NJ town center proves too popular

Washington Town Center, the first New Jersey town center built from the ground up with the help of grants from the state, including a planning grant from the Office of Smart Growth, is experiencing growing pains. The 400-acre Town Center, eight miles east of Trenton, is so well-liked that it has attracted many families with children, swelling the schools beyond capacity. Enrollment has more than doubled since 1998, The New York Times reported April 9. From 1998 to 2004, residential property taxes rose 84 percent. A large part of the fiscal problem, according to local officials, is that the state Department of Transportation reneged on a plan to build a bypass that would have channeled vehicular traffic away from the current Rt. 33 alignment, a major thoroughfare next to Town Center. The bypass would have allowed the current Rt. 33 to be retrofitted into a traditional main street, lined by retail and mixed-use development that would generate substantial tax revenue. After studying the issue for many years and developing a complex access management plan, DOT finally refused to finance the $7 million bypass — saying that it would have created congestion. Also contributing to the fiscal problem was a reclassification of the local school district by the state, reducing the aid it received. Township officials are talking with developers about how to raise money locally to build the bypass. Mayor David Fried is also considering using eminent domain to seize undeveloped tracts within Town Center to prevent developers from building hundreds more houses that would presumably add to educational costs. Nearly all of the 2,500 residents who have arrived in the 13,000-population township since 2000 live in Town Center, according to The Times. “Defying skeptics, Washington Town Center was an immediate hit when it opened at the beginning of the decade, not just with young families, but also with empty-nesters and older residents seeking a cohesive community outside of the cities,” the paper reported. Carlos Rodrigues, New Jersey director of the Regional Plan Association, told New Urban News the popularity of Town Center among families with children — who are typically assumed to prefer detached houses with large yards — defies traditional housing demographics. Washington Town Center’s detached houses are on very small lots — about 4,000 sq. ft. The neighborhoods also contain townhouses and flats. “In a real sense, Washington Town Center is a victim of its own success,” Rodrigues said. “If the region had 10 traditional town centers, and not just one, the demand from families with children would be dispersed and the fiscal pressures less daunting.”