Community Design

What does art have to do with economic development? “Every single thing,” Tai Cooper reminds us, opening up the session, “Putting the ‘ART’ in SmART Growth: Strategies for Arts and Creative Placemaking.” When we’re looking at smart growth pillars, it’s not easily apparent how art can be connected, but it’s vital for creating vibrant communities and, in turn, economic prosperity. From theater to art mixers to murals, we benefit from art programs all the time. Bringing us closer to our community, livening up neighborhoods, and promoting economic development in the cities that we work and play in.

As New Jersey’s population ages, one challenge stands out: how can we create an environment that supports the well-being of older adults, particularly in urban and suburban spaces? The built environment—our streets, sidewalks, and public areas—profoundly affects the health and independence of seniors. Yet many older residents, particularly in underserved communities, face significant barriers to mobility.

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.

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.

“Inclusion means different things for different people,” stated Carleton Montgomery, Executive Director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. “[With] the vast demand for accessible nature, [people are looking for] inclusion, not just being out in nature. That might mean a stable trail, being able to paddle…,” continued Montgomery as a panelist at the 2022 New Jersey Planning and Redevelopment Conference (NJPRC), sponsored by New Jersey Future and the New Jersey chapter of the American Planning Association.

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.

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.

A one-hour webinar explaining a new, parcel-based tool that assesses financial vulnerability to coastal flooding and sea-level rise. Friday, May 15, 2015, noon – 1:00 pm.

An interim report, three years after Hurricane Sandy, on New Jersey Future’s groundbreaking local recovery planning manager program, including lessons learned and recommendations. October 2015.

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.