Transit Villages — A Powerful Vehicle towards Equitable Development for Newark, NJ

One of the key components of a transit village is the self determination of a community. In Newark, this means that ongoing challenges like equity, housing affordability, air quality, use of space, and carbon emissions can be addressed through this new designation. And we wouldn’t be alone. There are currently 33 transit villages throughout the state of New Jersey, with Pleasantville among the first in 1999 and Asbury Park being the most recent in 2017.

Historically, Transit-oriented development was a response to urban sprawl and rise of the suburbs that accelerated in the mid-20th century due to expansion of highways and automobile use. To slow the loss of open space to development and revitalize cities that had lost population and wealth, governments and planners began coordinating incentive programs and other efforts to encourage more development near mass transit.

According to the NJDOT, a transit village “is a municipality that has been recommended for designation by the interagency Transit Village Task Force. These municipalities have demonstrated a commitment to revitalizing and redeveloping the area around their transit facilities into compact, mixed-use neighborhoods with a strong residential component”. In order for Newark to achieve a designation, it must: identify existing transit, demonstrate willingness to grow, adopt a Transit-Oriented Development plan or zoning ordinance with transit-supportive design and parking regulations, and identify specific sites and projects. They must also include affordable housing in the transit village district, identify bike and pedestrian improvements, establish a management organization, and identify place-making efforts, community celebrations, and cultural events. Designated cities become eligible to apply to a $1 million annual pool of funding for road and transit improvements.

Because affordable housing is one of the criterion for a transit village, cities like Newark are presented an opportunity to combat the national housing affordability crisis. With luxury apartments springing up throughout the Central Business District, a transit village would allow for an aggressive increase in housing that’s affordable. A mandate of housing affordability specific to the designated zone, wherein rents could not surpass 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), would be welcomed by the tens of thousands of families vying to be placed in affordable housing units.

The proposal places the heart of the village at Broad & Market and will extend a half mile radius. Transit villages are by no means a panacea, but rather a vehicle towards a more equitable city. It’s a start to the people of Newark having an active say in the what and how development occurs in our community.