Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi spent much of yesterday’s State of the County address discussing government consolidation and property tax relief, but also talked at length about responsible growth, calling for increased investment in downtowns that would attract new businesses and stem the exodus of young people from Long Island. This “New Suburbia” concept [...]
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While NJ Gov. Corzine’s asset monetization plan, which includes $3 billion to widen the state’s toll roads, has dominated the press, towns and state agencies have continued to work towards walkable and transit-friendly communities. Transit Villages and a Transit HubInterest in NJ Transit and NJDOT’s Transit Village program has mounted as more municipalities come to realize the benefits of transit-oriented development. In January, Neptune and Woodbridge held their first public “visioning” sessions as part of the process to eventually gain a Transit Village designation. North Brunswick held its tenth public meeting and is moving into a new phase of community visioning according to a project spokesperson. A developer in Edison announced that it would hold a series of public meetings on development options around the train station in March. Established in 1999, the Transit Village program gives aid to municipalities that have demonstrated a commitment to revitalizing and redeveloping the area around transit into a compact, mixed-use neighborhood with a strong residential component. There are currently 19 Transit Village municipalities.
Last month NJ Transit unveiled the new Mount Arlington Station, which will offer commuters along the busy I-80 corridor convenient access to rail service. On January 21, trains on the Montclair-Boonton Line and the Morristown Line began serving the intermodal facility, which is also served by private carrier buses. The new station sits between Lake Hopatcong and Dover in western Morris County. More than one-third of Long Island residents would trade their single-family home for an apartment, condo or townhouse, according to the Long Island Index released this week by the Rauch Foundation. The 80-page report examines economic, population, housing, environmental, and other trends in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and finds that Long Island’s dependence on [...] On Monday NJ Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law two bills with an impact on transportation and land use that made it through the state legislature’s lame duck session (which ended last week). State Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) sponsored the “Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Act,” which offers tax credits to businesses that [...]
Connecticut began 2007 having made some recovery from the backwards policies of former Gov. John Rowland. Earlier in her term, which began in 2004, Gov. Jodi Rell worked with the legislature to pass more than $3 billion of investment in the state’s transportation infrastructure. She also took steps on smart growth, creating an Office of Responsible Growth by executive order in late 2006. Both efforts continued in 2007, and were reinforced by a push for a change in the way ConnDOT does business. Transportation Policy ReformAfter winning election in 2006, Gov. Rell continued moving on smart growth in the spring. In March, ConnDOT completed its search for a deputy commissioner to handle transit-oriented development, hiring Al Martin. In April, growing anger over an I-84 contracting scandal and the generally corrupt culture at ConnDOT helped fuel a broader discourse over the agency’s mission. Gov. Rell announced the creation of the ConnDOT Reform Commission charged with “broaden[ing the agency's] focus beyond highways,” which will release its recommendations this month. In July the ConnDOT Reform Commission held its first meeting and the Hartford Courant, informed by discussions with Tri-State, released a scathing multi-page opinion piece titled “The Right Road” which called on the agency to incorporate smart growth and fix-it-first principles into its mission. An omnibus bonding bill, passed in October after months of delay, included funding for a transit-oriented development program. However, the legislation was worded in such a way that the program could potentially fund non-TOD projects. In December, ConnDOT Commissioner Ralph Carpenter announced his retirement from the public sector, and Rell said the department would conduct a national search for a new commissioner, “an opportunity for a fresh start all the way around.” Former commissioner Emil Frankel took the interim job. The changes bode well for smart-growth-oriented reform within the agency, but Rell must choose a new ConnDOT Commissioner who is a strong leader and understands the transportation-land use connection.
Vision Long Island has been working to change this impression, and hosted its sixth annual Smart Growth Summit in Melville on Nov. 16. As evidenced by a stellar turnout estimated at 700 attendees, behind the reputation is real enthusiasm for smart growth. At the morning plenary “State of the Towns” session, representatives from five of Long Island’s thirteen towns described smart growth projects in various states of progress, including a $100 million mixed-use redevelopment of downtown Riverhead. North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman discussed the importance of a community-inclusive development process. Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert challenged elected officials to “show the courage to vote their conscience” in promoting affordable housing and mixed-use development. The speakers were united in emphasizing the need for projects to mitigate traffic concerns. The summit also included discussions on topics from affordable housing to downtown zoning, as well as on projects of regional significance, including the 321-acre Tallgrass mixed-use project approved by Brookhaven officials in October and the much-publicized 150-acre Lighthouse project which would anchor Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi’s plan to densify and bring transit to the Nassau Hub area. Hempstead town officials got their first look at updated Lighthouse plans earlier this month. |
 
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Morristown, one of the first municipalities to receive the special designation, broke ground earlier this month on the largest component of its transit village. The Highlands at Morristown (rendering at right) will be a multi-use facility incorporating ground-level retail and office space, 217 residential units and a 722-space parking garage. The structure is replacing a surface-level parking lot and is set for completion in about 3 years.
When it comes to smart growth, some view Long Island as lagging behind the rest of the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan area. New Jersey’s