New Brunswick, New Jersey: the decline and revitalization of urban America PDF
Preview New Brunswick, New Jersey: the decline and revitalization of urban America
NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 1 2/11/16 10:24 AM RIVERGATE REGIONALS Rivergate Regionals is a collection of books pub- lished by Rutgers University Press focusing on New Jersey and the surrounding area. Since its founding in 1936, Rutgers University Press has been devoted to serving the people of New Jer- sey and this collection solidifies that tradition. The books in the Rivergate Regionals Collection explore history, politics, nature and the environ- ment, recreation, sports, health and medicine, and the arts. By incorporating the collection within the larger Rutgers University Press edito- rial program, the Rivergate Regionals Collection enhances our commitment to publishing the best books about our great state and the sur- rounding region. NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 2 2/11/16 10:24 AM NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America David Listokin, Dorothea Berkhout, and James W. Hughes Rutgers University Press New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 3 2/11/16 10:24 AM Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Listokin, David, author. | Berkhout, Dorothea, author. | Hughes, James W., author. Title: New Brunswick, New Jersey : the decline and revitalization of urban America / David Listokin, Dorothea Berkhout, James W. Hughes. Description: New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2016. | Series: Rivergate regionals collection | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015032493| ISBN 9780813575148 (hardback) | ISBN 9780813575575 (e-book (epub)) | ISBN 9780813575582 (e-book (web pdf)) Subjects: LCSH: City planning—New Jersey—New Brunswick. | Cities and towns— Growth. | New Brunswick (N.J.)—History—21st century. | BISAC: HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA). | POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / City Planning & Urban Development. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Urban & Regional. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban. | TRAVEL / United States / Northeast / Middle Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA). | PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Regional (see also TRAVEL / Pictorials). Classification: LCC HT168.N3457 L57 2016 | DDC 307.7609749/42—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015032493 A British Cataloging-in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library. Copyright © 2016 by David Listokin, Dorothea Berkhout, and James W. Hughes All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law. Visit our website: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu Manufactured in the United States of America NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 4 2/11/16 10:24 AM CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. The Economy of New Brunswick: A City Reinventing Itself from Inian’s Ferry to the Information Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 PHOTO ESSAY . The Corner of Albany and George Streets: The Remarkable Transformation of New Brunswick’s Commercial Crossroads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 2. The People of New Brunswick: Population and Resident Profile over Time . . . . . . . . . . . 35 3. The National Context of Urban Revitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 4. New Brunswick Transformation: Challenge and Strategic Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 PHOTO ESSAY . The Transformation of Seminary Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118 5. New Brunswick Transformation: Critical Projects in a Multi-Decade Revitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 6. Looking to the Past and Future of New Brunswick and National Urban Revitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Appendix A . New Brunswick Oral History Interviews, 2009–2015: Biographical Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Appendix B . New Brunswick Redevelopment and Economic History: A Timeline . . . . . 229 Appendix C . Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 5 2/11/16 10:24 AM NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 6 2/11/16 10:24 AM PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THIS BOOK has its origins in two different projects. One was a set of oral histories conducted by Dorothea Berkhout and David Listokin with twenty-four individuals who were involved in or present during the major phases of the redevelopment of New Brunswick. The other was a Rutgers University first-year Byrne seminar on cities, at which James Hughes presented a pictorial history of the transformation of New Brunswick. Marlie Wasserman, director of Rutgers University Press, encouraged the authors to consider using this material in a book that also would set the redevelop- ment of New Brunswick in a national context of transformation of cities. We are greatly indebted to a number of individuals who assisted us in the re- search and writing of this book. First and foremost are the twenty-four people who agreed to be interviewed, resulting in the many hours of oral histories that provided the basis for this book. The names and biographies of these individuals are included in an appendix, but we would like to mention in particular John Heldrich and Ralph Voorhees, who have since passed away; both were instrumental in revitalizing New Brunswick over several decades. Others who provided a great deal of assistance with the history of New Brunswick and