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Announcing a New Build with Purpose White Paper: Too Good to Be True: Lessons Learned on Solar Powering the Nonprofit Sector
Posted on June 14th, 2012 No commentsWe are pleased to share our findings from a new white paper of ours on solar powering the nonprofit sector. As usual, we believe in being very practical when it comes to a facility or real estate project. So along the way we learned that nonprofits can use these seven simple questions before pursuing a solar initiative and save themselves a great deal of time and effort.
- Do you have enough space for a large rooftop solar array? (If you want someone else to pay for it as an investor, make sure you have at least 20,000 SF). Or do you have 20,000 square feet of space on the ground?
- Do you have a reasonable amount of sun on the roof?
- Is your roof older? Pitched or flat?
- Does your facility use a substantial amount of electricity?
- Do you own your facility?
- What is your risk profile? Is your organization willing to enter into a long-term electricity contract?
- Does your organization own multiple buildings with the same legal owner?
For more information on whether solar is right for your nonprofit and how we can all make solar power more viable for the nonprofit sector, please visit:
http://bwpurpose.org/services/healthy-and-green-communities/solar-for-nonprofits/
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New Jersey farmers’ markets enjoy strong growth
Posted on June 14th, 2012 No commentsA fourth-generation farmer, Christina Krowicki has an old photo of her grandfather selling watermelons for 5 cents at a farmers’ market in Trenton.
As she stood behind a counter selling lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus and rhubarb at another farmers’ market here Wednesday, she could take pride in the longevity of the family business.
“He had a high demand back then, and we still do,” said Krowicki, whose family owns Krowicki’s Farm Market in Plumsted.
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture on Wednesday unofficially kicked off the farmers’ market season, with Secretary Douglas H. Fisher ringing a cowbell and bringing attention to local farmers who grow and sell produce.
Farmers should find themselves in a strong position this summer, given a growing consumer emphasis on healthy eating. But they also note that towns are adding farmers’ markets at a fast pace, raising the question of how many can survive.
The Toms River farmers’ market – each Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the corner of Water and Irons streets – attracted vendors from throughout central New Jersey, including Farmer Al’s Market in Monroe and High Mountain Foods in Roxbury.
They catered to customers such as Donna Natalini, 64, of Berkeley, who strolled the makeshift market before the rain started. She bought radishes and stopped a reporter to see if he had come across a particular bread maker from Nutley.
“We love it because everything is fresh,” she said. “I bought radishes here, and it’s got nice leaves on it. I can make a salad out of that.”
The number of farmers’ markets has grown to 148 from about 40 a decade ago, Fisher said. It has contributed to an agriculture industry that in 2007 generated $986.9 million statewide, according to a Rutgers University study.
The state maintains a list of farmers’ markets at http://www.state.nj.us/jerseyfresh/searches/urban.htm.
Some farmers said they visit two markets a day, helping them add to revenue they generate selling to customers at roadside stands or to grocers and restaurants wholesale. And some customers said they take heart knowing that they are buying locally grown, healthy food that helps preserve open space.
Not that the business is without worries. Farmers’ markets are popping up so frequently that Karley Corris of E.R. & Son Organic Farm in Colts Neck joked that soon they would outnumber farmers.
The risk, she said, is that she might lose customers to other farmers’ markets.
“It’s the same people spending the same money but spread over more locations,” she said.
Fisher said the state was nowhere near the saturation point, although he advised towns to work closely with farmers to ensure their markets will be viable.
Krowicki said she has been careful about which markets to attend. But she wasn’t quite as worried. Growing up, she considered first becoming a hygienist and then a nurse, before deciding to join the family farm. She said she has little reason to reconsider her career.
“Everybody’s got to eat,” she said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
Click here to check out the full article…
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CD WiRe (January 19-25)
Posted on January 25th, 2012 No comments1. Take a Walk: For today’s new-home market, the road to profitability may be a foot path
According to “The 2011 Community Preference Survey,” a poll of 2,071 American adults conducted on behalf of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 77% of those polled considered having sidewalks and places to take a walk one of their top priorities when deciding where they’d like to live. Six in 10 adults said they would rather live in a neighborhood that featured a mix of houses, stores, and businesses within an easy walk, than a community of only houses that required driving to get to businesses.
Read more…2. Demand for top N.J. charter schools exceeds available seats
The dreaded night came on Thursday this year. The grim weather — a chilly drizzle as night fell — seemed fitting for what was sure to be a grim evening. This was lottery night at Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City. The K-8 school had 30 openings to fill. The problem: Roughly 1,000 families applied to fill them. Hundreds of them streamed into the auditorium to watch the process live, even though results soon would be posted online.
Read more…3. Is Route 1 a Street … or a Road?
What’s the difference between a street and a road? Many of us use these terms interchangeably to denote any linear stretch of pavement designed for use by cars. But recognizing the distinction can mean the difference between good and efficient planning and a dysfunctional waste of public resources. Charles Marohn at Strong Towns offers an interesting analysis of the difference between a street and a road: “Roads move people between places while streets provide a framework for capturing value within a place.”
Read more…4. Privatizing parts of N.J. park system stirs debate
A chain restaurant in Wharton State Forest. A Ferris wheel at Liberty State Park. Weddings, flea markets, and corporate events taking over New Jersey’s historic sites and scenic lands. That could be the future if the state goes forward with plans to privatize parts of its park system, some warn. “Next thing you know, you have to pay more for everything and the public’s access is limited,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey. “You’ll be getting fee’d to death.”
Read more…5. Urban Hope Act worth a try to fix failing N.J. schools
Imagine approaching a line of starving people with a bullhorn, telling them they must wait for food while you wrangle over whether it’s delivered by the government or a private nonprofit. Chances are, you’d be throttled. So when considering the Urban Hope Act, a pilot program that allows nonprofits to build and operate schools in three of the state’s poorest districts, try to think like a parent in Camden. Their children are in schools that are dangerous and failing. Whether that is fixed by the government or a nonprofit group is not the point.
