January 2010 “Voices Carry” PlanSmart NJ’s Dianne Brake featured in New Jersey & Company cover story "In September 2007, a prescient New Jersey lawyer decided it was time to unify the voices of various real estate and trade group interests into an organization called the Smart Growth Economic Development Coalition.His timing couldn’t have been more serendipitous. The lawyer, Ted Zangari, a member of Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. in Newark, who concentrates on the development and leasing of commercial real estate, held the first retreat of the coalition while the national economy was still thriving. The coalition, which soon grew to encompass labor and land-use planning groups along with business and industry groups, quickly resolved to take action in the form of a proposed package of 12 legislative bills known as the “Smart Growth Economic Development Stimulus Act of 2008.”... Read entire article. Visit the New Jersey & Compay web site.

Integrate issues/Integrate government Over the last two weeks, Governor-elect Christie’s transition teams have sought PlanSmart NJ’s advice. Our 40+ years of experience analyzing problems shaped our comments on jobs (Econ. Dev. comments ) housing (COAH memo), transportation (Transportation comments), natural resources, and patterns of racial and economic segregation. We offered our help with PlanSmart NJ tools and strategies to address the problems the Governor-elect inherited in all these areas. They are all affected by the fragmented and uncoordinated plans, programs, regulations and infrastructure investments made by hundreds of agencies of government that make up the land use decision-making system. We said that the new Administration could change the trajectory of trends and reduce the cost of government over the long term, if steps were taken to “connect the dots” and integrate the many agencies and layers of government. We urged the Governor-elect to embrace the power he has to make these changes. He should demand that state agencies reframe their missions to make them more supportive of each others’ actions. DOT’s mission, for example, is not to reduce congestion: it is to improve the transportation system. DEP’s mission is not to prevent growth, it is to improve environmental quality. This new framing leads to better ways to add to New Jersey’s capacity to grow – through expanding public transit and redevelopment – while protecting important natural resources. In addition, we told him state agencies should not be at the mercy of Home Rule – the state is too small and in too much trouble to allow state and regional goals to go unmet. Even the most ardent Home Rule advocates know they need state leadership to solve regional problems of water and traffic, for example. And they know they need protection from their neighbors’ Home Rule! Further, the Governor-elect should not be at the mercy of the Budget shortfall – most of our recommendations do not cost money and they can lead to more efficient spending in the future, when money spent will get more benefits per dollar. Click on links above to see our written comments.

Pictured: PlanSmart NJ Annual Dinner attendees gather for cocktails in the hotel atrium before proceeding to the dining room.

More than 300 PlanSmart NJ members, honored guests, business leaders and Board Members gathered for the Annual Dinner on October 29 in New Brunswick. The 2009 edition of the annual awards program, which NJ Biz has dubbed “one of the state’s Top Ten networking events,” was an unqualified success: Ticket and Resource Book sales exceeded fundraising targets.

Click here to view a complete gallery of Annual Dinner images.

PlanSmart NJ President Dianne R. Brake (on right), with the Reverend Dr. DeForest "Buster" Soaries, winner of the 2009 Regional Equity Award (center), and PlanSmart NJ Board Chairman Raymond A. Ferrara at the PlanSmart NJ Annual Dinner, October 29, 2009, in New Brunswick. Click here to Read Dianne Brake’s complete dinner address, “An Open Letter to NJ’s Next Governor.”

Read press coverage of the PlanSmartNJ awards from the Press of Atlantic City.

New Year's Resolution for New Jersey - A Strategic Action Plan
PlanSmart NJ proposes that State leaders use initiatives that are already underway in New Jersey that can link energy, economy and environment as the source of their hope and the focus of their determination to make significant progress in 2009 toward a better future for New Jersey.

PlanSmart NJ’s 40th Anniversary
Nearly 400 business leaders from throughout the State attended PlanSmart NJ’s 40th Anniversary on November 6th at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick. North America Power Partners was this year's Title Sponsor. The recipients of PlanSmart NJ’s prestigious awards were: The River Route Advisory Committee and Burlington County; Eleanor Horne, ETS; Rick Dovey, Atlantic County Utilities Authority; The Honorable Thomas Carver; The New York Shipping Association, accepted by Frank McDonough; The Calvary Community Development Corporation, accepted by Rev. Dr. Dorn. PlanSmart NJ’s President, Dianne Brake highlighted the accomplishments of 2008 and laid out the 2009 work plan. To view the entire speech click here.

Leadership NJ's Forum on the Future
PlanSmart NJ's President Dianne Brake was again co-chair at Leadership NJ's Forum on the Future. This year's event was called, Should New Jersey Start Over with a Clean Slate and a Fresh Start? Click here for video clips of the event. The Forum was held again at NJN's public television studios and it was podcast and taped for the web. Dianne, along with the new President of the League of Municipalities, Timothy McDounough, the Mayor of Hope, Warren County, opened the Forum with a point/counterpoint on "How many is too many agencies of government?" Click here for Dianne's speech.

