Demographics & Trends

The recent signs of recovery in New Jersey’s homebuilding industry can be traced in large part to a market-driven surge in building permits issued for multi-family construction.

The Rebuilding a Resilient New Jersey Shore conference brought together a diverse group including university professors, planners, engineers, attorneys, FEMA employees, architects, local and state officials and others concerned with the future of the New Jersey coastline.

The Jersey Shore is one of the state’s most treasured assets: people live there, vacation there, and work there, and the region is a significant driver of New Jersey’s economic growth. But we must rebuild it in different ways in order for it to survive severe weather events such as Hurricane Sandy. Here are just some of the critical questions that must be addressed at all levels if we’re going to make the Shore a more resilient, more sustainable place.

New Jersey has recently been losing jobs in several of the key industries highlighted in the draft State Strategic Plan. An examination of innovation districts as an economic growth strategy suggests state investments in key industries should be strongly linked to the kinds of smart-growth places where they can flourish.

Whether there’s a resurgence in walkable, urban-style living depends largely on what you choose to categorize as “urban.”

Some frequently-asked questions about how smart growth would affect New Jersey’s future development, including how it affects traffic, taxes, and land preservation.

Oct. 11, 2011 — A new statewide poll commissioned in part by New Jersey Future shows that New Jersey residents think the way the state has developed over the last 20 years has made it less affordable and more difficult to travel. They support more compact communities with greater transportation choices, protection of critical resources like drinking water, and regional coordination of land-use planning efforts.

Residential growth is happening further and further away from Route 1′s employment centers, making it harder for employers to recruit talent and leading them to contemplate locating elsewhere. Interviews with local, regional and county officials from the jurisdictions along Route 1 identified barriers to center-based growth and steps that can be taken to encourage it. July 2007.

October 21, 2011 — According to a recent Monmouth University poll, New Jerseyans want to live in walkable communities with access to amenities and transportation choices besides cars. It’s time we turned our resources toward inward-bound redevelopment instead of outward-bound sprawl.

New Jersey needs to overhaul its housing policy if it’s going to achieve its goal of distributing affordable housing equitably while ensuring that places with large or growing numbers of jobs also offer affordable housing to workers. July 2003.