New Jersey Future Blog
The Greatest Danger Facing New Jersey’s Water Infrastructure: The Unknown
April 4th, 2016 by Elaine Clisham
Dan Kennedy (left), an assistant commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection and Dennis Doll, chairman, president, and CEO of Middlesex Water Company, at NJ Spotlight’s recent roundtable, New Jersey’s Hidden Water Crisis. Lead in water in public schools. Potentially harmful contaminants found in drinking water, without suitable standards to act on. An aging infrastructure… Read the rest of this entry »
Forum Roundup: The Mega-Ships Are Here! Are We Ready?
March 28th, 2016 by New Jersey Future staff
This summary was written by Redevelopment Forum volunteer Michael Russell.
“The title of this panel is ‘The Mega-Ships Are Coming,’ but the reality is that the mega-ships are here, and they’re getting bigger,” began Beth Rooney, assistant director of the Port Performance Initiative at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, during New Jersey Future’s 2016 Redevelopment Forum panel on the effects these ships will have on both the port and its surrounding area.
Indeed, large cargo ships used to carry between 4,000 and 5,000 shipping containers, she said. Now, large cargo ships carry around 18,000 containers. And that is good for New Jersey, which is well positioned to benefit from more cargo than ever coming through its port. Read the rest of this entry »
Public-Interest Organizations Urge Commitment of Disaster Competition Award Funds to Regional Planning
March 24th, 2016 by Elaine Clisham
Letter, signed by 12 organizations, emphasizes urgent need for
leadership and regional focus in resiliency planning.
New Jersey Future, along with a coalition of public interest organizations, today sent a letter to Gov. Christie urging him to take full advantage of the $15 million dollars awarded to the state for regional resiliency planning from the National Disaster Resilience Competition. Read the rest of this entry »
Forum Roundup: Finding the Opportunities in Affordable Housing
March 23rd, 2016 by Elaine Clisham
An example of adaptive reuse for affordable housing: Dina’s Dwellings, built into a historic church building in New Brunswick, will serve survivors of domestic violence. Bergen County’s United Way is building the project.
Speakers at the Redevelopment Forum’s session on how municipalities can begin to address their affordable-housing obligations even in the absence of clear guidance from the state all emphasized one key point: There is great opportunity in affordable housing.
Moderator Tom Toronto (presentation) from Bergen County’s United Way (full list of affordable-housing projects in New Jersey), which also runs New Jersey’s 211 Helpline, noted that for the past eight years, the most frequent type of call that comes into the helpline is about financial distress, usually prompted at least in part by high housing costs. The need for affordable and supportive housing is critical, he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Forum Roundup: Cities, Redevelopers Join Forces To Tackle Floodproofing, Sewer Upgrades
March 22nd, 2016 by Chris Sturm
Cities are engaging redevelopers in a number of ways to meet the challenge of flooding, aging infrastructure and climate change, as described at New Jersey Future’s Redevelopment Forum session on Rebuilding Water Infrastructure, One Redevelopment Project at a Time. Speakers from Hackensack, Hoboken and Gloucester City described how they are shaping redevelopment plans, redevelopment agreements and land development ordinances to include construction and financing of water infrastructure. They also shared plans for multi-faceted projects with parks, walkways and streetscapes that all soak up stormwater and are funded via multiple revenue streams, including parking revenues, county and state open-space grants, sewer hook-up fees and streetscape funds. Read the rest of this entry »
New Jersey’s Population Is Still Growing
March 17th, 2016 by Tim Evans
At the beginning of this year, the Census Bureau released new state population estimates for 2015. A quick analysis of the estimates reveals some interesting points.
New Jersey is still growing
Despite news stories about population growth in the Sunbelt that might have some people believing that the entire Northeast and Midwest regions are moribund, New Jersey is still growing, as it did throughout the previous decade as well (see Figure 1). It added 166,000 new residents between 2010 and 2015 — more than the population of Paterson, or of Trenton and Camden combined, or of Cherry Hill and Toms River combined. In fact, New Jersey’s numerical gain over the last five years is equivalent to more than one-fifth of the population of the entire state of North Dakota, a state that has made headlines for its Bakken oil-related rapid population growth. Read the rest of this entry »
Design Competition Aims To Accelerate Water Infrastructure Innovation
March 15th, 2016 by Elaine Clisham
The Build it Green (BIG) Competition will provide technical assistance and engineering support services to selected New Jersey cities and utilities to design innovative, financeable projects that reduce combined sewer outflows (CSOs) while also making neighborhoods and downtowns better places to live, work and invest.
New Jersey Future and re:focus partners today launched a competition intended to catalyze the design and implementation of integrated, creative projects that reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) while generating multiple local environmental and health benefits.
The Build It Green (BIG) Competition will select three New Jersey cities and/or utilities to receive customized technical assistance to design these CSO solutions. Selected cities and utilities will also receive engineering services (valued at approximately $17,000 per winner) to support the development of project implementation funding applications for submission following the BIG technical assistance process. Read the rest of this entry »
Happy Birthday, New Jersey State Plan!
March 7th, 2016 by Elaine Clisham
The most recent update to the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan turned 15 years old this week.
That’s both good news and bad news. The bad news is, it’s 12 years older than it should be. The State Planning Act specifies that the plan be updated at least once every three years, and the most recent update was adopted in 2001. When Gov. Christie came into office he made a good-faith effort to update the plan: His administration issued a draft of what it called the State Strategic Plan, a framework that replaced a prescriptive map with evaluative criteria to determine where state investments in growth or preservation should take place. Public meetings were conducted around the state, and hundreds of written comments were submitted. A final version, incorporating all that feedback, was almost ready for adoption by the State Planning Commission when Hurricane Sandy arrived, after which the administration shifted its priorities. So we’re still working with the 2001 update. Read the rest of this entry »
New Initiative Is Working To Mainstream Green Infrastructure
February 23rd, 2016 by Kandyce Perry
An example of green infrastructure along a road in Nashville, Tenn.
In September 2015 New Jersey Future launched its newest initiative: the Mainstreaming Green Infrastructure project. The goal of the project is to make green infrastructure (GI) the first choice for stormwater management in New Jersey.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines green infrastructure as “an approach to stormwater management that is cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Green infrastructure projects capture, filter, absorb, and reuse stormwater to maintain or mimic natural systems and to treat runoff as a resource.” Read the rest of this entry »
Would Buyouts Be Good for Flood-Prone Mystic Island?
February 18th, 2016 by David Kutner
Public information session will discuss findings from a new assessment.
Representatives from New Jersey Future and Rutgers University are inviting all residents of Little Egg Harbor Township to a public information session to learn about the findings and recommendations from a health impact assessment (HIA) that evaluates the effects of buyout strategies on personal and municipal health in the Mystic Island section of the township.
The project team will be available at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, 2016, at the Little Egg Harbor Township Building, 655 Radio Rd., to discuss the project prior to making a formal presentation to the Township Council at 7:30 p.m. at its regularly scheduled meeting. Anyone who is interested is invited to attend. Read the rest of this entry »