Mckee City

The stables and stadium seats of the Atlantic City Race Course have long fallen silent, but the confluence of Black Horse Pike and the Atlantic City Expressway have helped to cement McKee City as a commercial center between urban hubs. “Why live in McKee City? It’s really easy – proximity to Atlantic City, the beach and Philadelphia,” says Michael Riordan, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Shore-Brigantine and Atlantic County real estate expert. “You get in the car at Hamilton Mall, drive to the shore and it’s 10 degrees cooler. It’s a great location.” Whether the priority is shopping at commercial plazas, commuting on interstate thoroughfares or day-tripping to coastal cities along the South Shore, McKee City provides a home base with a more suburban sensibility than its name suggests. Seahorses and orcas circle under pastel seascapes and golden lights on Hamilton Mall’s carousel, a playful nod to the indoor shopping center’s role as Atlantic City’s rainy-day commerce hub. While two stories of skylit corridors guide shoppers between specialty retailers from H&M to Bath & Body Works, the mall’s hallways and storefronts are not nearly as packed as in decades past. “Hamilton Mall is going through what a lot of malls are going through, but that also means there’s room for opportunity there,” Riordan says. “Macy’s is still a big anchor there, and there’s great shops in all the strip malls around that area.” Satellite strip malls line Black Horse Pike and Wrangleboro Road, drawing retailers like Old Navy and Dick's which prefer larger footprints. While shoppers might stop for an Auntie Anne’s pretzel or food court fare from Osaka Japanese Cafe, chain family-style restaurants like Applebee’s and Outback Steakhouse serve familiar menu items in larger sit-down locations. Big name retailers for groceries and essentials like Target and Walmart anchor plazas throughout the commercial strip. From the merge point of U.S. Routes 40 and 322, Black Horse Pike takes commuters 14 miles east to Atlantic City. The Atlantic City Expressway provides an alternate route to the shore and a 50-mile drive to Philadelphia. While a few NJ Transit bus lines make stops at Hamilton Mall and along Black Horse Pike, most residents rely on personal vehicles to get around. Travelers taking off from the Atlantic City International Airport drive less than 6 miles from their homes to the terminal gates. The halls of Hamilton Mall regularly fill with seasonal decor and classic mall-style holiday events. Kids may visit with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus in the spring and winter or do some centralized, climate-controlled trick-or-treating in October. Vacant storefronts become temporary blood donation facilities at drives put on by the American Red Cross throughout the year. Housing plans with names like Timber Glen and The Village at Hardings Run wind into quiet cul-de-sacs off of main roads, as does The Fairways at Mays Landing, a 55-plus community abutting an 18-hole golf course. Depending on the subdivision, square footage and age of construction, New Traditional single-family homes ranging from Craftsman-inspired ranch-style homes to larger Colonial Revivals with attached garages sell for $200,000 to $500,000. Townhouses sell for $130,000 to $360,000 depending on age, renovation levels and square footage. HOA membership ensures that private lawns and public sidewalks remain well-maintained and complementary to the rest of the street, and monthly fees range from less than $20 a month to the mid-hundreds depending on subdivision and housing style. Most subdivisions in McKee City provide pockets of green space for residents, like Victoria Pointe, which positions its central park featuring a playground, tennis courts and a baseball diamond across the street from the outdoor swimming pool and clubhouse. Over 7 miles of paved paths make up the Atlantic County Bikeway, taking riders from a trailhead at the Atlantic County Institute of Technology to the parking lot of the Harbor Square shopping mall. Around 15 miles to the east, Absecon Island’s sandy beaches and bikeable boardwalks are popular day trip locales from the tip of Atlantic City to the border of Ventnor and Margate. Joseph Shaner School serves prekindergarten through kindergarten and does not currently have a rating from Niche, while George Hess Educational Complex serves first through fifth grades and earns a C-plus. William Davies Middle School earns a C, and Oakcrest High School earns a B. While many Oakcrest students attend the school because it’s their neighborhood high school, others bus in from further away to enroll in four-year magnet programs exploring biomedical sciences and digital media communications.