I went to college in Newark from 2006-2012. Essentially the beginning to the end of the Booker era. Yeah they make a big stink about the new developments and how Newark was "Revitalizing" itself.

Nonsense: It was a dump when I started and was still a dump when I left. The thing is you don't realize it until you have gone to a place that has not had Newark's issues. Only then do you realize how much further they have to go.