Reply With QuoteSpringfield and South Orange Avenues then.......
And Now....
What exactly IS coming soon? I can't see what that sign is....something red is emphasized ,looks like symbols hinting at a type of retail/food(?)Originally Posted by alex@newark
Then and Now
Springfield and South Orange Avenues then.......
And Now....
some new things being done on market and edison streets. On market its a business called fast signs, (google it) , and on edison it seems there finally going to get started on the last redevelopment project for the last abandoned building, luxury lofts.
Ps sorry in the pictures were not coming out as planned but i fixed it.
Last edited by alex@newark; July 18th, 2012 at 06:49 PM.
Is it true that Inbound Broad Street Light Rail spur dips under the Main line before entering Penn Station?
Yes it does. Also, at the old Raymond boulevard tunnel ramps to Warren Street, a switch has beeen installed to the inbound tunnel,with track. The track does not emerge outside,so it must be for MOW. This would make an exelent extension to a possible Newark Crosstown line,possibly up Springfield ave to Irvington.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...6&postcount=30Essex & Hudson County Urban & Suburban Rail Network
Station by Station
Current , Under Construction , Planned and Proposed Stations
Urban Rail
Hudson Bergen Light Rail
Tenafly North
Tenafly Town Center
Englewood Hospital
Englewood Town Center
Englewood Route 4
Leonia
Palisades Park
Ridgefield
91st Street
Tonnelle Avenue
Bergenline Avenue
Port Imperial
Lincoln Harbor
North Hoboken
9th / Congress
2nd Street
Grove Street / 18th Street
Hoboken Terminal
Pavonia-Newport
Harsimus Cove
Harborside Financial Center
Exchange Place
Essex Street
Marin Boulevard
Jersey Ave
Liberty State Park
Split > Garfield Avenue , Martin Luther King Drive , West Side Avenue , Bayfront
Canal Crossing
Richard Street
Danforth Avenue
45th Street
34th Street
22nd Street
8th Street
Newark Light Rail
Main line
Newark Penn station
Military Park
Washington Street
Warren Street
Norfolk Street
Orange Street
Park Ave
Bloomfield Ave
Davenport Ave
Branch Brook Park
Silver Lake
Grove Street
Wateseeing Ave
Prospect Street
Glenwood Ave
Brighton Ave
Thomas Boulevard
High Street
Thomas Edison Historic Site / Lakeside Ave
Park Ave
Board Street Branch
Newark Penn station
NJPAC / centre street
Atlantic Street / Washington Park
Newark Board Street
Cross Essex County line
Park Ave - West Orange
Thomas Edison Historic Site / Lakeside Ave -
High Street
Thomas Boulevard
Brighton Ave
Glenwood Ave
Prospect Ave
Wateseeing Ave
Grove Street
Spring Lake
Branch Brook Park Dr
Highland Ave
Mount Prospect Ave
Broadway
Kearny Ave
Schuyler Ave - Kearny
Newark - Paterson Light Rail Corridor
Newark Penn station
NJPAC / centre street
Atlantic Street (Northbound)
Washington Park (Southbound)
Newark Board Street
Broad & Clay Streets
Clay & Passaic Streets
Mount Pleasant / Lower Broadway
North Broadway
Mill Street - Belleville
Rutgers Street - Belleville
Little Street - Belleville
Centre Street - Nutley
North Franklin Ave - Nutley
Kingsland Street - Nutley
Allwood Road - Clifton
Bloomfield Ave - Clifton
Van Houten Ave - Clifton
Colfax Ave - Clifton
Route 46 Park and Ride
Hazel Street - Paterson
Getty Ave - Paterson
20th Ave - Paterson
Paterson Transit Center
Market & Main Street "The Hub"
Paterson Historical Falls Disrect
PATH
Newark Line
Newark Liberty International Airport
South Street
Newark Penn station
Harrison
West Side Ave?
