Key RPA contributions in New Jersey
- RPA has championed investments in regional centers like Newark and Paterson.
- By advancing key transportation projects and initiatives, RPA has tried to create better connectivity between New Jersey and the rest of the region.
- RPA supported the acquisition of land to create and expand parks and open space, like Garret Mountain, Lake Wawayanda, Cheesequake, Sandy Hook, and Sterling Forest.
RPA’s original definition of the New York metropolitan area was more limited than it is today. In the first Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs published in 1929, RPA included Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, and Union counties. This would later be expanded to include the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Ocean, Sussex, and Warren by the time the Second Regional Plan was published.
Hon. J. Raymond Tiffany, Assistant Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, was a mainstage speaker during the May 27, 1929 presentation of the Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs. Delegates from more than 140 organizations in New Jersey attended the event. They included various state departments like the Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Labor, and the State Highway Commission, and more than 50 cities and towns. Paterson and Newark were identified as specific opportunities in the first Regional Plan and RPA made several proposals for them, including new civic centers.
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Proposal for Newark Penn Station from the Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs
A large number of proposals in the first Regional Plan focused on improving New Jersey’s connections with the rest of the metropolitan region. In terms of public transportation, recommendations included the development of direct railroad connections between New Jersey and Brooklyn, the electrification of main railroad approaches from New Jersey to New York City, and a suburban transit line between Newark and Paterson.
Some of the first Regional Plan’s public transportation recommendations have taken a very long time to be implemented. For example, RPA proposed a quarter-mile connection between two rail lines in Montclair that would consolidate rail services in Essex County and provide better access to Penn Station. The Montclair connection finally opened in 2002, 73 years after RPA’s initial recommendation. In 2017, RPA proposed reactivating the line between Newark and Paterson and adding light rail service, reviving an idea from the first Regional Plan to the Fourth Regional Plan. The possibility is now being evaluated by the Passaic County Planning Board.
RPA’s design principles for neighborhoods, such as garden apartments, walkable shopping centers and minimal through-traffic, were put in place in areas such as Radburn, in Fair Lawn, NJ, a project which RPA’s Thomas Adams was a consultant on. Though construction was halted by the Depression, Radburn is still upheld as a prime example of excellent neighborhood design. RPA also supported planning initiatives in the state, including the New Jersey County Planning Act of 1935 and several planning boards.
Several first Regional Plan recommendations focused on parks and open space preservation. One major proposal included constructing a park on top of Garret Mountain in Paterson/Woodland Park, which is today a 568-acre county park and National Natural Landmark. Other proposals included the acquisition of land in several key locations, including Cheesequake State Park, parcels along the top of the Palisades to supplement the Palisades Interstate Park, in the Newark and Hackensack meadows, in the Watchung and Ramapo Mountains with extensions in the lake region of Passaic County, and along the Passaic River.
![1st Plan Paterson environs aerial perspective](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=741b515eeaeb6a35c0ec3443b9a9c55a67de20227728c0645e089e72def7d0c9 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=0829bea502de981b20fc31c576d8f6bdab5f5f2d41634d13f9c7de573847e375 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=ac5658409abb184ebfe1d75251397511aa3f0d3904ea9c16a08f5f8572000e55 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=e0fa31e3e74364fd9bf101907b2b9c2638adbc97bb443cf8a98c4da1c882f512 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=c063ddb36720e84a78ca57eaade21860b82c4f1ad4ad675b0109766e70153055 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=48f941cf08cc06b22474151cf8636389b3a4014b82fc78f1f3e39194f52f48b8 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=1e8f4640153f2df777daf4110c8cafe3687f53d3b039fc1fe36bf9e2bc1273a8 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=763504d348a18f4ff36f0cc8f8460159504727f7b67ec6ea36b4df826c1adfca 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/latest/1st-Plan_Paterson-environs-aerial-perspective.jpg?bossToken=ef2a83d0be328b18d1808684717f9b4b926e8914ef687eb380bd25aac7905ec0 1543w)
![1928 General Plan of the Park System 150](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=4ee9942201961c79d71277120d2bc0809b40c81de12e607735e3b16f3b5575a9 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=c36537e66cb0c0c4b7ca39be2fcbd920cb900163e559c1bb8917a2a8d97a0415 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=dce54a1c5c992f01553a52310c2550ddaa8cfe3219cc74f26cedf54da525e608 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=026bc9bbb8d2ca4b6855186b678d0658a1751103203703ef897d70827e5d5ce5 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=7f157504df3d1af90fd2fe5285899d96eb84083d0772e929b0c9bf56d4849e30 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=9f605b9da440beaaf3c219b11dfc1135aebb45e8d9fc0039a462db4956ff53f7 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=c918662e92f1abc08c717e525bab89672ebc65e434e2f7e3acb6d4f49d2b1298 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=e31dbfa29d33a679ac3d49559bc69a1f580a4596734201d7db6ae3141e5c3dbd 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Timeline/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Park-System-150.jpg?bossToken=6791c2dce164966c9f0e350bfb6099c81ab9faf0d3ef4f24459ba92a6a671257 1543w)
Prior to the publication of the First Regional Plan, RPA created a series of maps documenting parks, rail lines, highways, and land use in the region and proposing improvements.
