ASBURY PARK – Kerry Thompson may be priced out of Asbury Park.

When she first moved to the city in 2008, the restaurant server paid $800 per month to share a four bedroom penthouse condo at the Santander building at 400 Deal Lake Drive. She's moved a few times since then in the city, but now is living with a friend for the summer.

She doesn't know if she'll be able to get another apartment in Asbury Park, with a top budget of about $1,000.

Demand to live in Asbury Park has surged in recent years as the city has rebounded from decades of economic stagnation. In June the city was named the "coolest small town" in America by Budget Travel magazine, with visitors flocking to the community for its dining, entertainment and beach.

NUMBER ONE:Asbury Park named coolest small town in America

"I fully appreciate and understand how much the revitalization of the town has helped so many of my peers," Thompson, 40, said.

But she said the revitalization has not led to improved circumstances for everyone. "I feel like Asbury's on the auctioning block, there’s no regard for people who have called this their home for even longer than I have," she said.

City Council members are considering an inclusionary zoning ordinance, one that would mandate housing developers to reserve a certain amount of new units for lower and middle-income families, as noted in the video at the top of this story.

But the exact contours of the housing ordinance will have to wait until an outside consultant, Clarke Caton Hintz, finishes a housing study it is conducting in crafting the city's new master plan.

"What we’re hearing anecdotally is that apartments are running extraordinarily high," Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said. "We want to make sure we're keeping the people here who stayed here, who brought the city back."

Quinn said there was concern about maintaining the diverse nature of the city.

"In 10 years we still want to be at the forefront of arts and culture and diversity. I would certainly say what I’m seeing is we are pricing out people who remained here the last 5, 10, 15 or 20 years."

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Brett Theodos, a senior research associate with the Urban Institute, a Washington D.C.-based think tank on economic and social policy, said inclusionary zoning could be effective in providing affordable housing opportunities.

"It is a more attractive option in hot real estate markets because those are the markets developers want to be in," Theodos said. "In cold markets, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to put up further restrictions on development."

He said similar zoning laws were being passed in coastal markets like San Francisco.

But there have been political hurdles to getting them implemented in states like Texas, Theodos said.

The Newark City Council recently failed to pass an inclusionary zoning ordinance that would have set aside 20 percent of large residential projects for low and moderate income families, according to the Star Ledger.

Asbury Park has a population of about 15,700, but more than a million people visit during the course of a year you can see how the city has changed in the video below.

John Loffredo, a realtor and former Asbury Park city councilman, said that housing prices depend on what side of the city you're looking at.

"Prices have skyrocketed on the east side but there is affordable housing in the city," Loffredo said.

The median income in Asbury Park is just $32,000 per household, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The average home value rose from $74,000 in 2000 to near $260,000 in 2015, according to state tax records.

$1 billionrebirth: Changing face of Asbury Park

Loffredo said many single family homes on the east side of the city start at around $500,000. He said one bedroom apartments start renting at around $1,200 per month.

On the west side, which has lagged behind in economic development, Loffredo said homes are available for sale as low as $125,000.

"People who are working cannot afford to live in Asbury Park," said longtime resident Tracy Rogers, who said he along with other concerned Asbury residents are forming an affordable housing coalition group in the city.

Rogers said it's important that community groups help craft any inclusionary zoning ordinances.

"We want affordable housing throughout the city, we do not want it put in just one particular area."

Austin Bogues 732-643-4009; abogues@gannettnj.com

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