Journal SQ
Grove Street
Exchange Place
World Trade Center
Journal SQ - Hoboken - 33rd line
Journal SQ
Grove Street
Newport
Hoboken
Christopher Street
9th Street
14th Street
23rd Street
33rd Street
Newark & Hoboken Divisions of NJT
North Jersey Coast line
Bay Head
Point Pleasant Beach
Manasquan
Spring Lake
Belmar
Bradley Beach
Asbury Park
Allenhurst
Elberon
Long Branch
Monmouth Park
Little Silver
Red Bank
Middletown
Hazlet
Aberdeen-Matawan
Laurence Harbor
South Amboy
Perth Amboy
Woodbridge
Avenel
Rahway
Linden
Broad St. Elizabeth
North Elizabeth
Newark Airport
Newark Penn
Hoboken
Northeast Corridor
Trenton
Hamilton
Princeton JCT
North Brunswick ?
Jersey Ave (Southbound only)
New Brunswick
Edison
Metchun
Metropark
Rahway
Linden
Midtown Elizabeth
North Elizabeth
Newark Airport
Newark Penn station
Secaucus JCT
New York Penn
Gladstone Branch
Gladstone
Peapack
Far Hills
Bernardsville
Basking Ridge
Lyons
Millington
Stirling
Gillette
Berkeley Heights
Murray Hill
New Providence
Summit
Short Hills
Millburn
Maplewood
South Orange
Mountain Station
Highland Ave
Orange
Brick Church
East Orange
Newark Board Street
Harrison
Hoboken
Morristown line
Philpsburg - Main Street
Philpsburg - US 22 / NJ 57 Park / Ride
Washington
Hackettstown
Mount Olive
Netcong
Lake Hopatcong
Mount Arlington
Dover
Denville
Mount Tabor
Morris Plains
Morristown
Convent Station
Madison
Chatham
Summit
Short Hills
Millburn
Maplewood
South Orange
Mountain Station
Highland Ave
Orange
Brick Church
East Orange
Newark Board Street
Harrison
Hoboken
Montclair - Boonton line
Hackettstown
Mount Olive
Netcong
Lake Hopatcong
Mount Arlington
Dover
Denville
Mountain Lakes
Boonton
Towaco
Lincoln Park
Mountain View-Wayne
Wayne-Route 23
Little Falls
Montclair State University
Montclair Heights
Mountain Avenue
Upper Montclair
Watchung Avenue
Walnut Street
Bay Street
Glen Ridge
Bloomfield
Watsessing Avenue
Ampere
Newark-Broad St
Harrison
Hoboken
Raritan Valley Line
Phillipsburg
Bloomsbury
Ludlow
Hampton
Glen Gardner
High Bridge
Annandale
Lebanon
White House
North Branch
Raritan
Somerville
Bridgewater
Bound Brook
Dunellen
Plainfield
Netherwood
Fanwood
Westfield
Garwood
Cranford
Roselle Park
Union
Hillside
Newark Penn station
Hoboken (Peak Hours only)
Morristown line - Midtown Direct Service
Dover
Denville
Mount Tabor
Morris Plains
Morristown
Convent Station
Madison
Chatham
Summit
Short Hills
Millburn
Maplewood
South Orange
Orange
Brick Church
Newark Board Street
Harrison
Secaucus JCT
New York Penn station
Montclair line - Midtown Direct Service
Montclair State University
Montclair Heights
Mountain Avenue
Upper Montclair
Watchung Avenue
Walnut Street
Bay Street
Glen Ridge
Bloomfield
Watsessing Avenue
Ampere
Newark-Broad St
Harrison
Secaucus JCT
New York Penn station
Kingsland Branch
Hillburn
Suffern
Mahwah
Ramsey Route 17
Ramsey Main Street
Allendale
Waldwick
Ho-Ho-Kus
Ridgewood
Glenrock
Hawthrone
North Paterson
Paterson
Clifton
Passaic
Delawanna
Lyndhurst
Kingsland
Kearny
Harrison East
Secaucus JCT
New York Penn Station
West Trenton line
West Trenton Transit Center
I-95 Park / Ride
Hopewell
Belle Mead
Hillsborough
Bridgewater
Bound Brook
Dunellen
Plainfield
Netherwood
Fanwood
Westfield
Garwood
Cranford
Roselle Park
Union
Hillside
Newark Penn station
Hoboken
Last edited by Nexis4Jersey; July 23rd, 2012 at 11:24 AM.