Read more…6. When it Comes to Wetlands, It’s Hard to Improve on the Original
Before the Revolutionary War, George Washington had a professional interest in wetlands: He invested in a company that planned to drain the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and turn it into farmland. For centuries, Washington’s attitude was considered the only reasonable one regarding swamps, marshes, peatlands, floodplains, mangroves, fens, potholes, bogs, and other places of muck and slime: They should be avoided or drained for better uses. Only in the past few decades have citizens decided that these areas—what we now call wetlands—did more than sog up perfectly good farmland. Even though they cover only 1.5 percent of the earth’s surface, some experts estimate that wetlands provide 40 percent of renewable “ecosystem services”—jobs like water filtration and carbon sequestration.
Read more…7. No Obesity Link to Junk Food in Schools
In the fight against childhood obesity, communities all over the country are banning the sale of sweets and salty snacks in public schools. But a new study suggests that the strategy may be ineffective. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University tracked the body mass indexes of 19,450 students from fifth through eighth grade. In fifth grade, 59 percent of the children attended a school where candy, snacks or sugar-sweetened beverages were sold. By eighth grade, 86 percent did so. The researchers compared children’s weight in schools where junk food was sold and in schools where it was banned.
Read more…8. 10 Green Building Trends for 2012
The Earth Advantage Institute has certified more than 12,000 green homes, so it’s safe to say they know what’s going on with green building. Towards the end of 2011, the non-profit spoke with various policymakers, builders, developers, architects, brokers, appraisers, lenders, and homeowners to understand green building trends. Here are the 10 green building trends EAI says to watch for in 2012, which we’ve paraphrased below.
Read more…9. State Senators Lesniak and Cunnigham Seek To Reform Criminal Justice System
In an effort to address the state’s growing incarceration rate, State Senators Raymond Lesniak of Union City and Sandra Cunnigham of Jersey City have introduced a package of bills that they say will save tax dollars and reduce repeat offenses. “As a nation that imprisons more of its residents per capita than any country in the world, we should continually evaluate our penal justice system to determine if our current policies provide protection for the safety of our residents and are cost-effective, or if changes are needed,” said Senator Lesniak in a statement. “The four bills we are announcing today are designed to reduce waste and inefficiency in our criminal justice system and redirect resources to better protect the public by reducing repeat offenses. We have asked that these bills be moved in both houses prior to the budget break, so we can get on with changing our criminal justice system to make it more cost effective and to provide better safety to our residents.”
Read more…10. President Obama and the forgotten urban agenda
It’s safe to say that Barack Obama came to the White House with more street cred than any president in recent memory. As an African American, Obama was certainly privy to the forces of institutional racism that still shackle much of urban America. Before he got into politics, he worked as a civil rights lawyer, and before that, he worked as a community organizer in the mean streets of Chicago. (You will recall that Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin took turns mocking him for that last one at the 2008 Republican national convention.) When Obama became president, hopes were high that American cities would finally get a little love from Washington, which had spent fifty-plus years pouring money into the suburbs.
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CD WiRe (August 4-10)
Posted on August 10th, 2011 No comments1. Stranded in ‘food deserts,’ hundreds of thousands of N.J. residents lack access to healthy, fresh food
Cooke’s neighborhood on the Hamilton-Trenton border is one of 134 “food deserts” in New Jersey, according to the federal government. They are mostly low-income pockets of big cities, sprawling suburbs and small towns that lack easy access to a supermarket but are usually brimming with expensive convenience stores and fast food restaurants. Experts say food deserts are the equivalent of nutritional wastelands, where families who can’t afford to hunt down fresh food are often left to subside on Slurpees, Big Macs and calorie-laden packaged foods. Studies show food desert residents are more likely to be obese and spend a greater percentage of their time and income shopping for meals.
Read more…2. Stevens project aims to change home development practices
To outsiders, Stevens Institute of Technology’s entrance into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon is a competition between colleges to prove knowledge and execution of green energy concepts. To those working on the project, the so-called Empowerhouse is a catalyst for a Washington, D.C., neighborhood, and changes the way one of the largest homebuilders in the nation does business. When the decathlon is over at the beginning of October, the Empowerhouse will move from the Potomac Mall to a plot in the Deanwood community, donated by Washington, D.C., where a mirror version of the structure will be constructed by Habitat for Humanity to turn the exhibition building into a home for two families. This is the first home built for the decathlon to be implemented as a permanent home.
Read more…3. High marks for Pier Village
Crack houses, a rat-infested water slide and boarded up arcades. This was the setting where the Pier Village retail and residential complex was built in a city that had endured decades of decline. And while the complex — the first to be built in the most recent spate of oceanfront redevelopment projects — is readied for its third and final stage, the community last week observed the fifth anniversary of the first phase with nary a hiccup. Nonetheless, the impact on the city has been substantial, and officials foresee Phase 3 providing additional, significant benefits.
Read more…4. New Brunswick school group partners with national nonprofit to support public school reform
The New Brunswick-based school reform group Better Education for Kids announced today it partnered with StudentsFirst, a national nonprofit started by former Washington D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee, which supports expanding charter schools and merit-based pay for teachers. Begun in March by two New Jersey financiers, Better Education for Kids has promoted teacher evaluations based on student test scores and restrictions on tenure. It has praised Gov. Chris Christie’s school reform efforts, and has raised the ire of the New Jersey Education Association, which mounted an expensive campaign last year attacking the governor’s state aid cuts.
Read more…5. New Jersey’s Commitment to Transit Has Shrunk Over Past 8 Years
With commuters still reeling from an NJ Transit derailment that has snarled travel across the region, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign — a regional transportation policy watchdog group — warned today that New Jersey’s commitment to public transit had waned. The state has dedicated smaller and smaller shares of its annual transportation capital program to transit over the past eight years, and next year’s capital plan will devote an even smaller percentage.
Read more…6. Community FoodBank’s mobile food pantry goes where it’s needed most
With demand for food assistance growing in South Jersey, the FoodBank’s EHT-based Southern Branch is expanding its services through the use of mobile pantries. And while the need has grown steadily, officials say donations have declined. Although demand is increasing across the county — last year, the nonprofit distributed a record 7.1 million pounds of groceries — Barham said the food bank has focused its limited resources on places where existing food pantries are overtaxed.
