Smart growth means growing our communities in a way that restores travel options not available in sprawling development. It means less traffic on our roads, less gas in our tanks – and a higher quality of life.
Author Archive
Saving on Gas By Design
Thursday, February 13th, 2003State Budgets and Spending For Development
Friday, January 31st, 2003Smart growth – and smart budgeting – means encouraging development where infrastructure already exists or can be easily extended, to maximize the investments we’ve already made in our communities and homes, and to spare our open lands.
Vacant Housing Tells Sprawl Story, Too
Friday, January 17th, 2003High home vacancies, failing schools and neglected infrastructure in many older communities are all testament to the consequences of sprawling development, which pulls needed investment, jobs and residents from existing communities, speeding their decline; and making sprawling development seem the only logical choice.
Cyanamid Site and Tax-Sharing
Friday, December 13th, 2002Tax sharing means communities share the tax benefits of new development with their neighbors just as they already share the negative spillover effects of development, including increased traffic, pollution and loss of open land.
Buying Land Not Only Way to Protect It
Thursday, November 14th, 2002New Jersey’s land use law expressly empowers municipalities to zone land for agriculture, and to restrict its development in ecologically sensitive areas.
Protecting the Highlands
Thursday, November 14th, 2002New Jersey’s Highlands region is recognized as a landscape of national significance by the federal government and as special resource areaî by the New Jersey State Plan.
Summit Touches Key Causes of Sprawl
Thursday, October 31st, 2002This over-dependence on property taxes forces New Jersey municipalities to chase new development or “ratables,” and make their land use choices on unbalanced fiscal reasoning, spurring sprawl.
Governor Sets Summit for October 22
Friday, October 11th, 2002New Jersey has yet to link meaningfully state spending to its State Plan, even though the Plan defines where growth will best benefit New Jersey’s economy and environment, as identified with participation from local governments.
Sprawl and Drought
Wednesday, September 25th, 2002Sprawl threatens water quality as rain runoff from roads and parking lots carries pollutants into streams, rivers and the ocean. Sprawl also reduces our water supplies. As roads, parking lots, driveways and roofs replace meadows and forests, rain water can no longer seep into the ground and replenish our aquifers. Instead, it is swept away by gutters and sewer systems.
New Jersey’s Labor Force
Friday, August 30th, 2002Highly paid, highly educated knowledge-based workers value quality of life when deciding where to work, and where to live. Their preference for urban amenities, from public transit and entertainment to vital downtowns, are fueling the resurgence of New Jersey’s older cities and smaller towns, from Hoboken and South Orange to portions of Newark and New Brunswick.