Lincoln Park Music Festival gets bigger, and more varied, in its seventh year
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 9:55 AM Updated: Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 9:57 AM
By Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger
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Dawn Tillman will perform in Lincoln Park this weekend.
Here’s a tip for people coming to Newark for the Lincoln Park Music Festival this week: Look beyond Lincoln Park.
"To honor our seventh anniversary, we’re having seven days of events," says festival producer Anthony Smith. "And they’ll be happening all over the city."
While the festival’s roots in the redeveloping Newark neighborhood remain deep, it has grown too big to be contained by the handsome triangular park that gave it its name. Smith expects more than 50,000 visitors to come to festival events over the next four days.
The park and the neighborhood that surrounds it will host many of the artists. But there will also be after-parties at Ironbound nightclubs, a deejay set at a Halsey Street café and New Jersey Performing Arts Center concerts thrown in conjunction with the long-running Sounds of the City series. On Monday, the festival got off to a kinetic start with a ’70s-themed rollerskating party in Branch Brook Park.
"This festival came out of an effort to create a museum of African-American music," says Smith. "We decided to open the doors before the museum opened. We looked at Newark and the four African-American genres that we wanted to celebrate: gospel, jazz, house music and hip-hop. Then we built a festival around that."
On Friday, an evening of church music — featuring, among others, the explosive Dawn Tallman — follows an afternoon of jazz hosted by Newark poet and playwright Amiri Baraka. Newark Idol, a showcase for local talent, will include a tribute to Whitney Houston. Saturday is dedicated to house music: WBLS deejay and Newark native Kevin Hedge will be among those spinning at what promises to be a parkwide dance party. Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón, the worldwide ambassador for breaking, brings his latest version of the Rock Steady Crew to Jersey for a 35th anniversary celebration and performance on Sunday.
They’ll all be coming to a Brick City neighborhood that was once mortared with music. Lincoln Park was, in the early 20th century, home to many of Newark’s most notable clubs and musicians. Much of that history is unrecoverable, but residents are fiercely protective of the elements of the past that remain. A forty-building area of the Lincoln Park neighborhood is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
"Historically, this was the jazz district," says Smith. "You had all these mansions here, some of which are being restored. When we looked at what had existed in Lincoln Park, we knew we had the bones for an arts and cultural community. There are lots of great arts organizations already — galleries, the Newark Boys Chorus, Symphony Hall. It’s a work in progress, but it’s going to keep growing."
Smith and his colleagues at the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District intend to make that happen by strengthening the bonds that tie the neighborhood to arts organizations elsewhere in the city. This autumn, the New Jersey Performing Arts Festival will launch a new jazz festival of its own; all summer, the Performing Arts Center has been taping “America’s Got Talent,” a television show judged by Howard Stern. Tonight, the festival and Newark Idol will host an event outside NJPAC. Tomorrow, TEMPO, a Newark production company specializing in Caribbean music, welcomes soca singer Kevin Lyttle to Sounds of the City; this, too, is part of the festival.
Smith hopes NJPAC visitors will take the time to engage with the restoration projects under way in the Lincoln Park neighborhood — and that those who have never visited will make the short trip down Broad Street.
"Not only do we have a stage in the park, but we have a health and wellness pavilion, too. We have food and craft vendors. We’ve got a skateboard clinic for the kids.
"What we’re doing here is transforming a community."
----------------------------
For a festival schedule, visit lpccd.org. Most events are free, but some pre- and after-parties have cover charges.
This is good...it would have been really bad for the city if they lost PSEG.
PSEG signs long-term deal to stay in Newark
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 10:50 AM Updated: Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 11:08 AM
By Eliot Caroom/The Star-Ledger
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Star-Ledger filePublic Service Enterprise Group will stay in Newark until at least 2030, the company will announce today.
NEWARK — Public Service Enterprise Group will stay in Newark until at least 2030, the company will announce today.