Read more…7. Immigration and Poverty in America’s Suburbs
As the foreign-born have grown more numerous, they have dispersed geographically. Some metropolitan areas have become immigrant gateways for the first time. And within many metropolitan areas, increasing numbers of immigrants have settled in suburban communities, where they were once only a sparse presence. Meanwhile, another change has been taking place on the metropolitan landscape: poverty is on the rise in the suburbs. Recent Brookings research shows that at the end of the Great Recession a majority of the nation’s poor in the 100 largest metropolitan areas lived in the suburbs.
Read more…8. NJ Environmental Intrastructure Trust Fund to get $650 million as Chris Christie signs bill
With a fine summer day on Barnegat Bay as his backdrop, Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation that will recharge the state’s Environmental Infrastructure Trust Fund with nearly $650 million, including $32 million for projects to staunch the flow of polluted storm water to the bay. “It took generations for the bay to get to the point where it’s at now, and it won’t be reversed overnight,” Christie said Thursday, after signing a trio of bills to fund water and sewer projects throughout the state with low- or no-interest state loans. “There can’t be any compromise at all when it comes to our state’s water infrastructure,” Christie said, describing Barnegat Bay as “a huge economic driver” for both the Shore region and the whole state.
Read more…9. West Milford is on the way to becoming a NJ Sustainable Jersey Certified community
Requirements for the township to become a Sustainable Jersey Certified Community have been completed, opening the door for grants and other benefits for the municipality. The township needed 150 points for bronze certification and submitted 195. “The last piece to the puzzle was the township energy audit, which we finally completed,” said Sustainability Subcommittee Chair Renee Allessio. “I am thrilled to report that according to Township Administrator Kevin Boyle, we are implementing all the recommendations. All municipal-owned buildings were included in the energy audit. We should realize tangible energy and financial savings when this is completed. We are now waiting to hear back from Sustainable Jersey.
Read more…10. Poll finds ‘quality of life’ responses vary widely in N.J. depending on where you live
New Jersey may be the most densely populated state, but its residents in various counties are living worlds apart. A poll released this month by Monmouth University found the “quality of life” responses varied widely based on where people live. Morris County residents like New Jersey most, while Cumberland County residents give it the lowest score. Essex County comes in three above dead last. Economics is one factor, with residents in Morris, Hunterdon and Somerset, the three wealthiest counties, giving the state high marks.
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CD WiRe (July 28- August 3)
Posted on August 3rd, 2011 No comments1. The suburbs – an unlikely hub of creativity?
The outer suburbs are often misjudged as masses of sprawling kit-homes with little community focus or character. However, simple economic factors that have always affected those at the bottom of the pay-scale (and this often includes our impoverished artistic friends) has meant that people are moving outwards, and they’re taking their talents with them. They are the in-between places – without the culture of the inner-city, nor the charm of the country- placing them in the unfortunate position of being perceived as ‘Kath & Kim’ style cultural backwaters. But with the right community support and a good local council, these places are becoming melting pots not just for professional artists, but also for members of the community to participate in the arts.
Read more…2. Treating the Cause, Not the Illness
We now have a variety of federally-supported nutrition programs, but the health care system remains senselessly disconnected from the “social determinants of health.” In this regard, the United States has fallen behind the rest of the world. If a politician in India announced a public health plan that neglected malnutrition, he would be ridiculed. Here, leaders make this kind of omission all the time. Almost all of the debate about the 2010 Affordable Care Act was consumed with questions about health care access and quality. But if we really want to improve the health of millions of people, we have to address the conditions that make them sick.
Read more…3. Bulldoze: The New Way To Foreclose
Banks have a new remedy to America’s ailing housing market: Bulldozers. There are nearly 1.7 million homes in the U.S. in some state of foreclosure. Banks already own some of these homes and will soon have repossessed many more. Many housing economists worry that near constant stream of home sales from banks could keep housing prices down for years to come. But what if some of those homes never hit the market. Increasingly, it appears banks are turning to demolition teams instead of realtors to rid them of their least valuable repossessed homes. Last month, Bank of America announced plans to demolish 100 foreclosed homes in the Cleveland area.
Read more…4. DCA & HMFA Break Ground on 90-Unit Affordable Apartment Community in Newark
New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) Executive Director Anthony Marchetta today joined City of Newark Mayor Cory Booker and local officials to break ground on Baxter Park, an affordable apartment community to be located at 39-47 Sussex Avenue near Newark’s Broad Street Station District. The HMFA, an affiliate of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), provided construction and permanent mortgage financing in the amount of $16,350,000 for the project. Baxter Park also is expected to be awarded federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which will generate approximately $10.2 million in private equity.
Read more…5. New law designed to help spur urban development in New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation that paves the way for the state to provide economic incentives to the long-stalled Meadowlands development project and large projects that mix commercial and residential development near urban train stations. The bill doesn’t expand the $1.5 billion the state can spend on such transit-hub tax credits, though it does possibly accelerate their award by making more projects eligible. More than $394 million of the allowable $1.5 billion in tax credits has been approved for 10 projects. “Our goal is to revitalize New Jersey’s cities and to do it through private economic development that is incentivized and encouraged through common sense incentives from government and reductions of tax rates and regulation from government as well, in order to attract current business to expand and new business to come to our urban centers, where we already have infrastructure,” Christie said.
Read more…6. New Jersey Loses Out on $15 Million Federal Charter School Grant
New Jersey has again lost out on federal funding for charter school startups, with reviewers citing continued weaknesses in the state’s oversight. They also cited the state’s 15-year old charter law, which is now under debate in the Statehouse. This is the third straight year the state has fallen short in the competition, losing a bid for $15 million. New York and Florida were the only winners out of 18 applicants. But at a time when Gov. Chris Christie has made charter school expansion a centerpiece of his education reform agenda, losing for the second time under his administration was a jolt.