Not all of RPA’s recommendations for New Jersey were implemented, and sometimes, that was for the better. For example, while RPA proposed protecting the lower part of the “Hackensack meadows” on the western side as a public reservation and a bird sanctuary, we also recommended filling in much of the “Newark and Hackensack meadows” and the Upper Bay by the Bayonne peninsula and using the land for industrial purposes. RPA was not the first group to think of this. At the turn of the century, several planners in Newark and New York wanted to develop rather than preserve the Meadowlands as open space.
Some of RPA’s implemented recommendations had mixed results. The first Regional Plan had many suggestions about highways and parkways in New Jersey, several of which were implemented and improved connectivity in the region. However, New Jersey’s vast highway network also contributed to sprawl, increased air pollution, and devastated several low-income communities, predominantly immigrant communities and communities of color. For example, the first Regional Plan recommended several additional highway and parkway routes to bifurcate Paterson, several of which were eventually constructed. Today, asthma rates in Paterson are among the worst in the state - in 2014, Paterson residents made up the majority of hospital emergency room visits for asthma in Passaic County despite only making up a third of the County’s population.
There is a wealth of academic studies which have underscored the classist and racist nature of highway construction in our nation’s history. In the context of RPA, the first Regional Plan’s highway designs were informed by an advisory planning group which included Harland Bartholomew, the first full-time city planner in the United States. Harland was a close associate of RPA’s, authored several landmark highway studies, was a member of the Interregional Highways Committee, and prepared plans for hundreds of cities, including Newark. Harland’s plans advocated for building more highways, widening roads, and excess condemnation. There are arguments in The Color of Law and other texts that Harland’s work was used to perpetuate and maintain racial, social and economic segregation across the country. In Newark, Harland’s plans resulted in the destruction of immigrant enclaves like Little Italy.
![RPA NJ History 1940 Regional Highway Plan copy](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=2e702ee302bf2320bd7ffae6b1406f2e30f80b7c04ef68bdab3bb9ffe6b3e242 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=0c126b006ade4957fb6b1b46b7498926c3e5160a2d50728d5df60e8b431b662f 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=a7bf2cf5e265687b244f95f03e6f332b28496c7330d53f6378bdcd0e448b9d73 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=13a5fe6db8d8ebca2317f6214d8b6e75e203331821b5c938bce7ce4cbb2d9888 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=3aa85cd63a8fcb587355e94b8d9eea7619d328fc1bf39dfe4d44d2f841cd3108 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=7be0d805ea75df8f0753bf6f4829fddb01be75d982b6b5f02873cbd9931295b6 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=41bfdf8510c3df5add872cc6fa155955d5948c0024b10b7164d8bb5f516cde67 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=80f1aaaa2382a7f82cbb1ad61cb00ad1dc89afb3986599352241cc5b48eb145f 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/latest/RPA-NJ-History-1940-Regional-Highway-Plan-copy.jpg?bossToken=62f3a111a50af043d1ec42f807c34312a1361402e67f17a4d5116938f8941d4d 1543w)
At the time of the publication of the first Regional Plan, RPA did not predict highways dominating the landscape over rail. Rather, planners saw the highway and rail systems as complementary, and viewed airlines as a large source of competition for attention and passengers. However, the plan’s authors did include a warning if highway development did outpace rail:
“It is hardly conceivable that the growth of transport by road will result in making it more restful traveling than an improved electrical service by rail will be… While the railroad and highway systems outlined on the Plan are so designed that they will be complementary to one another, it is admitted that if a bold and comprehensive treatment of the highway system is pursued, in advance of actual need, instead of following far behind such need, a great deal of the expense in railroad and transit line construction may be avoided and the plan of those latter facilities may stop short of what is proposed… It is possible that railroads and rapid transit developments in the future will have to be adjusted to highway and airway developments, instead of the reverse.”
