Although the end of 2021 is close on the horizon, the pace and focus of our work has not diminished. Many of you may be familiar with this time of year in the legislature referred to as “lame duck.” During this time, important and not-so-important bills are advanced, sometimes at lightning speed. New Jersey Future is monitoring and engaging in these discussions to ensure that the smart growth agenda is protected and advanced. Bills that we are watching cover the topics of redevelopment, water infrastructure and spending, affordable and accessible housing, and warehouse sprawl.
One of the many things that makes New Jersey Future special in these debates is an understanding that our greatest challenges are interconnected. Equity, in addition to the economy and our environment, cannot be treated as discrete dimensions of our ever-changing world. Each issue represents a piece of the same puzzle, one that can only be solved with similarly multi-faceted solutions—one that demands the commitment of us all.
To that end, we have delved further into the issue of warehouse sprawl to more critically reflect upon some of its environmental justice impacts. Our newest blog post offers recommendations that seek to mitigate disproportionate environmental hazards in overburdened communities, an issue and approach that advocates across the state have been working to address for decades. We look forward to working with our colleagues in this space to better understand and support their work.
In addition to conducting pivotal research, our team has also been prolific in its provision of technical assistance to local communities. In this newsletter, New Jersey Future Community Planning Manager Tanya Rohrbach updates us on the progress of aging-friendly initiatives in New Jersey municipalities.
We hope that you are receiving this email on the heels of attending the first day of the Jersey Water Works conference, a multi-day virtual event focused on confronting the threat of climate change with innovative solutions for our aging water infrastructure. The final day of the conference is Friday, Dec. 10. Hope to see you there!
Peter Kasabach
Executive Director
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With the addition of statewide warehouse sprawl to the freight movement and warehousing discussion, a new set of land-use, community, and economic issues have been brought to the foreground. It is important to link the issue of warehouse sprawl with environmental justice issues to develop solutions that are good for communities, the environment, and the economy and to do so in a way that corrects past—and ongoing—injustices.
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Older adults in the U.S. are projected to outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history. By 2030, all of the baby boom generation will be older than 65 years old, and the baby boom generation is the second largest adult generation behind the millennial generation. With 30% of New Jersey’s population over the age of 55, it’s time to design our communities for all ages.
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Jersey Water Works’ innovative online dashboard, Jersey WaterCheck, has recently been updated with new data and provides accessible information on your water systems. You can use the tool to learn who provides your drinking water or treats your wastewater, find those respective utilities’ websites, access their consumer confidence reports and/or financial reports, see historical data over time for certain metrics, and much more.
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Statewide, just over 20% of all households fall into the Baseline Affordability Stress category, indicating that they would have difficulties paying their utility bills without harm to important parts of their household budget if they paid utility bills directly.
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(guest blog post written by New Jersey Future Director of Research Tim Evans for the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition)
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Immigrants constitute an increasingly crucial aspect of the state’s economic, social, and cultural fabrics. Almost one out of every four New Jerseyans (23.4%) was born in another country, the second-highest foreign-born percentage among the 50 states (California is first, at 26.7%), making New Jersey a top destination for immigrants.
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A new report issued by Jersey Water Works, “Lead in Drinking Water in Child Care Facilities: Ensuring the Future for New Jersey’s Children,” provides a blueprint for how to improve water testing, child care staff training, remediation, and outreach to parents, as well as a rationale for state assistance.
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Rain gardens, a type of green infrastructure, are designed to soak up water during storms. On properties with rain gardens, this means less pooled water and more groundwater recharge. The more properties adopt this practice, the more pressure is relieved from the area’s municipal separate storm sewer system or combined sewer system, helping to reduce the extent of flooding downstream.
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New Jersey League of Municipalities Annual Conference 2021 |
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New Jersey Future Policy Director Diane Schrauth presented at the “Stormwater: Tools to Help Municipalities Weather the Storm” session at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference on Nov. 16. Reflecting on her experience at the conference, Schrauth described how exciting it was to speak to a “room full of municipal representatives interested in learning more about how to solve flooding and stormwater issues in their communities. Their concerns were very practical—they wanted to know what they could do and how they could pay for it.” The conference was also attended by several New Jersey Future staff members, who shared crucial informational resources related to their respective programs and campaigns.
