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The historic town of Netcong, located in Morris County, New Jersey was selected to participate in New Jersey Transit’s Transit Friendly Planning Assistance Program. The purpose of this program is to offer planning and design assistance to those communities with underutilized or vacant land in close proximity to a transit facility or station that could be transformed by new, mixed–use development. This program provides the necessary expertise to help interested municipalities craft a transit and pedestrian-oriented master plan or “station area vision” for the targeted redevelopment area.

These kinds of developments go by different names: “Transit Villages,” “transit friendly designs,” or “Transit Oriented Developments” (TODs), but what they all share is compact development that mixes uses within buildings and parcels, often with retail on the ground floor and offices or residences above. This is enhanced by layering in a rich mix of public amenities (i.e. public plazas, open space, art, benches, street trees) that are aimed at enhancing the quality of the living, walking, cycling and transit environment. What distinguishes these types of developments from ordinary infill projects is that they are designed to encourage and support more pedestrian and transit activity and reduce dependence on the automobile.

Research has shown that this type of housing is often rented by young, urban professionals who desire proximity to mass transit and who may both live and work within their homes. Recent trends indicate that “dot-com” type businesses are seeking upstairs locations next to train stations in vibrant downtowns which offer a host of amenities such as delis, pubs, clothing stores, print and copy shops. This allows them access to customers, their homes and places to shop and eat without using a car. Transit and Pedestrian Oriented Development is proven to be a win-win-win situation for the host community, NJ Transit and the State of New Jersey, which has been advocating smart growth policies for the last decade.

For municipalities such as Netcong, station area plans help refashion master plans and zoning ordinances, and can serve as the foundation for a site-specific “redevelopment plan” which in turn can attract and guide developer interest in a manner that is complementary to the existing context and meets the future needs of the municipality. The benefits of this approach are many; these plans serve as a catalyst to jump start or support other revitalization efforts within the downtown and encourage people to reinvest in their businesses, storefronts and the surrounding neighborhoods. This results in an increase in property values and rateables in a manner that requires fewer infrastructure investments than typical sprawl type developments. These developments also serve as key gateways to the town and beacons for the community.

For New Jersey Transit and other transit agencies throughout the country, these “station area plans” and transit oriented developments are viewed as a means to leverage the public investment of the transit facility and bus/rail service into a community asset, thereby strengthening the bond between transit and the host community. TODs are a wonderful way to capture new transit ridership without the burden of providing additional commuter parking facilities. TODs are also good smart growth tools as envisioned by the New Jersey Office of Smart Growth. Specifically, in-fill development helps mitigate a number of problems which are particularly prevalent in the dense state of New Jersey – traffic congestion, incessant sprawl, and the need for affordable and less maintenance-intensive housing within close proximity to mass transit.