Between 1928 and 1940, more than a third of RPA’s proposed 2,548-mile highway program was completed or under construction, much of it in New Jersey. RPA was also a proponent of major projects such as the Garden State Parkway, though in later years, RPA pushed against widening the Parkway in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. While RPA continued to highlight the need for rail as early as 1942, RPA acknowledged that the railroads were losing out to highways, writing in a report that, “rail commutation… has failed to hold its own against the convenience of passenger car and bus transportation,” but that, “(T)he Association holds that neither bus nor private passenger car is the solution for peak-hour mass transportation of people. A coordinated system of suburban rapid transit, along with a better urban distribution… is still needed.”
In a 1980 interview, C. McKim Norton, an RPA President and son of Charles Dyer Norton, who kickstarted the effort to create a regional plan for the New York metropolitan area, reflected on the situation. C. McKim Norton explained that the highways were public enterprises and public entities took great interest in implementing RPA’s highway plan, while the rail lines in the 1930s and 1940s were owned by private corporations that, while they had been growing in the 1910s and 1920s, had started to struggle in the post-WWII era.
“I must say that we deplored this and it worried us, but it was so difficult to do anything about it because the railroads were private enterprises, and it was unthinkable… They were the big industry. These were the big moguls - the Harrimans and all these people. And the idea that you would tell them what to do was unthinkable. I mean, you were taking on giants. And the idea that they couldn’t do what they wanted to do or thought they should do was also unthinkable, and we didn’t realize how close to bankruptcy the Pennsylvania Railroad was when it happened.”
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the railroad companies in the region approached bankruptcy. RPA discussed with legislators the idea of placing private railroads in public ownership and creating one agency that would own and operate a tri-state regional network. There were many obstacles, both physical and political, but eventually, a compromise was reached: multiple public rail agencies would be created.
In 1961, at an RPA conference on the 5-year and 25-year outlook for Northern New Jersey, Dwight Palmer, then State Transportation Commissioner, announced the state’s proposal for consolidation and modernization of rail services. This eventually manifested as NJ Transit, which formed in 1979 and manages the state’s rail, light rail and bus networks. Among the first hires of the new agency in 1980 was RPA staff member Jeffrey Zupan, who became their first planning director. RPA also advocated for the transformation of the NJ Highway Department to a NJ Department of Transportation and began advocating for rapid bus service in areas not likely to be served by commuter rail in the 1960s, which is still a key component of our advocacy work in New Jersey. RPA continues to support the development of a regional rail network.
![1963 Regional Rail Models RPA News chart3](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=ef161f86cacaf5b4ed3563b0b73bd5fa3cbd7c8f8646a142dfaacb5d33bed8e4 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=38a2b84fe6fe4c31640239a6bb28b56318e6cc8634713de1b73699d84c840fcf 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=0c40b36c0be6f0b41b98879dbbdb53a4bc121fd04f42dd90d38fe4a4fd3d5438 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=e65ac0c6120acbc8de6dd27956061ed00778bea7072023fe8bc79a12b7165d5f 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=7526b31c14ccb80033b823c4ca8e37ff586625e72975b91b184589ed07ed4d18 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=0b889cd83fe85371f53d2f69a063079b8046e9e86c9abc3ec3772243dfcce024 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=5931ed05dfefe3682af7a956913152442790cc8d14fe1a9fd1dcfbc777ada210 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=971f1d63d393d67785681e86bdc94eeb2f39754e99f39cb1902afb5d881f45f8 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Timeline/1963_RegionalRailModels_RPANews_chart3.jpg?bossToken=2211a282e402453c01822a142bcfdabb256a90691ff09e96ae68ba235e2c5bdb 1543w)
To implement some of the recommendations of the Second Regional Plan, RPA called for public-private partnerships to strengthen regional city centers in Paterson and New Brunswick, NJ. New Jersey’s newer suburbs and older city centers were also a focus of RPA’s CHOICES for’76 project, an Emmy award-winning series of televised town hall meetings. Paterson, Newark, Mahwah, and Wayne were featured prominently in the series. For example, the Housing film highlighted the Ford Motor Company plant in Mahwah, a major employer of many Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) individuals at the time. Interviewees pointed out, however, that the 40% of the 5,000 employees at the plant who were BIPOC could not live in Mahwah because of high costs due to its exclusionary zoning. Also at the time, RPA was unaware of the damage that the Ford Motor plant was doing to the environment around Mahwah and to the land that the Ramapough Lenape lived on. Other individuals were also interviewed as part of the Housing documentary, like Junius Williams, a Newark attorney who was the Executive Director of the Committee on Minority Affairs (COMA). COMA was a committee created as part of the CHOICES project to better engage with BIPOC communities in the region.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced the first National Urban Policy, which reflected many of RPA’s recommendations regarding reinvestments in cities. In a telegram sent to RPA on the eve of its 50th anniversary dinner, President Carter stated that RPA’s support and leadership had been critical for his administration’s policy.
