFiles/PDFs/psds.beach_replen._national_solution.pdf "Beach Replenishment: The National Solution?"], [[Western Carolina University]], May 1987. accessed March 2, 2025. "Ocean City, NJ: The 1982 beach nourishment project for this community is perhaps the least successful major replenishment project on the East Coast of the U.S. Between 1952 and 1982 more than thirty replenishments were carried out, most using a city-owned dredge (1970-1980) to pump sand from the backbarrier lagoons. In 1982, 1.2 million cy of city- and state-funded sand was pumped from the nearby flood tidal delta at a cost of $5.2 million. The sand was described as poorly sorted containing small amounts of mud and abundant shell fragments. The entire beach disappeared in 2.5 months due to 'unusual storm activity,' (i.e. 18 northeasters in the first 2.5 months)."</ref>

During the 1960s and 1970s, the city owned its own dredge, but ceased replenishment projects when it could not secure permits for dredging the lagoons.<ref name="corps">{{cite book|pages=[https://archive.org/details/corpsshore0000pilk/page/82 82], 86|url=https://archive.org/details/corpsshore0000pilk|url-access=registration|quote=ocean city new jersey barrier island length miles.|title=The Corps and the Shore|author1=Orrin H. Pilkey|author2=Katharine L. Dixon|publisher=Island Press|year=1996|isbn=1-55963-438-3}}</ref> Since 1992, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] has handled responsibility for beach nourishment projects, periodically adding {{convert|1100000|cuyd}}, roughly every three years, using the [[shoal]] area about {{convert|5000|ft}} offshore the [[Great Egg Harbor Bay|Great Egg Harbor Inlet]]. The project and funding was authorized in the [[Water Resources Development Act of 1986]],<ref name="acoe">{{cite web|publisher=United States Army Corps of Engineers|title=New Jersey Shore Protection, Great Egg Harbor and Peck Beach, (Ocean City), NJ|access-date=December 22, 2017|url=https://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Factsheets/Fact-Sheet-Article-View/Article/490782/new-jersey-shore-protection-great-egg-harbor-and-peck-beach-ocean-city-nj/|archive-date=December 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223043930/http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Factsheets/Fact-Sheet-Article-View/Article/490782/new-jersey-shore-protection-great-egg-harbor-and-peck-beach-ocean-city-nj/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the most recent replenishment was completed in December 2017.<ref>Avedissian, Eric. [http://www.ocsentinel.com/news/army-corps-of-engineers-wraps-up-ocean-city-s-beach/article_5bfee474-e5a5-11e7-82b2-d368557adfc7.html "Army Corps of Engineers wraps up Ocean City's beach replenishment"]{{Dead link|date=July 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''Ocean County Sentinel'', December 20, 2017. Accessed October 27, 2019.</ref> After [[Hurricane Sandy]] in 2012, the Army Corps completed the city's largest beach replenishment since 1993, adding {{convert|1800000|cuyd}} of sand to replenish the eroded beaches.<ref name="acoe"/>

===Parks===
The city utilizes 39% of its land area—{{convert|1716|acre|ha|abbr=on}}—for parks and recreation purposes. This includes about {{convert|1300|acre|ha|abbr=on}} of protected dunes and wetlands. There are several parks within the confines of Ocean City, including ten playgrounds scattered across the island. There are also a [[Volleyball|volleyball court]], a shuffleboard court, a hockey rink, four baseball fields, four soccer fields, eight basketball courts, and 24&nbsp;tennis courts.<ref>Scheule, Randall E. [https://imageserv11.team-logic.com/mediaLibrary/242/Ocean_City_OSRP-Nov5-2014.pdf ''Ocean City Open Space & Recreation Plan''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005195022/https://imageserv11.team-logic.com/mediaLibrary/242/Ocean_City_OSRP-Nov5-2014.pdf |date=October 5, 2018 }}, Ocean City, November 2014. Accessed October 27, 2019.</ref>

Across from the [[Ocean City Municipal Airport (New Jersey)|Ocean City Airport]] is the Howard Stainton Wildlife Refuge, a {{convert|16|acre|ha|abbr=on}} area of wetlands established in 1997. There are no trails, but there is a viewing platform accessible from Bay Avenue.<ref>[http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20140531/NEWS/140539950 "The Highwayman: Bayside rambling 'down the shore'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223102121/http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20140531/NEWS/140539950 |date=December 23, 2017 }}, ''Delco Times'', May 31, 2014. Accessed December 23, 2017. "If you prefer to spend as much time as possible outdoors at the shore, don't bypass the Howard Stainton Wildlife Refuge on Bay Avenue between 23rd and 30th streets, directly across the road from the Ocean City Airport. This 16-acre freshwater refuge supports waterfowl and marshland birds such as the black-crowned heron, sandpipers, killdeer and Canada geese, as well as the endangered least tern and black skimmer. The refuge was completed and opened in 1997 after a nearly decade-long legal battle between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (which wanted the parcel to be protected as wetlands) and a development company, which had plans to build properties on the land."</ref> Adjacent to the airport is the Ocean City Municipal Golf Course, a 12&ndash;hole course run by the city and open to the public.<ref>[http://www.ocnj.us/golf/ Ocean City Municipal Golf Course] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028052535/http://www.ocnj.us/golf/ |date=October 28, 2019 }}, Ocean City. Accessed October 27, 2019.</ref>

At the southern end of the island is [[Corson's Inlet State Park]], which was established in 1969 to preserve one of the last undeveloped tracts of land along the oceanfront. The park is accessible by [[Ocean Drive (New Jersey)|Ocean Drive]] (Cape May County Route 619), which bisects the park.<ref>[https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/corsons.html Corson's Inlet State Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028052641/https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/corsons.html |date=October 28, 2019 }}, [[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]]. Accessed October 27, 2019.</ref>