Read more…7. Bill Gates says high school degree no longer enough
A high school diploma is not enough to secure the best paying and most interesting jobs, said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who dropped out of Harvard University to build his computer company. “Every student needs a meaningful credential beyond high school,” said Gates, who spoke at an education and employment conference sponsored by the civil rights group the National Urban League. “Higher education is crucial for jobs,” he said, adding that education is an equalizer in society and is the key to getting urban America back to work and fighting poverty. Gates said he believes college should be “for almost everyone,” but that parents, teachers and entire communities need to help make those opportunities available.
Read more…8. Environmental group sues EPA, claiming it hasn’t acted on stormwater runoff problems in NJ
The Environmental Protection Agency has been sued by a New Jersey-based environmental group that claims the federal agency has failed to take action against New Jersey over stormwater runoff issues. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network filed its lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Trenton. The nonprofit group claims neither the EPA nor state environmental regulators have fulfilled their duty to address violations of stormwater runoff rules in municipalities across New Jersey. The group says the inaction has occurred even though it provided “clear evidence” of the problems to the EPA.
Read more…9. Sheltered in motels, “hidden homeless” wait, hope
Sometimes the problems are so overwhelming that Robert Cordero steps away from his children for a few minutes to pull himself together. Cordero’s family has lived at the Hillside Inn for more than five months, along with a couple dozen other homeless people surviving on public assistance. The Hillside guests are among untold thousands nationwide who have been laid off during the economic downturn, then forced from houses and apartments to motels, officials said. Unseen by motorists speeding by on Route 38, the men, women and children live in single rooms at the motel, where beds double as dinner tables, and folded clothes, food and toys are stacked high along the walls. Their needs strain the fiscally strapped state government, which is trying to hold the line on spending. In the fiscal 2012 budget, the Christie administration set aside $307 million for welfare clients, about $47.5 million more than in fiscal 2010.
Read more…10. Scientists Invent Heat-Regulating Building Material
Energy efficient heating and cooling options have acquired vast interest in the recent years, but scientists in China may have found the ultimate solution. Researchers based at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) discovered a new material that can retain and release heat according to specific temperature requirements. They believe their invention could offer considerable energy savings and change the way we heat and cool our buildings. The energy storage phase change material (PCM) has possesses a larger energy storage capacity with faster thermal response than existing materials and could be cheaply manufactured.
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CD WiRe (May 26- June 1)
Posted on June 1st, 2011 No commentsToday is the one year anniversary of the Community Development Week-in-Review!!!
Click here to read the CD WiRe from June 1, 2010- 1 year ago.
Click on “CD WiRe” in the upper right-hand corner of the page to see archived material from throughout the year.
Special thanks to Brian Keenan who has always been a CD WiRe supporter and advocate- get well soon!
1. Gov. Christie announces N.J. pulling out of regional environmental initiative
In a blow to clean energy advocates throughout the Northeast, Gov. Chris Christie said this morning that the state will pull out of the region’s “gimmicky” cap-and-trade program by the end of the year. During a Statehouse news conference, Christie acknowledged the effects humans are having on climate change but said the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was doing nothing to solve the problem. “This program is not effective in reducing greenhouse gases and is unlikely to be in the future,” Christie told reporters. “The whole system is not working as it was intended to work. It’s a failure.”
Click here to read more…2. Jersey City OKs Redevelopment Plan for JCPD HQ Despite Neighborhood Group’s Concerns
Jersey City took another step this week towards the sale of the Jersey City Police Department (JCPD) headquarters on Erie Street, approving an ordinance to adopt the 8 Erie Street Redevelopment Plan to guide the development the JCPD building and an adjacent surface parking lot. The proposal passed by a 7 to 2 vote, with Ward C councilwoman Nidia Lopez and Ward E councilman Steven Fulop voting no. A strong showing by members of the Harsimus Cove Association, who voiced frustration at the lack of dialogue with their organization and argued that the redevelopment plan was an abuse of the city’s power, “opening the door” to future abuses, was not enough to convince the council that the redevelopment plan would be detrimental to the neighborhood.
Click here to read more…3. Walkability and the new urbanism
Urban expert Christopher Leinberger has witnessed a revolution in his Washington, D.C. neighbourhood. Ten years ago, his Dupont Circle townhouse in the historic district of the nation’s capital was worth 25 per cent less per square foot than a house in suburban Maryland or Virginia 30 minutes away. That same townhouse is worth 70 per cent more per square foot today. Leinberger says demand for homes in urban, walkable neighbourhoods is outstripping supply in most United States cities and that for the first time since the suburbs became king in the 1960s, housing values there have fallen below those of their urban counterparts.
Click here to read more…4. Race to the Top 2011: The Summer Sequel
When it comes to New Jersey and the federal Race to the Top competition, the question is: Will the third time be the charm? New Jersey officials yesterday said the state will compete for the famous — some might say infamous — federal money in what will be a smaller field with a smaller purse than the past two rounds. In Round 1, the state was not even a finalist. Round 2 last summer left New Jersey an embarrassed near-miss, with a mere three points costing the state $400 million and former education commissioner Bret Schundler his job.
Click here to read more…5. First community meeting for Hoboken Terminal redevelopment plan
Hoboken residents got a chance to weigh in on a proposed development on Tuesday night, during the city’s first community meeting about the down town NJ Transit property. NJ Transit—which owns a total of 52 acres in down town Hoboken—came to Hoboken late last year to introduce the first phase of that plan. The first phase centers on Hudson Place and the Hoboken terminal. NJ Transit has proposed to build one big office building at the site, for which a potential renter has been located.
Click here to read more…6. New York City Brownfield Program Cleans Sites, But Who Benefits?
On the Monday before Earth Day 2011, at a well publicized press event, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other high-ranking city officials broke ground on a market-rate housing development in south Williamsburg. New luxury rentals in Williamsburg are hardly news these days, but this one is unprecedented. Its developer received funding from the country’s first city-funded brownfield program, brought to you by PlaNYC 2030. Back in 2007, PlaNYC 2030 estimated that there were more than 7,000 acres of brownfields, or vacant or underutilized sites that are likely contaminated with toxic chemicals (such as old gas stations, factories and dry cleaners) across the city’s five boroughs. Not only are these sites eyesores, but because developers are reluctant to take them on, they hamstring neighborhood revitalization.
