The Region
The people who live and work in the region depend on a common environment and economy extending from Trenton, NJ to New Haven, CT, and from the Catskill Mountains to the east end of Long Island.
The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in the tri-state region has reinforced how our states and communities are connected.
One of the world’s leading metropolitan economies, the region now accounts for approximately 10% of the United States’ GDP. However, too few residents share in this prosperity.
Transportation
390+ rail stations 2,000+ track miles
Our region is served by one of the most extensive transit systems in the world.
4.2 Billion Annual Transit Rides
Transportation is the backbone of the region’s economy, providing access to jobs and education and enabling intra-city and inter-state travel.
79-minute average flight delay at JFK, LGA, EWR
Yet, we are outgrowing this aging system, which is increasingly unable to meet the region’s changing needs.
What is RPA’s plan for transportation?
We must expand and modernize mass transit, ports and airports, and reimagine our streetscapes — and do it faster.
Housing & Neighborhood Planning
238,876 public housing units
Wherever they choose to live in the region, people seek many of the same things: an affordable home, a good job within commuting distance, safe streets, a healthy environment, and good schools.
Areas at Risk of Displacement
Yet our region is one of the least affordable and most segregated metropolitan areas in the US, and our housing growth has not kept pace with our economy.
What is RPA’s plan for housing & neighborhood planning?
We need communities that are healthy, welcoming, enjoyable and affordable and not just one or some of these things, but all.
Energy & Environment
2,000,000 acres of protected open space
Our environment plays an essential role in ensuring the health and well-being of the region.
78% of historic wetlands have been lost to development
For most of RPA’s history, threats to our region’s environment came from the encroachment of development upon open space.
3,700 miles of coastline
2,000,000 people in 2050 flood zone
Today, climate change threatens — and is already transforming — the region’s environment.
What is RPA’s plan for energy & environment?
We must rise to the challenge of climate change by decarbonizing the region and adapting to our changing coastline without triggering other crises of equity, affordability or economic decline.
Governance
More than 800 state, county, and municipal governments make decisions with impacts across our one region.
Most of our public institutions were established in a different era. They were not structured to solve the challenges of climate change and affordability that our region faces today.
How Do Towns Treat Multi-Family Housing?
Each municipality is responsible for its own decisions about land use, property taxes, and schools — despite this structure increasing costs, creating sprawl, and exacerbating inequality.
$22+ billion of unmet disaster recovery after Superstorm Sandy
Faced with new challenges such as climate change, public institutions are slow to take action, and do so piecemeal and without adequate funding.
We must reform public bodies for the 21st century, increase participation in government, and make planning more inclusive to create a region that works for all of us.