![New Jersey Cities](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=8be02453984b1600b4b269f8442bef627483dc85f84f6b410c92774f3588988c 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=818c4d7520ee5701ecbb0a07fac1a1d685d25c1a469473c7e4d597b103171b3e 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=fbf4aadaa8a979c67bde7b2d294a7f6656931d0fa2ba5366449cc36c8e090da6 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=878a1389d9300a8e53de8b8de31037b075c70e24872b41b9e7e39316e9925d1a 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=77005c95e22a2a7e956ce4f1e7dfb851627d731f27e2cc1138c80d897ed799d2 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=e4e2de6973e117cb1ec763336f334ee8a17c4b3a92b4aec7f4650d0011065a85 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=306f44c2c8a12475757a79302ccb199d751bc05f24f3c97455820c4a34f340b1 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=28d857bd53ad51f6b61161e6347752388512d85a75d6163d2380930cb3e8841f 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/New-Jersey-Cities.png?bossToken=09f476d8e005047e3511081c0a7dc55d53359f0dea9c2a5bc3d1ec6660f1a6e9 1543w)
Image from RPA’s 1979 report New Jersey Cities
RPA went on to release New Jersey Cities in 1979, which promoted investments in older cities in the wake of white flight and a national decline in urban density. The report also highlighted the work of tenant cooperatives like those at the Stella Wright Housing Project in Newark, and polled residents of Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, and Passaic as to whether they expected their cities to improve - and if they were satisfied with their city as a place to live. Over half of Newark’s respondents said that they were satisfied with the city.
“Clearly, some New Jersey cities have bounced back from their nadir. They are beginning to offer some benefits that spread city does not. The new optimism and self-confidence in cities, the new public pronouncement and policies by states and federal government come at just that moment of rebounding. So there is hope that the tremendous thrust away from cities can be reversed.”
During this period, RPA pushed against development in environmentally sensitive areas, most notably with the Port Authority as it considered creating a fourth regional airport in Hunterdon County. While in its early years RPA had championed smaller regional airports, it reevaluated estimates based on new data and the Port Authority’s own projections on air traffic. In a major report released in 1969, RPA argued that the priority should be to improve capacity at the three existing large regional airports, and that investing in a fourth major airport far from the region’s core would not solve demand issues.
In the Meadowlands, RPA shifted its thinking from development to preservation. One of the first successes of RPA’s New Jersey Committee was the establishment of a State Meadowlands Development Commission. Six of the Commission’s nine members were appointed from a list submitted by the New Jersey Committee to the Governor and the State Legislature. Early brainstorming sessions of the RPA New Jersey Committee suggested creating a state park in the Hackensack Meadows.
“Thinking it justifiable to invest more money in less land if it served more people, the Committee recommended basing park purchases on population density. The 1963 policy statement called for‘parks where the people are.’ Accordingly, the Committee was the first proponent of large parks in Great Piece Meadows (Essex County), the Hackensack Meadows, and along the Jersey City waterfront. The Jersey City site (Liberty Park) has since been acquired and 188 acres of 3,390 have been acquired of Great Piece Meadows. The forthcoming Hackensack Meadows comprehensive development plan will, the Committee hopes, contain a proposal for a great‘Central Park’ for residents of densely populated urban areas of Hudson, Essex, and Passaic counties.”
When the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission was created to coordinate land use in the wetlands, RPA proposed preserving more marshlands and reducing office construction, instead redirecting office development to Newark and Paterson and restricting parts of the Meadowlands for industries like warehousing and manufacturing. The land use plan for the Meadowlands was modified on RPA’s suggestions.
