Working for Smart Growth:
More Livable Places and Open Spaces

 

Planning and Governance

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.

New Jersey Future’s Lame Duck Legislative Priorities for 2023-2024

Tuesday, December 5th, 2023

The Legislature’s “lame-duck” session began in November and will end in early January. This is a time before newly elected legislators take office in January, and is a time of great unpredictability.  This can be an active, albeit brief, window of time when legislators may be willing to hear new policy priorities or advance existing bills in the final weeks of the session. 

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.

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.

Launching the Next State Plan

Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

The State Plan “is more than a guide for land-use… it’s for public health, transportation, and much more,” stated Michael Kolber, Senior Planner for the City of Trenton, during the 2023 Planning and Redevelopment Conference as a panelist on the roundtable session Launching the Next State Plan, sponsored by New Jersey Future and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association.

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.

Eliminating Lead Service Lines: Filling the Funding Gap, One Drop at a Time

Thursday, May 11th, 2023

In early April 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a major change in the allocation of federal funds provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to remove lead service lines (LSLs), replacing a distribution scheme that failed to properly recognize states with older housing stock where the lion’s share of LSLs are likely to exist. This was welcome news to New Jersey, as the state’s allocation will more than double from 1.7% to 3.8%, increasing annual funding for LSL replacement by $35 million (73%), from $48 million to $83 million.

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