Click here to read more…7. Small Businesses Exist in Camden, New Jersey?
The sight and smell of a scrap metal dumping ground dwarfs the isolated Twenty Horse Tavern on Camden’s southern waterfront. Yet the location does not dissuade well-dressed people from turning out on a recent Friday night to listen and to dance to a DJ and live music. Tyrone Pitts, the establishment’s Camden raised and Ivy League educated co-owner, exemplifies the Camden small business owner. When asked how he made the place a success, his answer is simple: “People needed a place like this to enjoy good drinks and music. There is nowhere in Camden like this. This place gives hope.”Camden makes news for its entrenched poverty, failing schools, high crime rate, and a redevelopment strategy focused on educational and medical facilities. Unfortunately, its small businesses go largely unnoticed; they are one of the city’s overlooked assets.
Click here to read more…8. HUD Awards $18.4 Million To Revitalize Severely Distressed Public Housing In Paterson
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims today awarded $18.4 million to revitalize the Alexander Hamilton development in Paterson, NJ. The high and low-rises formerly on the site will be replaced with 201 townhouse rental and for-sale units, as well as 70 off-site rental units for seniors. Sims made the announcement at the Paterson Housing Authority site, and was joined by Senator Frank Lautenberg, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Paterson Mayor Jeffrey Jones, and Paterson Housing Authority Executive Director Irma Gorham. The grant funding announced today is part of $153 million awarded to eight public housing agencies across the country through HUD’s HOPE VI Revitalization Program to transform severely distressed public housing developments into mixed-income communities.
Click here to read more…9. Newark seeks public’s help in stemming bloodshed, forms ‘Safe City Task Force’
Newark police yesterday rolled out a wide-ranging plan to flood city streets with cops and recruit the community as crime-prevention partners, amid five recent killings and the looming memory of last summer’s staggering body count. A large-scale redeployment of police to high-crime areas, as well as increased police visibility, will be the backbone of the city’s law enforcement strategy, acting Police Director Samuel DeMaio and Mayor Cory Booker said yesterday. The “Safe City Task Force” will also recruit churches, recreational centers, camps and local nonprofit groups to provide alternatives to another brutal city summer.
Click here to read more…10. Tracing the history of rulings on school funding in poor N.J. cities
In 1875, in an effort to get control of a patchwork public school system, the New Jersey state Legislature amended New Jersey’s constitution and made it the state’s responsibility to provide a “thorough and efficient system of free public schools.” For more than 100 years since, the state’s courts and elected officials have wrestled with those eight words. The participants and dollar amounts have changed over the years, but the issue has largely been the same: how to give children in New Jersey’s poorest cities the same level of education as those in its wealthiest communities.
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CD WiRe (May 5-11)
Posted on May 11th, 2011 No comments1. CDBG Cuts Whack Cities and Nonprofits
But one of the bigger cuts in the FY2011 budget deal was the 16 percent lopped off the Community Development Block Grant program, certainly less than the 62 percent extraction that House Republicans had proposed, but big nonetheless. Now that cities have to deal with their CDBG budgets, the cascading impacts of the Washington budget deal are hitting home. Communities along the North Shore of Boston admit to “scrambling” to deal with the cuts.
Click here to read more…2. The $100 million school that could remake Harlem
It’s a $100 million holistic Harlem complex meant to combine the latest research on how to provide the best education to kids in poor communities, which means going beyond reading, writing and arithmetic. The state-of-the-art school — with 60% of construction costs shouldered by city taxpayers — will include a community center, recreation rooms and even a health clinic. The Promise Academy Charter School, on the grounds of the St. Nicholas Houses, could change the lives not just of the 1,300 kids enrolled in K-12, but of a neighborhood where 42% of families live below the poverty line.
Click here to read more…
3. Realtors and Private Developers Oppose Affordable Housing Finance Strategy
It is a debate between former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros – currently with an affordable housing builder called CityView – and the National Association of Realtors, the American Land Title Association, and other members of the Coalition to Stop Wall Street Home Resale Fees. The idea in question is private transfer frees on the sales of new homes, dubbed “capital recovery fees” on Freehold’s website. The notion is reasonably simple. A homebuilder – for-profit or nonprofit – would create a covenant that goes along with the homes that are constructed. Each time a home is sold with one of these covenants, the buyer would pay a 1 percent fee back to the builder. A portion of that fee might be used to pay for infrastructure costs associated with the development and a portion would go to the developer, in the case of a nonprofit developer, for its general operations.
Click here to read more…4. Advocates praise N.J. plan to provide housing for hundreds of developmentally disabled people
A state plan to use affordable-housing dollars to move 600 developmentally disabled people into renovated homes over the next two years earned praise Tuesday from advocates, who called it a step toward alleviating a severe housing shortage. The action follows a Star-Ledger report last month that found 8,000 people are on a state waiting list for homes and services. Of those, 4,800 are considered priorities, and some have been waiting for more than a decade.
Click here to read more…5. Energy Efficiency Programs Benefit New Jersey Hospitals
State’s biggest utility is pushing customers that use large amounts of energy to cut costs by conserving gas and electricity. As a top hospital executive at Raritan Bay Medical Center, Vince Costantino had a long list of items backing up on his capital budget to-do list: a new roof for one of its buildings, replacement windows, new cooling towers, and on and on. With the backing of the state’s biggest electric and gas utility, Raritan Bay was able to launch a $3.4 million project, which has helped cut electric bills at its Perth Amboy facility by $300,000 to $400,000 a year.
Click here to read more…6. When others are grabbing their land: Evidence is piling up against acquisitions of farmland in poor countries
The farmers of Makeni, in central Sierra Leone, signed the contract with their thumbs. In exchange for promises of 2,000 jobs, and reassurances that the bolis (swamps where rice is grown) would not be drained, they approved a deal granting a Swiss company a 50-year lease on 40,000 hectares of land to grow biofuels for Europe. Three years later 50 new jobs exist, irrigation has damaged the bolis and such development as there has been has come “at the social, environmental and economic expense of local communities”, says Elisa Da Vià of Cornell University.