The company committed to a 15-year lease renewal on its 26-story tower complex with 825,000 square feet of space near Penn Station. The deal also calls for $15 million in new efficiency measures, according to President and CEO Ralph Izzo.
"You have to, as the expression goes, walk the talk," Izzo said of the efficiency measures, which include heating, ventilating, air conditioning, lighting and high-tech controls.
The work is similar to projects the company has overseen for schools and hospitals like UMDNJ and Newark Beth Israel for years.
But the utility was like other companies in that efficiency work wasn't a top priority until now, Izzo said, because PSEG spends money mostly on its core mission of reliable service.
"We're here to serve customers and our customers are less interested in how energy efficient we are and more interested in us keeping their lights on," Izzo said.
The company pushed for the efficiency measures to be part of its new deal with landlord Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II.
But before signing its long-term lease in Newark, the company considered other locations, Izzo said.
"We looked at urban centers in our service territory, primarily New Brunswick and Trenton," Izzo said. "Obviously a lot (of the decision) goes along with the fact that we've been in Newark over 100 years ... many of our employees have commuting patterns consistent with an office in Newark."
Izzo said Newark's development is on the right track.
"Newark is a city that is making tremendous progress. It's got a vibrant higher education community, we're seeing a resurgence of the arts and entertainment, new housing stock being built," Izzo said. "When you consider that in light of what the national economy has been in the last four years, you have to be optimistic about what's to come."
Newark Mayor Cory Booker said he was happy the company would stay and thanked it for its leadership.
"PSEG is a good neighbor and has been a generous corporate citizen of the City of Newark since 1978, having invested in community initiatives and programs which have empowered our residents," Booker said in a statement.
That includes contributions to cultural institutions and programs at institutions like NJPAC, the Newark Museum and the Prudential Center.
PSEG's decision not to leave is also a good thing for commercial space lease prices, according to the company's broker, Bryn Cinque of Colliers International New Jersey.
"Certainly if a tenant had decided to vacate, it would have put significant downward pressure on rental rates," Cinque said. "Right now the (Newark) Penn Station market has about a 6 percent vacancy rate and this would have increased it considerably."
The market for space close to Newark Penn Station is strong, said Curtis Foster, executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield.
But he agreed the rent prices would have dropped had PSEG moved.
"That would have been an awful lot of space to absorb in that particular type of building," Foster said. "It would probably have driven down the market between 10 to 15 percent until it was stabilized."
Newark Seeing Full Spectrum of New Development!
From The Real Deal. By a strange coincidence, I didn't notice it until this morning on my PATH ride in from Harrison, but there is quite alot of equipment on the site, which is between Lister Ave and the Passic River, next to the Diamond Alkali site. It was filled with rusting out-of-commission vehicles and stacks of unused shipping containers for decades until recently.
There's also a warehouse that was built over the past year across Lister Ave from this one - does anyone know what it is? I originally thought it was the new Wakefern distribution center, but now I think it is one of the others.
btw - I think the two towers alluded to are the new Prudential tower and the Shaq/Boraie rental tower....although that would be pretty incredible if 101 Market was one of the two!
Newark breaks ground on $50M on-spec warehouse
July 25, 2012 03:00PM
By David Jones
Newark Mayor Cory Booker and a rendering of the warehouse
Morris Cos. broke ground Tuesday on a $50 million 350,000-square-foot warehouse in the Ironbound section of Newark, N.J. The Rutherford, N.J.-based developer is building on the dormant brownfield site, the home of a former Sherwin Williams Co. paint facility at 60 Lister Avenue.
CBRE Group Inc., the exclusive broker, has begun marketing the on-spec facility to potential tenants, and officials say there is strong demand for warehouse space in such close proximity to the Port of Newark and New York City. “It could be a combination of port-related companies,” Thomas Monahan, senior vice president at CBRE, told The Real Deal.
He said the facility is being marketed for up to two tenants, but would ideally land a single tenant for the entire operation.
Morris has specialized in transforming former brownfield sites with dormant industrial facilities. The company has redeveloped a former Chevron facility in Perth Amboy, N.J., into a 1.1-million-square-foot corporate park that includes Best Buy, U.S. Foods and West Logistics Inc.
