In Streetfilms’ latest video, Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s Kate Slevin and NJ Future’s Pete Kasabach explain some of the factors behind the success of transit-oriented development in northern New Jersey. The film is the first in a multi-part series, Moving Beyond the Automobile, a ten-part “visual handbook” video series which explores solutions to the problem of automobile dependency.
Areas like Jersey City and Hoboken are blessed with myriad transit options including the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the PATH rail service, and buses and ferries. But while new transit options like the light rail “unlocked the potential for development along the Hudson River waterfront,” in the words of NJ Transit’s Vivian Baker, zoning policy has also played a key role. Robert Cotter, Jersey City’s Director of City Planning, explains that in much of the city developers are not required to provide any parking, and in some areas the amount of parking developers can provide is capped at a given ratio. The result is an active street life, many billions of dollars in residential and commercial investment around transit, and neighborhoods where as few as 40% of households own a car.