New Jersey Future Blog
New Report Shows Suburbanization of NJ Has Picked Up Pace Since 2002
July 28th, 2010 by Jay Corbalis
Source: Hasse/Lathrop
A joint Rowan-Rutgers report, co-released today by New Jersey Future, shows that New Jersey is losing open space at an increasing pace. Between 2002 and 2007, 16,061 acres per year, an amount equal to 34 football fields each day, were developed in New Jersey. This is a 7% increase from the previous rate of 15,123 acres per year between 1995 through 2002.
New Jersey has long been the nation’s most developed state, but the data show it is now more developed than anything else: As of 2007, developed land covered 30% of the state and surpassed forest land as the dominant land-use type in New Jersey. The Garden State now has more acres of buildings, parking lots and lawns than it has of upland forests – including the Pinelands and all the state’s parks and reserves.
Accompanying the report are a fascinating series of interactive maps, which allow users to track land-use changes between 1985-2007 for any area of the state. New Jersey Future’s full press release on the report can be seen here.
Related Posts
January 31, 2011 DEP Decision Sets Positive Precedent for Compact Growth
July 29, 2010 Sprawl Not Yet a Thing of the Past
April 26, 2011 Why NJ Should Tie Business Incentives to Smart Growth
February 21, 2011 New Jersey Leads in Farmland Loss
February 14, 2011 Another Nail in the McMansion Coffin?
Tags: Open Space, Smart Growth, South Jersey, State Planning