Click here to read more…7. Toys ‘R’ Us to install North America’s largest rooftop solar power system
Toys “R” Us is installing the largest rooftop solar power installation in North America at its distribution center in Flanders, N.J. Staging for the system is currently underway and construction will conclude this summer. Upon completion, the 5.38 megawatt on-site solar array will occupy 869,294 sq. ft. It is estimated to generate 72% of the electrical needs for the Toys “R” Us facility, which is the largest of the chain’s 10 DCs and covers over 1.5 million sq. ft., in addition to the roof, which spans 32 acres.
Click here to read more…8. Borough Council, community members discuss Dinky
The Borough Council, community residents and University representatives met at the Council meeting on Tuesday to discuss the University’s requested zoning for the proposed Arts and Transit Neighborhood, the future of the Dinky train and the memorandum of understanding released last week as a result of negotiations between the Borough and the University. Several members of the community group Save the Dinky made presentations in favor of preserving the Dinky in its current location.
Click here to read more…9. First DOE Job Postings Hint at Restructuring to Come
They are just advertisements at this point, but the first job postings for senior New Jersey education department positions are giving some of the first looks at acting Commissioner Chris Cerf’s expected reorganization of the department. Advertisements went online this week for three positions, all new titles, with some new roles as well: Assistant Commissioner – Chief Academic Office, Assistant Commissioner – Chief Innovation Office, Director of Communications and Strategic Partnership. Neither Cerf nor his spokesman would comment on the jobs this week. State Board of Education (BOE) President Arcelio Aponte said he received notice of the postings yesterday and was glad to see Cerf moving on filling critical posts in his leadership.
Click here to read more…10. NJ Expands School Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program
As part of an effort to improve the health of children by providing access to nutritious meals in schools, New Jersey has received funding to expand the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for the 2011-2012 school year. New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher announced that 143 schools in 16 counties have been chosen to participate in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded program for the next school year, which provides students with fresh produce during the school day. Presently, 101 schools are participating in the program for the current school year.
Click here to read more…CD WiRe, Charter Schools, Commercial Real Estate, Community Development, Community Real Estate, Education, Educational Facilities, Energy-efficient Facilities, green tech, healthy foods, Non-Profits, Nonprofit facilities, Professional Development, Public Partnerships, School Nutrition, Supportive Housing CD WiRe -
CD WiRe (April 14-20)
Posted on April 20th, 2011 No comments1. New Study Finds Solar Panels Are “Contagious”
Are you more likely to install solar panels if your neighbor has them? A new study (PDF) out of Stanford says that you are. More specifically, it finds that for every 1 percent increase in the number of installations in a particular zip code, the time until the next adoption of solar decreases by 1 percent. Or, as Vote Solar’s Adam Browning put it: Solar is contagious! So just how quickly can solar power spread as this snowball effect gets rolling?
Click here to read more…2. The Human Footprint: Measuring our impact on Earth
Humanity’s impact has spread unevenly but everywhere as we have transformed land and sea to meet the demands of a population that has doubled to 7 billion in 40 years. This map of the human footprint on land shows the combined impact of population density, land transformation, accessibility, and electric-power infrastructure, using nine data sets that researchers scored in terms of estimated contribution to human influence. The corresponding map of the oceans shows the effects of 17 different human activities, such as commercial fishing and pollution from cargo shipping.
Click here to read more…3. Panasonic will move North American headquarters from Secaucus to Newark
Global electronics giant Panasonic will be moving to Newark, Mayor Cory Booker said today, marking one of the biggest development coups of his administration. “It’s historic. We’ve been seeing so much progress in the last four years,” Booker said this morning. “This is heralding to the globe that Newark is one of the most significant players on the Eastern seaboard.”
Click here to read more…4. Allies Inc. set to purchase Mercer Mobile Homes park
The nonprofit Allies Inc., which provides housing, employment and recreational opportunities for persons with special needs, has signed a contract to purchase the 140-unit Mercer Mobile Homes park in the township, Mayor Dave Fried announced yesterday. The transaction in Robbinsville is expected to close within 90 days and will pave the way for the units to be included in the township’s affordable housing inventory. The move will also ensure long-term rent stability for park residents, including many seniors, and allow Allies to bring much-needed infrastructure improvements to the community, according to the township.
Click here to read more…5. N.J. solar energy boom’s frantic pace could slow
The state is unquestionably a leader in solar energy — two more projects are planned that would beat the record set in Edison — but the industry’s period of exponential growth is bound to slow, industry insiders say. New Jersey has seen a swift solar expansion in large part because of state rules that force power companies to either produce solar power or buy it on a market where companies like Avidan sell “SRECs,” credits representing energy.
Click here to read more…6. Cleaner, Healthier Air in Times Square after Creation of Pedestrian Plaza
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley, Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and the Mayor’s Sustainability Director David Bragdon today released the results of the most recent Health Department air quality study which shows the impact of traffic on neighborhood air pollution across New York City. The report documents an immediate and substantial air quality improvement in Times Square after the creation of a pedestrian plaza.
Click here to read more…7. Disadvantaged Children Win as D.C. Voucher Program Reauthorized
After an aggressive, multi-year battle to save school choice in the nation’s capital, children in low-income D.C. families won a landmark victory as national lawmakers officially reauthorized and expanded the highly successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The passage of a historic budget deal restores and extends the school voucher program and provides – over five years – $300 million for education in the District of Columbia. The agreement preserves the federal three-sector approach to education reform in the nation’s capital that has seen significant improvements in student attainment. The revival of the program—which grants low-income children scholarships to attend the private schools of their parents’ choice—was a key legislative priority of Speaker John Boehner and comes two years after Congress and the Obama Administration revoked 216 scholarships and prevented new students from joining the program.
