Atlantic City is feeling lower than Mediterranean Avenue.
New Jersey’s ailing seaside gambling hub, whose streets served as the inspiration for the original Monopoly, will not be among the cities appear on the game’s 80th-Anniversary edition, titled “Monopoly: Here & Now.”
Game-maker Hasbro partnered with BuzzFeed to allow people to vote for 22 cities that will appear in the special anniversary edition. The top city got to claim the coveted “Boardwalk” space. the game’s most expensive property. Pierre, South Dakota took top honors in the vote.
Known, according to Wikipedia, for being the second-least populous state capital, Pierre launched a campaign last week to boost its ranking from 57 to the top spot, according to Mayor Laurie Gill.
“We basically had seven days to initiate and execute a get out the vote effort. Pierre really stepped up to the plate, and knocked this one out of the park,” Gill said in a statement.
Officials in south Jersey were quick to show their wounded pride.
“Rather than buying Here & Now edition, will now opt to take grandkids to games & activities along #AC’s original & always better boardwalk,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo.
Other cities to secure spots include Detroit, Cleveland, New York and Waconia, MN.
In the Here & Now version, players pay “visitor fees” instead of “rents” when they land on properties owned by opponents. Which is to say that the new version of Monopoly imagines Pierre, South Dakota as a luxurious place to visit. The new edition, an update to the 2006 “Here & Now” version, is expected to be released in the fall.