Mayor Cory Booker was on hand for Monday’s groundbreaking.
Officials noted that the Ironbound site is an attractive alternative to competing warehouse facilities in towns like Cranbury, N.J., both on cost savings and location. The site will also qualify for the state of New Jersey’s Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit program, which offers incentives to companies to develop near major transportation centers.
Booker said that despite concerns about the national economy, Newark is moving forward with plans for new development. Ground has already broken on the new Panasonic headquarters, which is being relocated to Newark.
Mayor Cory Booker said that two new Newark towers are expected to be announced within the next few months. In March, The Real Deal reported that CBRE was marketing a proposed one-million-square-foot office tower at 101 Market Street in Newark. That project would have market-rate rental apartments on the building’s upper floors and retail space on the ground floor.
In February, officials also broke ground on a $149 million project called Teachers Village, which includes 70,000 square feet of retail space, 200 apartments for teachers and space for local charter schools.
Link: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/07/...pec-warehouse/
So I found this blog where a woman has bought and is renovating a rowhouse in Newark. Looks beautiful. http://brickcitylove.com/
Anyone know of any other interesting Newark websites? I've been working on getting the Newark subreddit up off the ground and it's going okay but I'm still the major contributor by far.
'America's Got Talent' does the impossible, makes Newark look good!
Yes you have to sit through a commercial first - Due to the recent heavy rains, the grass in Military Park made a stunning comeback -
http://www.nbc.com/americas-got-tale...finals/1410988
Panasonic is rising fast...
New Panasonic HQ - Downtown Newark - New Jersey by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr
New Panasonic HQ - Downtown Newark - New Jersey by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr
DSCN6484 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr
This is old but I still stand by this, if Newark were to acquire the majority or all of essex county it would not only benefit essex county economically but it could also give Newark a globally renowned name just by its population. Jersey City would be a shrimp compared to Newark if this happened. Heck Newark may also steal some of its development if we get lucky lol.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Greater Newark
In 1898, the legislature of the State of New York annexed to "New York", which then meant "Manhattan", the City of Brooklyn, theretofore independent, and all the suburbs of both cities, to create "Greater New York". Over time, that term fell out of favor, to be replaced by "New York City". "Greater New York" continued to be heard, but widened in application to include all the suburbs within New York State, in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island and Westchester and Rockland Counties Upstate. But the New York metropolitan area could not be confined by state boundaries. Cities just grow.
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In the 8th Century, the founders of the city of Baghdad produced a grand plan for their new capital of the Caliphate, the temporal and spiritual capital of the entire Moslem world of the day. As I put it on myExpansionist Party website:I do not anticipate that Newark will become the greatest city on Earth, in either population or geographic extent. Nor do I even want that, because part of the charm of Newark is that it is not crowded nor congested, but that you can get from Point A to Point B without getting stuck in impassable traffic.
[I]n 750 the Abbasid family moved the capital from Syria to Iraq, and in 762 chose [the tiny village of] Baghdad, which then occupied a small area on the west bank of the Tigris, as the site for a new, planned city, to be called Medinat al Salaam, "City of Peace". Using Ctesiphon as a quarry for building materials, 100,000 men built a great round city, 1.7 miles in diameter, with three concentric walls surmounted by 360 towers. Shortly after this central portion was completed, the city spilled over its wallsand across to the east bank of the Tigris. By 814 Baghdad was the largest city on Earth.
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But all of the most-populous cities of the United States are geographically large. Our greatest city is New York, which has a land area of about 309 square miles. Los Angeles, our second city, has an area of about 465 square miles; Chicago, our third city, has an area of234 square miles; Houston, our fourth city, 602 square miles. And Philadelphia, the Nation's fifth largest city and our near neighbor, has an area of 135 square miles. Newark? 24 square miles. You can't have a world-class city in 24 square miles.
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Paris is perhaps the smallest of world-class cities, geographically, but even it is 40.69 square miles, and as capital of France has a lot of governmental facilities crammed into it, plus the businesses that follow government. The Paris metro area extends far beyond its municipal bounds. Newark is not the capital of the United States nor even of New Jersey. It does have city, county, state, and federal offices and courts, but must rely upon nongovernmental sources for the bulk of its economic activity.