Click here to read more…8. Newark school woes transcend money
Six months after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Oprah to give $100 million to improve Newark’s strapped and struggling schools, $99 million is still sitting in the bank. Newark Mayor Cory Booker quickly raised $43 million in matching donations. But what’s followed has been less rosy:
Click here to read more…9. A better charter school debate: We need to figure out how to expand the best models
Charter schools are a hot topic in many states this spring. But as New York City knows well, the debate quickly falls into a predictable rut, with partisans wrangling over the virtues and vices of charters themselves. Here’s a much more promising focus: How can we dramatically expand students’ access to the nation’s best charter schools? While many charters do no better than district-run public schools, a subset of charters – perhaps 10% – produces extremely high levels of learning and college-going by disadvantaged children who enter school years behind. Many of these charter schools, including Harlem Village Academies, KIPP, Success Academies and Williamsburg Collegiate (part of Uncommon Schools), among others, operate in the five boroughs.
Click here to read more…10. ‘Priority’ waiting list to provide housing for thousands with developmental disabilities
In 2005, amid much pride and anticipation, the state created the Special Needs Housing Trust Fund, signed into law by Sen. Richard Codey when he was acting governor. It was expected to provide 10,000 new affordable housing opportunities for people with developmental disabilities and mental illness by dedicating $200 million to create new homes. But six years later, $168 million has been spent to provide housing to 1,500 people with special needs, according to state officials. That’s 84 percent of the money to achieve 15 percent of the goal. The state Department of Community Affairs expects only another 500 units to be created with the remaining money.
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CD WiRe (March 24-30)
Posted on March 30th, 2011 No comments1. HUD Awards $50 Million to Boost Nonprofits
Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), and Habitat for Humanity International have been awarded nearly $50 million to distribute to local efforts to support affordable housing and community development. The funding was awarded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the agency’s Sec. 4 “capacity-building” program. The three national groups will work with community development corporations and housing development organizations to carry out community development and affordable housing activities.
Click here to read more…2. Newark Parents Protest Charter Schools in Public Buildings
Parents in Newark, N.J., were fired up Tuesday night over a proposal to move charter schools into district public school buildings. Called co-location, the plan drew hundreds of parents, students and teachers to an advisory board meeting at Barringer High School. “We have before us a tale of two school systems,” said Newark Teachers Union President Joseph Del Grasso. He referred to the Charles Dickens classic tale because many parents and teachers fear that moving charter schools into existing school buildings will make public students second-class citizens.
Click here to read more…3. States Pass Budget Pain to Cities
The state budget squeeze is fast becoming a city budget squeeze, as struggling states around the nation plan deep cuts in aid to cities and local governments that will almost certainly result in more service cuts, layoffs and local tax increases. The cuts are widespread. Ohio plans to slash aid to Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and other cities and local governments by more than a half-billion dollars over the next two years under the budget proposed last week by its new Republican governor, John R. Kasich. Nebraska passed a law this month eliminating direct state aid to Omaha and other municipalities. The governors of Wisconsin and Michigan have called for sending less money to Milwaukee, Detroit and other local governments.
Click here to read more…4. New Newark businesses to sprout up in the Rock’s shadow
Fresh off the success of the NCAA East Regional at the Prudential Center, developers have announced at least two new businesses in the arena’s shadow that will start construction in the coming months. Groundbreaking for a Courtyard by Marriott will take place Wednesday at Broad and Lafayette streets, according to Tucker Development Corp. And an outpost of the acclaimed Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant will open later this year at Mulberry and Market streets, adjacent to Championship Plaza, said John Stage, the restaurant’s founder and president.
Click here to read more…5. N.J. battle intensifies over funding for themed charter schools
One of the state’s newest public schools holds class in a leased Sunday School building in East Brunswick. Classrooms are furnished with brightly colored carpets, and the walls are decorated with letters of the alphabet. But this elementary school is different from most: While the English alphabet stretches across one side of a first-grade classroom, the Hebrew alphabet is on the other. Hatikvah International Academy is one of 73 charter schools in New Jersey, a number that will increase to about 100 in September as Gov. Chris Christie seizes on the independent and publicly funded schools as a key tool in education reform.
Click here to read more…6. Are Wooden Skyscrapers in Our Future? Towers made of timber could herald a new environmentally friendly era of construction
In architecture, engineering, and forestry sectors around the world, there is a mega-buzz about forthcoming high-rise towers made of wood. Imagine a 20, 30, or even 40-storey condominium or office tower that has timber structural-members and is clad in wood. The modernist preoccupation with high-carbon-footprint concrete and steel may soon take a back seat to the innovation of towers constructed of wood. The earliest ventures in this direction started in Japan a decade ago. But numerous projects are now also on the drawing boards in Austria, Norway, Australia, and Canada. With encouragement and support from the British Columbia government and its forestry division, architect Michael Green of Vancouver-based McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design, is moving fast with proposals for 20- to 30-storey, timber-constructed towers that are highly earthquake- and fire-resistant and hugely eco-friendly.
Click here to read more…7. The Future of Manufacturing Is Local
Think manufacturing, and most likely your brain defaults to abandoned factories, outsourcing and economically devastated regions like the Rust Belt. So strong is our tendency to focus on American manufacturing as something that’s been lost that a chorus has risen up to decry the prevalence of “ruin porn” — those aestheticized versions of the decidedly un-pretty, with a particular focus on the once-triumphant automotive center of the universe, Detroit. But there are many parts of this country where manufacturing is very much alive, albeit in a different form. The monolithic industry model — steel, oil, lumber, cars — has evolved into something more nimble and diversified.
Click here to read more…8. How to Design a Neighborhood for Happiness
Biology is destiny, declared Sigmund Freud. But if Freud were around today, he might say “design is destiny”—especially after taking a stroll through most American cities. The way we design our communities plays a huge role in how we experience our lives. Neighborhoods built without sidewalks, for instance, mean that people walk less and therefore experience fewer spontaneous encounters, which is what instills a spirit of community to a place. That’s a chief cause of the social isolation so rampant in the modern world that contributes to depression, distrust and other maladies.
