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.