The economic boom of the 1980s spurred a decade of almost wanton development, but RPA continued to call attention to New Jersey’s shrinking open space. RPA’s Morris 2000 project, which was a large community engagement project, suggested stronger planning and land use controls at the county level. In 1987, RPA found that a million acres of open space was developed in the region between 1964 and 1986 and that farmlands shrunk from 1.7 to 1.2 million acres between 1964 and 1982. At these rates, RPA warned that half of the metropolitan region’s land would be developed by the year 2000.
RPA also called out the detrimental impacts of pollution and contaminated sites. RPA’s New Jersey office strongly advocated for the federal Clean Air Act of 1990, and its contributions were recognized by New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection and others. The following year, RPA initiated the Union County Land Recycling Project, which identified more than 185 sites comprising 2,500 acres of re-developable land in the county, and found that development costs were about equivalent to those of non-contaminated parcels. As a result, in 1993 RPA was asked to help craft the groundbreaking NJ Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Act and Industrial Sites Remediation Act, which established remediation standards and funding for clean up projects. The Third Regional Plan, released in 1996, built on those successes and gave rise to RPA’s Metropolitan Brownfields Initiative, a multi-year project in the late 1990s that reviewed brownfields that could be remediated and revitalized within New Jersey.
![RPA100 brownfield nj](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=fd85b03a10c5fcc25b322b41cc8afc49264814b071659e39fa9e4cf26db031bd 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=1aea5a20ada032de5a4dd130de8d3d73050f60b9564340ad1a40fd0d4dfe269b 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=294ab55079aa21c0fb1421ff810f6cf02d3d0ee0cd9dc845c96b8fbbaa24dd4f 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=3113fac5775adfbef6de027edf367d97378624c8a22cf1cd38ba3daeb5a8bafd 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=b4650e331fb0f9a3456df5dfde2036a5393f0b867fc77e0fec043c19fe7d2f29 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=822c05a713c67eb84fa8215086fdcd6c2befed988e15ebf6f45f21984808234b 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=4dfbe675fafebe72841766698c3888dc4dc182ac9bb7173594bc15c0aad31250 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=1ccf1fcc24aa8600c5ae20f90f6c009feabf75792f4e60a26d6dfae88f0e8e19 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/latest/RPA100_brownfield_nj.png?bossToken=0cae50a1354f6a9b44bc76bcbb6afea4b820411e861f7359bb470ef39cfa39fe 1543w)
In the 1990s RPA’s Metropolitan Brownfields Initiative identified brownfields sites in New Jersey that could be remediated.
Dodson Associates
In addition to reclaiming brownfields, RPA looked to see if more of New Jersey’s waterfront could be repurposed for public use. The New Jersey side of the Hudson River was still relatively underdeveloped in the 1980s. Building off of its 1966 report The Lower Hudson, RPA’s 1985 River City report recommended coordinated development, adequate transportation, and public access along the Hudson River waterfront from Bayonne to Fort Lee. RPA argued for the waterfront to be continuous as well as welcoming for pedestrians, cyclists, and boaters, and proposed light rail service. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail was an idea drawn from these 1966 and 1985 reports. Ferry service across the Hudson was also restored later in the 1980s, and private development increased in the 1980s and 1990s, leading to a renewed Hudson River waterfront but also gentrification along the coast.
In 1986, Governor Thomas Kean signed the New Jersey State Planning Act, which created the Planning Commission and Office of Planning Advocacy. The law also mandated a State Development and Redevelopment Plan. RPA supported the initiative and helped foster the creation of NJ Future, a non-profit, non-partisan organization who early on monitored the process by which the State Development and Redevelopment Plan was being prepared.
Income inequality in New Jersey and in the region escalated sharply in the 1980s and 1990s. RPA and the United Way of Tri-State released a report in 1986 warning that inequality would strain the region. Then, a severe economic downturn hit, and from 1989 to 1992, the region shed 770,000 jobs, one of the largest job losses of any U.S. metropolitan region since World War II. Lack of investment in the region’s schools, rail systems, community design, and natural resources slowed the economic recovery.
The Third Regional Plan supported mixed-use districts and arts and cultural institutions in these city centers, and encouraged development of brownfield sites. The Plan also proposed eleven regional preserves, including the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Kittatinny Mountain ridge in Sussex County, the NY-NJ-CT Appalachian Highlands, the Delaware River, the Hudson River, the NY-NJ Harbor, and the Atlantic seashore. To enact the Plan’s recommendations, RPA led several successful preservation campaigns such as the protection of Sterling Forest, which straddles New Jersey and New York and serves as an important link in the Appalachian Highlands system. The park was created in 1998 thanks to financial commitments by NJ Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who had attended RPA meetings with her mother, Eleanor Todd, and had heard of RPA’s advocacy for the park during her time in office.
