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promoted by Rosi
While the Legislature and Gov. Christie fiddle with a badly flawed housing bill, NJ's economy burns - especially in the cradle of the state's economic strength in the 80s and 90s, the Route One corridor.
A joint op-ed today by a cross-section of non-profits and business leaders in the Ledger calls the Route One corridor - "Einstein's Alley" between Rutgers and Princeton - "poorly positioned to attract private sector investment as the economy rebounds." It suggests that Educational Testing Services - one of the main employers - is considering moving future jobs to Pennsylvania because its employees can't find homes here. And it says that municipalities in the Route One corridor, based on a study by PlanSmart NJ, will only allow one home for every four new jobs (as compared to a historic one to one ratio) - which will produce Los Angeles-style traffic congestion by 2025.
Hello? Is anyone in the State House listening?
Instead of addressing this problem, which stems from, according to the article, "too little zoning for housing," the Legislature seems bent on making it worse. The Housing and Local Government on Monday passed a bill that would expand municipalities' ability to turn down starter homes and apartments. Which would likely lead to even fewer homes in the Route One corridor. And more jobs moving out of state.
The op-ed calls for a better approach to state laws on housing and planning. That approach would focus a wide range of new homes - for families at all income levels plus seniors and people with special needs - near jobs and transportation. If towns like West Windsor and Plainsboro are going to see massive job growth, they should not be able to turn down homes for the people working in those jobs.
Then again, if the Legislature moves forward with its current proposal, the jobs just might follow the homes, as the CEO of ETS hints in the article - all the way to Pennsylvania. |
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