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Newark's main problem is self-esteem and ambition. The 1967 Riots, so very long ago and irrelevant to today, rocked its sense of self, and the resulting diffidence has prevented Newark from asserting itself and demanding attention. That must change. Newark should stop feeling ashamed of its past — the Riots were almost 40 years ago! — and take pride both in its recovery and in what it is, a vibrant city of many groups all living happily together.
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Newark needs to be bigger than its current geographic bounds allow it to be. We need to take claim of our metropolitan area, and make plain to everyone in it and around it that the economy they depend upon could not exist were it not for Newark spinning like a top at its center. Newark is not just a place to make your money in and then go home. Newark is what makes this entire region work, and it's time everyone admitted that and the conclusion that that fact necessarily leads to: that it is in the very best interest of everyone in the region that Newark not merely survive but thrive.
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Jacksonville, Florida and Indianapolis, Indiana are among the cities of this country that have annexed their entire county! Houston grew to its current impressive size by annexing its suburbs pretty much as soon as they became urbanized. Some states have laws that favor urban consolidation; others' laws discourage urban consolidation, and might even favor breaking up existing municipalities into subunits.
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New Jersey seems to be in the latter group, and many of the state's municipalities used to be part of larger entities. The bulk of Monmouth County, for instance (I learned in school there) used to be part of only three townships: Middletown (mine), Shrewsbury, and Freehold.
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Newark tried, briefly, to go the opposite route, annexing its suburbs, as Houston was later to do so splendiferously. Alas, altho one ambitious mayor in 1905 wanted to annex Belleville (north), Kearny and Harrison (east, in Hudson County) and East Orange (northwest), only Vailsburgwas successfully annexed. The result is an odd appendage that looks, on the map, like a peninsula. I have often described Vailsburg (my area) as "a peninsula surrounded by land", that land being East Orange to the north, South Orange to the west, Maplewood to the southwest, and Irvington to the south. We are connected to the main body of Newark by a slender passage marked by the overpass that carries the Garden State Parkway.
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It's time to revive ambition in Newark, not least for urban consolidation. Much of Essex County is urban. Part of Newark is semi-suburban.
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I have seen East Orange fire trucks cross over South Orange Avenue to put out fires in Vailsburg or beyond. There is an Essex County Police Department — not just Sheriff's Department — and close cooperation between the area's multiple police departments, but that cooperation is less than seamlessly integrated, and we need seamless integration to make sure that no bad guys can get away just by hopping over a town line.
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It's time for Newark to annex its 'burbs, starting with distressed Irvington and East Orange. Irvington is way over its head in urban ills, and East Orange looks to me to be in serious trouble too. Newark looks like The Golden Door compared to them.
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East Orange is also preposterously and inexcusably offensively small-minded. There are signs at the South Orange Avenue entrances to East Orange that there is no parking on any street between 2am and 6am. Why the hell not? Who the f**k passed an idiotic law like that? And why? That's got to be repealed. And Newark is just the city to repeal it. Free East Orange!
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That these three municipalities share special characteristics is born out by the Wikipedia page about Essex County, which discusses secession talk by all of the county's municipalities except Newark, East Orange, and Irvington!
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A lot of people may think that the suburbs are white, and that's why they resist annexation to Newark. They would be only partly right, since even in this bluest of Blue States, anti-black prejudice survives, partly because of an identification of "black" with "underclass" or "ghetto mentality". However, much of Essex County, even the 'burbs, is really quite black, and middle-class blacks and middle-class whites have essentially identical value systems and get along like gangbusters. I wrote that phrase without thinking, but immediately after realized that gangs are one reason the middle class flees cities in this country, and not just New Jersey cities. The middle class are the real "gangbusters", because they impart to their children the absurdity of gang membership and the expectation that if they apply themselves, the whole "American dream" will indeed be theirs. And in Essex County, it will.
