In May this year, CLIME: Center Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity at Rutgers University, released a report called: Who Owns Newark? Transferring Wealth from Newark Homeowners to Corporate Buyers. It documents how major investment firms are buying homes in Newark on a grand scale, turning them into rental properties. According to the authors, David D.Continue reading “Equity Firms are Buying Up Homes in Newark: What About in Jersey City?”
Category Archives: Downtown
Jersey City by the Numbers
Both my mother and father are Irish. My great grandparents were from Ireland. My grandparents were second generation. I was born in Bayonne in the 1930s and we moved to Jersey City when I was two. We lived on Orient Avenue where my father was the super of the building and we lived on theContinue reading “Jersey City by the Numbers”
Corner Stores
My favorite corner store is on Duncan and Westside. They have everything in there, well almost everything. The other day, a friend needed a money order. She went into the corner store and came out with a money order, envelope and stamp. They don’t call it “Super Convenience” for nothing. Yes, you’ll pay more, butContinue reading “Corner Stores”
The Beacon: A Lost Opportunity?
It was a superior hospital. Hague was involved in that hospital. My Jim worked there for 30 years and retired from there. It was a nice hospital and he loved working there. It’s condos now. A friend of mine who lives there said they took away the concrete walls and replaced them with sheetrock. IContinue reading “The Beacon: A Lost Opportunity?”
Whitlock Mills: From Factory to Community
Whitlock MIlls’ conversion from a factory to a housing complex stands out from other similar conversions in the city. Unlike them, it provides housing for a variety of income groups. Most converted factories in the city have been repurposed as luxury housing. Why did Whitlock turn out differently and what lessons does it hold forContinue reading “Whitlock Mills: From Factory to Community”
Sugar House, Canco Lofts, Park Foundry, Majestic Theatre, Modera and Factory Nostalgia
Factory nostalgia, the celebration and idealization of the architecture and history of factories by reinventing them as appealing living spaces for the affluent, has been a major trend in the redevelopment of Jersey City for decades. While Dixon Mills was one of the first and largest factories to be transformed in this way, there areContinue reading “Sugar House, Canco Lofts, Park Foundry, Majestic Theatre, Modera and Factory Nostalgia”
Dixon Mills and Factory Nostalgia
I worked at Dixon Mills for years. It was a great place to work and the people were wonderful. We all got along, and we were from all different backgrounds. That company had integrity and cared about their employees. I remember my supervisor Marge and my boss Mr. Blake. Mr. Blake was such a niceContinue reading “Dixon Mills and Factory Nostalgia”
Brownstones & Row Houses
Brownstones and row houses are two of the most distinctive aspects of the city’s built environment. Most are located in what today is referred to as “historic downtown.” Brownstones are the most revered and coveted of these two types of homes. Named after the brown colored sandstone used on their facades, these elaborately designed housesContinue reading “Brownstones & Row Houses”
Skyscrapers: Sunlight and Shadows
Jersey City’s skyline by the waterfront is filling in with new tall, sleek glass and steel towers as the final phase of the redevelopment of this area takes place. While striking from afar, on closer inspection, you can see how some of these buildings are darkening the streets below with their shadows. This has becomeContinue reading “Skyscrapers: Sunlight and Shadows”
Nature in the City: Part II
Have you ever found yourself walking down a city street on a hot summer’s day and feeling the heat radiating off the buildings and sidewalk while the sun is beating down on you? Do you instinctively look for shade? If so, you most likely were caught in a “heat island” – an urban space fullContinue reading “Nature in the City: Part II”
“Third Places” – Lucky Bills and WeStrong
Lucky Bills Lucky Bills is a popular coffee shop where you can get coffee, a buttered roll or bagel and a warm greeting. It has been a mainstay on this part of Kennedy Boulevard for decades. One customer said she’s been going there for 50 years and still remembers the original owner, Roberto, who sheContinue reading ““Third Places” – Lucky Bills and WeStrong”
Apartment Houses: Doors and Entrances
One of the most taken-for-granted aspects of the built environment are doors, doorways and entrances to residential buildings. We pass through or pass by them everyday giving little thought to them. However, they are significant architectural features of buildings whether a private home, apartment house, office building, government or religious institution. Many add beauty andContinue reading “Apartment Houses: Doors and Entrances”
Monticello Avenue
With the redevelopment of the waterfront almost completed, the city has turned its attention uptown using tax breaks to encourage developers to invest there. One neighborhood seeing signs of this is Monticello Avenue, once a major shopping area in Jersey City known especially for the quality of its clothing stores. It is part of aContinue reading “Monticello Avenue”
Riverfront Walkway
One of the most appealing aspects of the built environment by the waterfront is the riverfront walkway. Known formally as the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, it is a 30 foot wide pathway by the river that runs from Bayonne to the George Washington Bridge. Public access to the waterfront is guaranteed under the Public TrustContinue reading “Riverfront Walkway”
“Historic Downtown” & Jane Jacobs
Next to the high-rise apartment and office towers downtown by the waterfront is the historic section of the city that goes back to the Dutch settlers. It consists of several small neighborhoods of brownstones, row houses and small to mid-rise apartment buildings. Some are centered around parks and all have a good mix of stores,Continue reading ““Historic Downtown” & Jane Jacobs”
William H. Whyte: Designing Plazas for People
William H. White, one of the most famous and influential urban planners of the 20th century, examined how the design of an urban space can attract or deter people from using it. He studied a variety of urban spaces such as parks, plazas, playgrounds and city streets and observed how people responded to these builtContinue reading “William H. Whyte: Designing Plazas for People”
Waterfront Development & Corbusier
What makes a city a good place to live? Can you design a city in a way that improves the lives of residents? These questions have concerned some of the most famous urban planners and architects in the world. One of them, Le Corbusier, whose real name was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965), was a controversial architectContinue reading “Waterfront Development & Corbusier”
Corporate City on the Waterfront
Beginning in the 1950’s Jersey City, like many other cities, went into decline as factory jobs moved down south and overseas. By the 1970’s, the waterfront, where much of the city’s industrial economy was located, was a desolate place with only the vestiges of factories, warehouses and rail yards. In the early 1980’s, with itsContinue reading “Corporate City on the Waterfront”
Jersey City Today 