Click here to read more…9. New Jersey Lawmakers Continue to Pursue Green and Clean Technologies
New Jersey has embraced cleaner ways of generating electricity, such as solar and wind power, but now legislators are looking at other ways to produce energy without increasing global climate change. Could wave power provide an inexpensive and cleaner way of creating energy? “It is the cheapest way and it is not being harvested,” Ventz said. The company claims converting wave energy to electricity will cost less than generating an equivalent amount of energy from either wind power or solar collectors,. But the technology has yet to attract much interest except from the U.S. Department of Energy, Ventz told lawmakers earlier this month.
Click here to read more…10. NAIOP New Jersey Announces “Deal Of The Year” Finalists
The finalists for the highly coveted “Deal of the Year Awards” have been announced by the New Jersey Chapter of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. Three winners, one for Economic Impact, one for Creative-Office, and one for Creative-Industrial, will be revealed at the Twenty-fourth Annual Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at The Palace at Somerset Park.
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CD WiRe (October 21-27)
Posted on October 27th, 2010 No comments1. Separate And Unequal, Bringing All the Kids Under the Tent
At last week’s New Jersey School Boards Annual Convention in Somerset, Department of Education staffers gathered with convention-goers under a big white tent in the afternoon sunshine. Cozy, right? Not exactly. While updates on legislation to rein in teacher tenure garnered warm smiles, the mood quickly turned frosty during discussions of impending school reform, especially expansion of charter schools. An indignant school board member grabbed the mike. “Our schools are terrific!” she proclaimed. “Why is the DOE so negative?”
Click here to read more…2. Homelessness can cause mental problems in kids
The truest victims of homelessness are young children, who have no control over the decisions that put them there, and no power to change their circumstances. The typical homeless families in the country are headed by young women in their 20s, typically with two children. Nearly half those kids are under age 5. The consequences of homelessness can be devastating and long-lasting for young children. By age 8, one in three homeless children has a mental health problem that affects their functioning.
Click here to read more…3. Report: Changing Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior in Relation to Food: An Evaluation of the School Lunch Initiative
The School Lunch Initiative – launched as a collaboration among the Center for Ecoliteracy, Chez Panisse Foundation, and Berkeley Unified School District in 2004 – was one of the first comprehensive school lunch reform efforts in the nation. It was based on the hypothesis that if young people are involved in growing, cooking, and sharing fresh, healthy food – while learning about it in the curriculum – they will be more likely to develop lifelong healthy eating habits and values consistent with sustainable living. The September 2010 report, Changing Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior in Relation to Food: An Evaluation of the School Lunch Initiative, conducted by the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health, University of California at Berkeley, examines the results of a three-year longitudinal study.
Click here to read the full report…4. Essex towns split $7.1 million for infrastructure projects and community service
Essex County municipalities and non-profits received $7.1 million in federal grants last Thursday for local improvement projects and community service programs. The Community Development Block Grants, which went to 14 towns and 48 community organizations, will fund projects like street repairs, food pantries and after-school programs, said Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., the Essex County executive.
Click here to read more…5. Could USDA Oversight Of School Vending Benefit The Operator?
The federal government is moving closer to dictating what can be sold in school vending machines. Operators and product suppliers who have been struggling to navigate the fast-changing patchwork of nutritional requirements, which can vary widely from state to state, district to district and even school to school, increasingly say that complying with a single standard would be a welcome change. Not only would it eliminate confusion over which products may be sold, it would allow the industry to demonstrate that every machine, in every school across the nation, is a positive contributor to the fight against childhood obesity. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, one of the most substantial elements of first lady Michele Obama’s Let’s Move initiative to combat obesity, was passed by the Senate in August and has stalled in the House of Representatives. A provision in the bill would extend the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s authority to regulate nutrition standards beyond the lunchroom to vending machines, á la carte offerings in the lunchroom and products sold through school stores in K-12 schools nationwide.
Click here to read more…6. Housing bill needs repair
Everyone hates the state Council on Affordable Housing and its confusing web of regulations for building homes for low- and moderate-income families. But killing COAH only makes sense if it is replaced with a more effective program. At a time when housing costs are taking a bigger bite out of paychecks, it’s never been more critical to get it right. By that measure, the housing bill the Assembly will soon consider is a failure. It would slow the effort to build low-cost housing at a time when the need is pressing.
Click here to read more…7. Jersey City is only New Jersey recipient of $2.3 million in federal grant money to fund planning for 7,000-unit development on 111-acre wasteland currently being cleaned of toxins
A sprawling, contaminated industrial wasteland in the southeast section of Jersey City is another step closer to revitalization, officials said. National and local officials gathered at 824 Garfield Ave. to announce that Jersey City has been awarded a combined $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Sustainable Community/TIGER II Planning Grant is intended to reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities, officials said.
Click here to read more…8. NJ Lawmakers Unveil Bipartisan ‘Anti-Bullying Bill Of Rights’
Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle today unveiled the “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” – bipartisan legislation designed to combat harassment, intimidation and bullying among students. The lawmakers were joined by advocates and victims who shared their stories, some of whom played key roles in the crafting of this legislation, which entailed nearly a year of research and discussions with top bullying experts.
Click here to read more…9. Eminent-Domain Reform Bill Advances in New Jersey State Senate, But Does Not Take a Big Leap
On October 7, 2010, the New Jersey Senate’s Community and Urban Affairs Committee approved S-1451, a bill intended to give property owners greater rights in condemnation cases and redevelopment projects (the “Bill”). Namely, the Bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, is an attempt at eminent-domain reform legislation that would amend three statutes. The Bill is a compromise effort that attempts to balance the concerns articulated by interest groups, both for and against the use of eminent domain. While the Bill may be a step in the right direction, it does not provide significantly greater protections or benefits than currently provided under New Jersey law. In large measure, the Bill codifies the existing obligations of condemning agencies and the rights of property owners established by case law.
Click here to read more…10. PSE&G unveils project to install solar panels at 5 Newark schools
Homes and businesses across the state will run off power generated panels on the rooftops and carports of a handful of Newark schools, PSE&G said. Officials from the New Jersey utility company unveiled a project that will install more than 9,000 solar panels at five city schools by the end of 2010 as part of their Solar 4 All initiative.
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