![2006 Newark2](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=a133717ee316860ff8903399b0a103b52671d6c0713ea20c834a2da60fb60393 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=cadb8f69366b4da6e55cae602230332152f56c0fd1849f136ed14cde0fe1467e 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=d213f97aa11fcfbd15c6e822236608c9c8def8cfc253864e4f0f06e148933aec 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=277ac21f46371534dae44e1498af31c53da6c12997aa8d5242460e63602279a6 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=90363c7b4b06ce883988b934f3e9d448f4eead95074d07f001dab1130d6814e2 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=1828b2127412bb412077a2281ebb0a94406dd2d7efec0292172b3224dc6107a9 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=5b6bea96213a9055d4c5e2730c5c963e9deb3fb91c4c132791468f548b8a8c19 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=2482af3169ee48f3ac1fd12237bd792c85f05fba25b85762dc27fd492a7345b1 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Timeline/2006_Newark2.jpg?bossToken=3ca020ea55e8b27c17b1df780e334a4600992d3b8f28db7a95c614f499f6de7b 1543w)
Image from RPA’s Draft Vision Planfor Newark
RPA followed up with several reports on Newark regarding infill, parks on the waterfront, sustainability initiatives, and better bus service, and currently serves on the steering committee for Newark360, the latest master plan. In Paterson, in 2012, RPA worked with stakeholders to develop a strategic plan for how the arts could be synchronized into park planning and revitalization efforts, work which was cited in a 2021 draft neighborhood plan. More recently, RPA was invited to work in Camden, NJ on redevelopment analyses and neighborhood plans.
Property tax relief dominated public debate in New Jersey in the early 2000s. RPA published several reports identifying land use implications in the tax debate, and proposed criteria for property tax reform, including improving school funding equity, reducing incentives for sprawl, and improving the efficiency of government service delivery. RPA also emphasized that transportation funding was a pressing financial problem and released a series of reports sounding the alarm, suggesting guidelines for the effective and equitable use of public-private partnerships for funding transportation.
During this time, RPA also noted that transit developments such as Midtown Direct service by NJ Transit greatly improved commutes and property values for homes near train stations, and noted similar increases and commute improvements could happen with the construction of the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project, which would have doubled rail capacity into Manhattan.
In addition to its focus on surface transportation, RPA has been a vocal proponent for development of the region’s airports. In its 1947 report, Airports of Tomorrow, RPA advocated for the expansion of Newark Airport to a two-runway facility. It continued to push for infrastructure improvements at Newark Liberty International Airport with analyses in 2011 and 2018, and continues to champion better connections to the airport from within Newark itself and the region, such as extending PATH to Newark Airport.
Why Chronic Floods are Coming to New Jersey
RPA Vice President for Energy and Environment Rob Freudenberg describes the role which New Jersey’s Meadowlands play in softening the impacts of climate change.
Vox
With the torrential downpours and devastation brought by Hurricane Ida in 2021, RPA warned that previous developments on precarious land like marshlands and floodplains had put thousands of New Jersey residents in harm’s way, and that communities and the State needed to reconsider current housing placements and future developments. As energy production greatly impacts climate change outcomes, RPA has also coordinated an Energy Task Force, which, among other priorities, has emphasized the importance of developing a robust offshore wind industry off the coasts of New Jersey and New York to reduce New Jersey’s dependency on fossil fuels.
The Fourth Regional Plan: Making the Region Work for All of Us brought together interconnected issues such as more responsive transportation systems, reinvesting in urban centers, protecting the environment, and adapting to the climate crisis. Published in 2017, the Fourth Regional Plan emphasized the values of equity, health, prosperity, and sustainability in the region. RPA partnered with organizations like Make the Road NJ and Housing and Community Development Network of NJ to develop recommendations such as encouraging anti-displacement measures and investments in anchor institution networks. RPA also highlighted flagship places such as Paterson and the Meadowlands.
In the Fourth Regional Plan, RPA also noted that the Meadowlands were likely to be one of the first places in the region to be permanently inundated from sea level rise.
RPA is proud of its extensive work in New Jersey. As RPA reflects on its history, we look forward to continuing to push for better and more equitable transportation, more investment in urban centers, greater protections for New Jersey’s environment, and more resiliency measures to protect communities from climate change.
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