On March 4, Carteret became the newest participant in the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) “Live Where You Work” homebuyer incentive program. The smart-growth-oriented program began as a pilot program with the city of Trenton in February 2008, and is designed to build stronger communities by encouraging people to live closer to their jobs. By promoting localized employment centers, the program will also reduce congestion and vehicle miles traveled, and increase the use of sustainable transportation like walking, biking and public transit.

The program offers low-interest mortgages to buyers looking to live and work within the state’s designated “Smart Growth Areas” and “Urban Target Areas,” which now include parts of Atlantic City, Bayonne, Carteret, Elizabeth, Evesham, Jersey City, Morristown, Neptune Township, Rahway, Trenton, and Woodbridge. DCA officials said as many as 20 other communities are actively seeking designation.

The program is part of an overarching state effort to encourage mixed-use development, walkable downtowns, and economic development. As DCA Commissioner Joseph Doria wrote in last week’s Home News Tribune, “Less use of cars is central to how Live Where You Work operates.” Four of the participating municipalities are also designated Transit Villages, showing a coordinated, inter-agency effort to steer growth in a smart way.

The program is not subject to tumultuous budget cycles, since its parent division within DCA, the Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, gets none of its operating or mortgage money from the state treasury. Instead, it borrows money in private equity markets at preferential rates. This configuration allows the state to continue directing growth to targeted areas without the threat of operational cutbacks due to budget shortfalls.