Working for Smart Growth:
More Livable Places and Open Spaces

 

Housing and Equity

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.

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.

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.

Examining the Influence of 50 years of Hip Hop on Planning and Redevelopment

Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

On the occasion of hip hop’s 50th birthday, media companies, nonprofits, and the general public are charting the massive influence of this musical and cultural phenomenon on all aspects of modern life. This was no different at the 2023 Planning and Redevelopment Conference, co-hosted by New Jersey Future and the American Planning Association NJ Chapter, where two sessions addressed hip hop and its intersection with planning and architecture.

Common Ground Emerges on Affordable Housing Solutions

Monday, July 17th, 2023

“New Jersey has a storied history of working to address affordable housing. For over five decades, municipalities and developers have collaborated and/or clashed in state agencies and in the courts,“ noted Tom D’Allessio, Vice President of Policy, American Planning Association, NJ Chapter, as he opened one of the two lively, productive sessions on affordable housing at the 2023 Planning and Redevelopment Conference.

New Report Highlights Link Between Local Zoning and Housing Affordability

Wednesday, May 17th, 2023

New Jersey is experiencing a housing affordability crisis, one that hits lower-income households particularly hard. But New Jersey has a unique set of laws requiring local governments to zone for affordable housing, and a new report demonstrates that these laws work when enforced.

Ten Years After Sandy, a Look at Population and Housing Trends at the Jersey Shore

Tuesday, October 25th, 2022

Both before and after Superstorm Sandy, the trend at the Jersey Shore has been toward higher home values, a smaller percentage of housing units being occupied year-round, and an increasing presence of retirees among year-round residents. Is the Shore becoming a playground for the rich? And specifically rich retirees?

New NJF Report Explores How to Promote Racial Integration in NJ Municipalities

Thursday, September 22nd, 2022

New Jersey is paradoxically one of the most diverse and most segregated states in the nation. The state has grown more diverse over the last two decades, with its non-Hispanic white percentage shrinking from two-thirds of the state population in 2000 to a little more than half as of the 2020 Census, with notable proportional growth among Hispanic and Asian-American communities. But New Jersey’s macro-level diversity often does not translate into integration at the local level, and places that are integrated at the local level don’t always stay that way.

© New Jersey Future, 16 W. Lafayette St. • Trenton, NJ 08608 • Phone: 609-393-0008 • Fax: 609-360-8478

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