Redevelopment
Redevelopment is reinvestment in neighborhoods and commercial areas to replace or repair previously developed buildings or plots of land that are in substandard condition or are no longer useful in their current state.
Redevelopment sites can be found in urban, suburban and rural locations, as well as on “brownfields” that may be contaminated by a previous industrial use. Redevelopment is a core component of smart growth because it promotes development in existing communities with infrastructure and away from critical environmental lands and resources.
In New Jersey, redevelopment may be publicly or privately initiated, but it is often associated with the procedures and activities of municipalities as permitted by the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, including the “clearance, re-planning, development and redevelopment” of an area in accordance with an adopted municipal redevelopment plan.
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.
“The Woodmont Metro at Metuchen Station was a catalyst for further redevelopment in downtown Metuchen… Having residents living downtown has resulted in a remarkable growth of restaurants, making downtown Metuchen a highly popular regional dining destination. New retail and service businesses have also opened creating a vibrant, active downtown,” explains Jay Muldoon, Director of Special Projects with the Borough of Metuchen.
In a session entitled Municipal Approach to Racial and Economic Inclusion held at the 2021 New Jersey Planning & Redevelopment Conference and co-hosted by New Jersey Future and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association, elected officials explored what can be done to foster more racial and economic inclusion in planning and redevelopment.
Guest author AIA NJ President Joshua Zinder shares the importance of providing “missing middle” housing options to fill a gap in housing and revitalize communities.
More than 500 planners, developers, local and state officials, and other professionals joined New Jersey Future in New Brunswick at the March 6 day-long conference to look at current redevelopment trends and hear from thought leaders in the field.
This report identifies strategies to lower both cost and risk in redevelopment projects, as redevelopment increasingly becomes the norm for accommodating growth in New Jersey. January 2016.
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.
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.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 included additional incentives for projects destined for “smart-growth” areas. This report analyzes how effective the updated incentives have been at directing growth to those areas. December 2014.
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Reports, Presentations and Testimony
- 05-18-2019: Op-Ed: Lead water pipes threaten public health. Partial replacements could make it worse
- 04/17/2019: Comments on Proposed New C1 Stream Designations
- 03/07/2019: Testimony on S1742, S1768 and S1774
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Phase 2 Report 5-22-18
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Phase 2 Report appendices 5-22-18
- 02/14/2019: Testimony on A2697-S1783
- 02/11/2019: Testimony on Economic Development Incentives
- 01/08/2019: Testimony on Stormwater Rule Proposal
- Trenton Transit Center Strategic Action Blueprint July 2018
- New Jersey Future Demographic Trends by Age September 2017
- Jersey Water Works Water Infrastructre Funding Report 06-2017 (Intern Report)
- Oxford Byway to Destination NJM June 2017
- 05/15/2017: Testimony on S2834 - Water Quality Accountability Act
- New-Jersey-Future-Assessment-of-the-NJLIHTC-program
- New Jersey Future 2017 Gubernatorial Platform
- 2013 Facing Our Future Report - Infrastructure Investments Necessary for Economic Success - Links to Water Infrastructure Resources
- Final Jersey City to Proacitvely Test Water Supply Press Release %282%29
- New Jersey Future Redeveloping the Norm 01-16 (Intern Report)
- fiscal-implications-roads-in-new-jersey
- Can We Depend on Our Water Infrastructure?
- Economic-Opportunity-Act-and-Smart-Growth-Progress-Report
- New Jersey Future Stormwater Utilities Report 9-14 (Intern Report)
- Agenda for Change
- Case Study: Jersey City
- Case Study: Hoboken
- Case Study: Camden
- Ripple Effects
- Van Abs: Water Infrastructure in New Jersey's CSO Cities
- Social Innovation and Smart Growth 9-13 (Intern Report)
- 03/19/2013: New Jersey Future CDBG-DR comments
- Statutory and Regulatory Barriers to Green Infrastructure in New Jersey 1-13 (Intern Report)
- Somerset County Investment Framework 1-13 (Intern Report)
- Targeting Transit -- New Jersey Future
- Innovation Districts as Economic Growth Strategy 9-12 (Intern Report)
- Wastewater Planning County Fact Sheets
- Leinberger in the League Magazin
- Transfer of Development Rights Task Force Report 08-11-10
- Chasing Their Tails: Municipal Ratables Chase Doesn't Necessarily Pay 07-10
- Built Out Permit Activity 12-10
- Built Out 12-10