Housing the Vulnerable in Mercer County
The report, Housing the Vulnerable in Mercer County, provides an estimate of how much housing needs to be available to address the needs of cost-burdened households, those paying more than 30% of their income for housing. The report estimates that need to be close to 19,000 housing units for those who earn up to 80% of the area’s median household income (MHI) and another 5,000 units for households that earn up to 110% of the MHI. Click here for more.

PlanSmart NJ supports the Turnpike Authority
After a careful review of the NJ Turnpike Authority’s proposal, which included valuable input from four former NJ Department of Transportation Commissioners Jack Lettiere, Jim Weinstein, Hazel Gluck and Lou Gambaccini, and a former State Treasurer, Sam Crane, PlanSmart NJ has decided to support the Turnpike’s capital improvement plan. The improvements are to be paid for by raising tolls over time to finance transportation projects important to New Jersey’s future. Click here for more...

Our letter to the Governor

It’s the Economy and Everything Else!
PlanSmart NJ has joined the Smart Growth Economic Development Coalition. This new Coalition has developed a package of legislative proposals focused on jump starting the State’s economy primarily through facilitating redevelopment - the key strategy of Smart Growth. Click here for more...

Another Milestone on NJ's Road to Fair Housing
The debate of housing is in desperate need of re-framing. Affordable housing is not simply an obligation imposed by an activist Court. Having enough housing, affordable to households at all income levels is in New Jersey's economic self-interest.

Without housing near jobs, we have a transportation problem. Without enough housing affordable to the workforce, we are at risk of having jobs relocate to where the workforce is living - increasingly, out of state. Click here for more…

PlanSmart NJ Receives Smart Future Grant
PlanSmart NJ in partnership with Voorhees Transportation Center of Rutgers University has received a $75,000 Smart Future grant from New Jersey’s Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Smart Growth on July 3, 2008. The intent of this award is to provide a Guidance Report that demonstrates sound circulation planning techniques that encourage walking, biking and public transit. Emphasis will be on overcoming obstacles to innovation; transforming existing practice of circulation planning to reduce auto-dependency and increase access to opportunities. To view the entire press release, click here.

PlanSmart NJ Receives Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Grant
PlanSmart NJ has received a $45,000 environmental grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation July 1, 2008. PlanSmart NJ will use the funds to support the identification of areas that may be suitable for receiving areas for Highlands Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) that are within Highlands Counties but outside the designated Planning Area. To view the entire press release, click here.

Adapting to a Carbon-Constrained New Jersey – June 13, 2008
Geoff Anderson, director of Smart Growth America, addresses a lunchtime audience of about 200 people attending the conference. First speaker Prof. James Miller of Rutgers described significant changes coming to New Jersey as a result of global warming and how to mitigate and adapt to them. Other speakers talked about structural changes needed to improve New Jersey’s economy, social justice conditions and the cost of living challenges facing New Jersey. Among the ideas presented: “the greatest global revolution in history”, 40% of trips in the US being three miles or less, smart meters and the changes they will bring to energy consumption, the scheduled widening of the Panama Canal as the most important infrastructure investment affecting New Jersey, and the need for mandatory affordable housing in transit villages and elsewhere. To learn more about their presentations click here.

PlanSmart NJ Supports Building New Hudson River Rail Tunnel
A plan to double the rail capacity into Manhattan from New Jersey got the thumbs-up at a public hearing from PlanSmart NJ, which submitted testimony in support of the new Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel. The project was praised by Dianne Brake for helping to improve mobility in the region while preserving economic growth and protecting the environment. To read a transcript of PlanSmart NJ’s testimony, click here.

Smart Growth in South Jersey
Is Southeastern NJ the newest hope for smart growth in the Garden State? Smart land use planning, with a regional emphasis, could help Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Ocean counties avoid the sprawl, congestion, concentrated poverty and environmental degradation found in other parts of NJ.

Gov. Jim Florio, Tom Carver and Others On South Jersey Economy
Few would doubt that Southeastern Jersey is poised to become the chief economic engine for New Jersey in the next decade or so. But could job growth in the region be hampered by the lack of affordable housing? What about the water supply, mobility, and other infrastructure challenges? These were some of the topics addressed on at a conference in Atlantic City that was co-sponsored by Stockton College and PlanSmart NJ.

Abolishing RCAs: A First Step Towards Affordable Housing Reform
Is affordable housing in the suburbs responsible for sprawl? Dianne Brake refutes this myth in testimony before state legislators considering a bill to abolish Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs), which allow rich NJ towns to “sell” their affordable housing obligations to poor towns. Brake also debunks the notion that directing the construction of affordable housing from suburban areas into cities, as RCAs do, is smart growth. To read her full testimony, click here.