Wildwood is a four-season municipality that lives as a summer resort on the Jersey Shore. It sits on the barrier island known as Five Mile Beach, in Cape May County, between the Atlantic Ocean and the back bays, and is the largest of a cluster of shore communities — North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, West Wildwood, and Diamond Beach — collectively called the Wildwoods. About 5,200 people live here year-round, but the population multiplies many times over during the summer, when visitors fill the motels, rental units, and beach houses that line the island. The city's identity is inseparable from its beach and boardwalk. The beach is famously wide — often cited as among the widest on the Jersey Shore — and free to the public, while the boardwalk is lined with amusement piers, arcades, food stands, and shops. Morey's Piers, a family-owned amusement operation, runs three piers and two beachfront waterparks, along with more than a hundred rides including several roller coasters, making the boardwalk the commercial and recreational heart of the town. Wildwood is also nationally recognized for its concentration of Doo Wop architecture, the playful mid-century motel style defined by neon signage, angular roofs, and tropical themes that flourished along the shore in the 1950s and 1960s. The Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District protects many of these motels, most densely in Wildwood Crest, and the style remains a point of civic pride and preservation effort throughout the island. Beyond the summer season, Wildwood functions as a small working city with a full public school system, municipal services, and a local population that supports year-round businesses along Rio Grande Avenue and the surrounding neighborhoods. The Garden State Parkway and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry put the island within reach of the Philadelphia and mid-Atlantic region, and the shoulder seasons draw a quieter crowd of visitors to the beaches and events.