2017 Smart Growth Award Winners

Read about this year’s Smart Growth Award winners, representing the best in smart growth and sustainable development projects around the state. And check our YouTube channel for videos of recent Smart Growth Award winners!

• Dean of Bloustein School Wins Leadership Award

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: James W. Hughes Ph.D., distinguished professor and dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, is the recipient of the 2017 Cary Edwards Leadership Award.

• Dividing a Building, Uniting in Purpose

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: A historic church in New Brunswick is repurposed into a smaller sanctuary plus affordable supportive housing for women and children survivors of domestic violence.

• A Brand-New Neighborhood, Ready for Growth

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: An outdated public-housing complex in Jersey City is transformed into a new mixed-income neighborhood, with new streets and new transit, ready to be an anchor for future growth.

• A Century Later, a Mill Comes Full Circle

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: An idled textile mill in Dover, once the center of the neighborhood that was built for it, will be reactivated to serve again as a residential, retail and industrial arts center.

• A New Kind of Workplace Community

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: A former shipyard and ship-breaking center in Kearny is completely reimagined as an urban small business co-working, event and maker space complex. Special citation for extensive, innovative use of green infrastructure to manage stormwater.

• A New Market for Transit-Oriented Housing

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: A mixed-income transit-oriented development including both rentals and condominiums, along with a new public plaza, on a former parking lot adjacent to Orange station

• School Travel Plan as Smart Infrastructure

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: Plainfield's first-in-the-state district-wide school travel plan featured an extensive public outreach process. It contains recommendations for improving safety and walkability, as well as suggestions for funding sources for implementation. It is already a model for other districts.

• Housing To Broaden Choices and Community

  2017 Smart Growth Awards: A transit-oriented, mixed-use, mixed-income development at the Metuchen train station broadens housing choices, adds a new public plaza, makes efficient use of parking, and in the process creates a vibrant new downtown neighborhood.