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2021 Northwest New Jersey Rivers Conference |
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New Jersey Future Executive Director Pete Kasabach presented at the “Smart Growth in the Highlands: Where Equity and Economy Fit In” keynote session at the Third Northwest New Jersey Rivers Conference on Nov. 10. Kasabach reflected upon the importance of advancing equity while simultaneously promoting the state’s economic and environmental vitality. "As we do our planning and thinking about the future, we have to incorporate the economy and social equity,” Kasabach said during the session.
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The nomination process for the 20th Smart Growth Awards is open! Whether you're submitting for the first time or you’ve had a winning project in the past, we wanted to give you enough time to prepare a high-quality nomination for this monumental recognition. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to highlight projects or policies at the cutting edge of equitable and sustainable planning and redevelopment. |
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Gov. Murphy enacted a law amending the Water Quality Accountability Act on Nov. 9. Read New Jersey Future’s statement.
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Save the date: New Jersey Future and APA New Jersey are proud to partner for a second year and present the 2022 NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference convening virtually on March 2-3 and in person on March 4, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick. Don't miss this opportunity to connect with fellow attendees as we bring together bold ideas, innovative solutions, proven concepts, and best practices for creating better, more inclusive, and equitable places where people live, work, and play.
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Smart Growth for Everyone |
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Smart Growth is equitable growth. It is also restorative, as smart growth and redevelopment can help correct systemic racial and economic disparities. As New Jersey Future drives land use decision-making toward more equitable outcomes, we will be sharing useful resources and lessons in this monthly spotlight. Please give us your feedback and share with us any particularly insightful articles, talks, events, or videos that you come across.
New large-scale federal funding in the $1 trillion infrastructure plan aims to repair damage from highway infrastructure projects that segregated Black neighborhoods from green space, economic opportunities, and larger local communities in the 1950s and 60s. This article explores some of the challenges in addressing the funding's intended use, since state governments will largely decide how the money is spent. It highlights local examples of how infrastructure expansion in other states may lead to displacement or the demolition of historically Black neighborhoods, which emphasizes a need for states to prioritize community input and engagement in planning to ensure maximum economic, social, and safety benefits. Several places in New Jersey would experience major community and environmental benefits from removing or redirecting highways, such as Route 29 in Trenton. Provisions on federal funding depend on states' consideration of racial equity and climate change in their plans, and New Jersey already does a good job of prioritizing infrastructure repairs and environmental justice—rather than expansion—as demonstrated by this video from the NJDEP.
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Policy Manager: New Jersey Future is seeking a motivated, solutions-oriented individual to develop and advance state policies that affect health, water infrastructure, and redevelopment, with a primary focus on lead in drinking water. The position combines research, policy analysis and development, stakeholder convening, and communications. Full job description.
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Green Infrastructure Research Internship: New Jersey Future’s Mainstreaming Green Infrastructure (MGI) program seeks two current college students or recent graduates to research green infrastructure in New Jersey and other states. Full internship description.
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New Jersey Future in the News |
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A new report issued by Jersey Water Works provides a blueprint for how to improve water testing, child care staff training, remediation, and outreach to parents, as well as a rationale for state assistance.
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We are proud to partner with New Jersey's leading environmental and social justice organizations to promote this Green in '21 policy guide.
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New Jersey Future has prepared Creating Places To Age: A Community Guide to Implementing Aging-Friendly Land Use Decisions to provide communities with a step-by-step process to make designing for the needs of older residents easier.
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The New Jersey Stormwater Utility Resource Center is a one-stop shop housing technical, legal, and financial information, case studies, and helpful guidance on stormwater solutions, community process, and public engagement.
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The Developers Green Infrastructure Guide 2.0 breaks down New Jersey’s Stormwater Rule amendments and helps developers and decision-makers more clearly understand green infrastructure options and advantages, compare alternatives, and evaluate costs and benefits.
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Founded in 1987, New Jersey Future is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes sensible and equitable growth, redevelopment, and infrastructure investments to foster healthy, strong, resilient communities; protect natural lands and waterways; increase transportation choices beyond cars; provide access to safe, affordable, and aging-friendly neighborhoods; and fuel a strong economy for everyone. New Jersey Future does this through original research, innovative policy development, coalition-building, advocacy, and hands-on strategic assistance. Embracing differences and advancing fairness is central to New Jersey Future’s mission and operations. New Jersey Future is firmly committed to pursuing greater justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion through its programs, internal operations, and external communications. |
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