Working for Smart Growth:
More Livable Places and Open Spaces

 

Redevelopment

Redevelopment is reinvestment in neighborhoods and commercial areas to replace or repair previously developed buildings or plots of land that are in substandard condition or are no longer useful in their current state.

Redevelopment sites can be found in urban, suburban and rural locations, as well as on “brownfields” that may be contaminated by a previous industrial use. Redevelopment is a core component of smart growth because it promotes development in existing communities with infrastructure and away from critical environmental lands and resources.

In New Jersey, redevelopment may be publicly or privately initiated, but it is often associated with the procedures and activities of municipalities as permitted by the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, including the “clearance, re-planning, development and redevelopment” of an area in accordance with an adopted municipal redevelopment plan.

New Jersey Future Blog
Hinchliffe Stadium Opens New Opportunities for Paterson while Reconnecting to its Past

While New York City boasts the “House that Ruth Built”, and Cooperstown and Kansas City host hall of fames, New Jersey’s role in the history of baseball, and in particular, NJ’s open exhibition of Black baseball during segregation is often overlooked. Hinchliffe Stadium was once a bustling hub for Black baseball, drawing fans from across the region to Paterson, NJ to see the best players of the day.

Metuchen’s Downtown Revitalization: An Award-Winning Catalyst for Smart Growth

“The Woodmont Metro at Metuchen Station was a catalyst for further redevelopment in downtown Metuchen… Having residents living downtown has resulted in a remarkable growth of restaurants, making downtown Metuchen a highly popular regional dining destination. New retail and service businesses have also opened creating a vibrant, active downtown,” explains Jay Muldoon, Director of Special Projects with the Borough of Metuchen.

Municipal Approach to Racial and Economic Inclusion

In a session entitled Municipal Approach to Racial and Economic Inclusion held at the 2021 New Jersey Planning & Redevelopment Conference and co-hosted by New Jersey Future and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association, elected officials explored what can be done to foster more racial and economic inclusion in planning and redevelopment.

A New Housing Model for New Jersey

Guest author AIA NJ President Joshua Zinder shares the importance of providing “missing middle” housing options to fill a gap in housing and revitalize communities.

Redevelopment Forum 2020
Smart Growth Gets Smarter

More than 500 planners, developers, local and state officials, and other professionals joined New Jersey Future in New Brunswick at the March 6 day-long conference to look at current redevelopment trends and hear from thought leaders in the field.

Articles and Stories
Redeveloping the Norm: Identifying and Overcoming Developer Obstacles to Redevelopment in New Jersey

This report identifies strategies to lower both cost and risk in redevelopment projects, as redevelopment increasingly becomes the norm for accommodating growth in New Jersey. January 2016.

Creating Places To Age: Housing Affordability and Aging-Friendly Communities

In this report, New Jersey Future analyzed housing affordability in each New Jersey municipality, to see where households headed by someone 65 or older have high housing costs. The places where housing cost burden is greatest fall into two groups: towns that are expensive for everyone, and towns that are dominated by larger, single-family housing stock. December 2015.

welcome to new jersey traffic sign
Fiscal Implications of Development Patterns: Roads in New Jersey

In this report, New Jersey Future and Smart Growth America analyzed per-capita road usage. The results show that places with the highest activity density have the lowest per-capita usage, suggesting per-capita road-maintenance costs can be reduced by even marginal increases in density. November 2015.

OFF TRACK? An Assessment of Mixed-Income Housing around New Jersey’s Transit Stations

An analysis of household income distributions in the neighborhoods around New Jersey’s transit stations shows that not all station areas offer the benefits of transit access across all income levels. June 2015.

New Jersey’s Economic Opportunity Act and Smart Growth: A Progress Report

The Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 included additional incentives for projects destined for “smart-growth” areas. This report analyzes how effective the updated incentives have been at directing growth to those areas. December 2014.

See all New Jersey Future Blog posts and articles in this category »
 

Reports, Presentations and Testimony

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