Working for Smart Growth:
More Livable Places and Open Spaces

 

Development and Redevelopment

Transit-Oriented Development Is Popular, but Won’t Happen by Itself

Friday, March 15th, 2024

Westfield Northside Town Square rendering from the Lord & Taylor / Train Station Redevelopment Plan which was a 2023 Smart Growth Award recipient.
New Jersey’s transit towns are experiencing something of a revival in the last decade and a half. This is an important positive development, since transit-oriented development (TOD) advances multiple societal goals. For example, […]

New Report Digs Deeper into Diversity in Morris and Monmouth Counties

Monday, January 29th, 2024

New Jersey is an expensive state, with among the highest housing costs in the country. It is also one of the most segregated states in the nation by both income and race, despite being one of the most racially diverse states overall. A new report from New Jersey Future explores the relationship between the enforcement of housing requirements, housing affordability, and racial and economic diversity, using a comparison between two demographically similar suburban counties—Morris and Monmouth—that followed different trajectories in complying with New Jersey’s affordable housing obligations.

What You Read 2023 – A Message from the Editor

Friday, January 12th, 2024

2023 was a year full of many unpredictable environmental events ranging from major rainfall to extreme heat to a collapsed highway overpass. Our daily newsletter “What We’re Reading” brings our readers the most up-to-date articles covering our New Jersey Future issue areas and major developments in the Garden State.

The Future of Housing in New Jersey

Thursday, November 30th, 2023

Housing shapes communities while communities shape the quality of life and access to opportunities for each of us. Local officials are on the front lines of housing development, shaping what kind of housing gets built, where it can be constructed, and the local roads and sidewalks residents use to get from their homes to everywhere else.

The NJ State Development and Redevelopment Plan is Being Updated – Where and How Should New Jersey Grow? Add Your Voice!

Thursday, October 12th, 2023

The State Planning Commission (SPC) is hosting a series of eight webinars in October to gather input on how to update the New Jersey State Development & Redevelopment Plan. Last adopted in 2001, the State Plan provides a comprehensive framework intended to guide future development, redevelopment, conservation, preservation, and restoration efforts in the state of New Jersey.

With Recession in the Forecast, How Prepared is NJ’s Economy for Upcoming Rain?

Thursday, July 20th, 2023

As the world slowly but surely emerges from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of us are evaluating the new parameters of our state and national economies that have experienced stimulus spending, historic inflation, supply chain disruptions, and high interest rates all in quick succession.

Promoting Integration at the Local Level

Thursday, July 20th, 2023

While New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the nation at the macro level, at the local level it is also one of the most segregated. The state has grown more demographically diverse over the last two decades, but most of its individual towns and neighborhoods are either predominantly white or predominantly non-white, with few places occupying the “diverse” range in between.

Landmarking the Legacy of NJ Transgender Icon, Venus Pellagatii Xtravaganza

Thursday, July 20th, 2023

“It is necessary to invoice Venus’s story, not only through black history, but through Latinx history and queer history. It is too important to excavate this kind of history, so what happened to Venus won’t happen again because it continues to happen.” expressed Michael Roberson, Professor, New School and Union Theological Seminary at the 2023 Planning and Redevelopment Conference hosted by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association and New Jersey Future.

The Changing Faces of New Jersey Developers

Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

“Nationally, Black and Hispanic people are acutely underrepresented in real estate development…Black and Hispanic real estate developers represent less than 1% of their industry across the nation, even though Blacks make up 14% and Hispanics make up 18% of the total population. New Jersey’s affordable housing development space shows similar disparities.

Planning for Tomorrow, Not Today

Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

“It doesn’t matter if we make every vehicle electric, and it doesn’t matter if we turn of all power plants; climate change will still get worse,” exclaimed Shawn LaTourette, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), during the 2023 Planning and Redevelopment Conference plenary, The State of Planning and Redevelopment in New Jersey, co-sponsored by New Jersey Future and the NJ Chapter of the American Planning Association.

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