photographs of the city include Thomas Frusciano and Erica Gorder of the Rut- gers University Libraries Special Collections Department; Robert Belvin, Kim Adams, Kim Kirkley, Jackie Oshman, and Hsienmin Chen of the New Brunswick Free Public Library; Margaret Gurowitz of Johnson & Johnson; Peter Haigney of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Tabiri Chukunta of Saint Peter’s University Hospital; Glenn Patterson of the City of New Brunswick; Omar, Sam, and Wasseem Boraie of Bo- raie Development; and Christopher Paladino and Jean Holtz of the New Brunswick vii NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 7 2/11/16 10:24 AM viii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Development Corporation. In addition, we thank George “Red” Ellis and Jacqueline “Jacque” Rubel, who provided us with their family photographs. At the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, we would like to thank Tamara Swedberg and Martin O’Reilly for their technical support with the oral history voice and video recordings; Karyn Olsen for her design and production skills working with photographs, figures, tables, and maps; Jennifer Whytlaw for her GIS mapmaking skills; Will Irving for pro- viding important employment information for chapter 2; and Frances Loeser for keep- ing track of our grant expenditures. Also deserving special mention are Marc Weiner and Orin Puniello, who provided quantitative analysis and interpretation of data from the Rutgers University Eagleton Institute of Politics’ periodic survey of New Brunswick residents in chapter 6. Many outstanding Rutgers University students who assisted the undertaking de- serve our special thanks. Author of an honors undergraduate thesis on New Bruns- wick, Eric Schkrutz undertook multifaceted research for us and wrote portions of chapter 2, including those on Native Americans, immigrant, racial, and ethnic groups; portions of chapter 6; and the appendix descriptions of the interviewees of oral histo- ries conducted by Dorothea Berkhout and David Listokin. Gabriel Sherman gathered extensive socioeconomic data and wrote portions of chapter 2, especially those on quantitative national, New Jersey, and New Brunswick immigration, racial, and ethnic trends; he also contributed significantly to chapter 6. Katie Brennan wrote on school construction in New Brunswick in chapter 5. Other exemplary assistance was pro- vided by Rutgers University students Kate Davidoff, Jena Fagan, Leigh Hindenlang, Steven Malick, Prutha Patel, Swetha Ramkumar, and Loveleen Saran. The entire project would not have been possible without support from our funders, including the Rutgers University Office of Academic Affairs, which supplied the seed money for the oral histories, as did several developers involved in projects in New Brunswick: Foglio & Associates; Garfield Foundation c/o Baldwin Brothers Inc.; Keating Building Corporation; New Brunswick Development Corporation; and Penn- rose Development LLC. Their contributions enabled us to conduct, record, videotape, transcribe, and summarize the oral history interviews. Finally, we thank Marlie Wasserman, director of Rutgers University Press, whose guidance and patience are greatly appreciated, and Gretchen Oberfranc for her sub- stantive editing of the early drafts of our manuscript. NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 8 2/11/16 10:24 AM ABBREVIATIONS ACC American City Corporation ACHP Advisory Council on Historic Preservation ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act BMIR below-market interest rate CBD central business district CDBG Community Development Block Grants CDC community development corporation CDE Community Development Entity CDFI Community Development Financial Institution CRA Community Reinvestment Act CRDA Casino Reinvestment Development Authority DCA Department of Community Affairs DEVCO New Brunswick Development Corporation EDA Economic Development Authority EDI Economic Development Initiative EPTR equalized property tax rate EZ, UEZ enterprise zone, urban enterprise zone FHA Federal Housing Administration GSE government-sponsored enterprise HHMPA Historic Hiram Market Preservation Association HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development LIC low-income community ix NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 9 2/11/16 10:24 AM x ABBREVIATIONS LIHTC low-income housing tax credit LISC Local Initiatives Support Corporation LMI low- and moderate-income LPC local preservation commission MCIA Middlesex County Improvement Authority MRI municipal revitalization index NBCC New Brunswick Cultural Center NBHA New Brunswick Housing Authority NBPA New Brunswick Parking Authority NBT New Brunswick Tomorrow NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NHPA National Historic Preservation Act NHTF National Housing Trust Fund NJRA New Jersey Redevelopment Authority NMTC New Markets Tax Credit PILOT payment in lieu of taxes PPP public-private partnership PWA Public Works Administration QLICI qualified low-income community investment RC Renewal Community RCA Regional Contribution Agreement (New Jersey) RFC Reconstruction Finance Corporation RTC rehabilitation tax credit SHPO State Historic Preservation Office TBS tax base sharing TIF tax increment financing TOD transit-oriented development UDAG Urban Development Action Grant UDC Urban Development Corporation UMDNJ University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (Rutgers) UTHTC Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit VA Veterans Administration NBNJ_FinalPass.indb 10 2/11/16 10:24 AM
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