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People from Iowa would be astonished to drive thru our beautiful, ritzy suburbs and see all the black people on the streets and in the yards working away on their gardens. Essex County is profoundly, and happily, integrated. We're practically a friggin' model for the Nation. So why are we divided into all these different towns? In grand jury we learned there are 21 municipalities in Essex County (tho the online encyclopediaWikipedia shows 22. Huh?).
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The whole county is only 130 square miles. Its total population is about 800,000, which puts it after only Bergen County (c. 884,000) in the state. By contrast, Jacksonville, Florida, which became the geographically largest city in the Nation by annexing its entire county in 1968, has 778,000 people in 874 square miles. If Jacksonville can consolidate a county of 874 square miles, surely Newark can consolidate a county of 130 square miles.
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OK, maybe the really suburban areas, despite their significant black population, would resist consolidating with Newark — even tho Newark's population has diversified over the decades so is now only about 55% black. But Irvington? East Orange? What reason would they have not to join up and form Greater Newark? A Greater Newark would mean a Greater East Orange and Greater Irvington, a place they don't have to explain to outsiders ("We're just outside Newark, on the southwest/northwest."). They'd have better services — because Newark is better governed and has more cops, more firefighters, more everything — and probably even lower taxes.
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Together, even the three current municipalities of Newark, East Orange, and Irvington would have a combined population of over 400,000, about what Newark alone had in 1960 before the worst of "white flight", and up from today's 280,000. So stark an increase would make a dramatic statement to the world that "Newark is coming back!"
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Did you know this about Newark? According to Wikipedia:I assume the first-highest is NYC, if they count only large municipalities and not some freakish anomaly like a tiny municipality with tons of people surrounded by some large city.
The population density is 11,400/mile˛ (4,400/km˛), or 21,000/mile˛ (8,100 km˛) once airport, railroad, and seaport lands are excluded, the second-highest in the nation.
Let's make Newark a "global city", as that term is defined in Wikipedia. Newark already fills most of those criteria, which are in brief:The concept of "critical mass" applies here. A city must have enuf people of enuf types to be considered "world class" or a "global city". Newark proper has only some 300,000 people, but is the center of a metropolitan area of 2 million. I don't know — does anyone? — how many outsiders come in each day to work in Newark, then return to their homes outside city limits. But I do know that Newark needs the kind of diversity of residents that other great cities have but Newark lacks. There are, for instance, many Chinese who operate take-out restaurants or Indians or Pakistanis who own liquor stores, newsstands, or food concessions (for instance, in Newark Penn Station), but don't live here. After work, they return to the suburbs or Jersey City. That must change.
International familiarity (or 'first-name' familiarity – one would say "Tokyo", not "Tokyo, Japan"). [Let's push Newark, NJ as "Newark USA"! Forget about Newark, Delaware, California, New York, or Ohio. There's only one "Newark" that counts, and everybody knows it.]
Active influence and participation in international events and world affairs (for example, New York City is home to the United Nations headquarters, Brussels is home to the EU Parliament and NATO headquarters, Frankfurt is headquarters to the European Central Bank). [Hmm. See below.]
A fairly large population (the center of a metropolitan area with a population of at least one million, typically several million). [The United States Census Bureau says that Newark has a metro pop of almost 2 million, and urban North Jersey has more like 4 million overall.]
A major international airport (for example, as in Paris) that serves as an established hub for several international airlines. [Newark qualifies easily here.]
An advanced transportation system that includes several freeways and/or a large mass transit network offering multiple modes of transportation (subway, light rail, regional rail, ferry, or bus). [Oh, yes. NJ Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, I-280, I-78; Newark City Subway; the PATH trans-Hudson subway; NJ Transit Light Rail; Amtrak; myriad NJTransit commuter trains and buses. The only thing we're missing here is ferries, and that's only because, tho we do have a river and a bay, we are blocked from straight-line access to Manhattan by the peninsula on which reside Jersey City and Bayonne.]
In the West, several international cultures and communities (such as a Chinatown, a Little Italy, or other immigrant communities). In other parts of the world, such as Asia, cities which attract large foreign businesses, for example Shanghai and Hong Kong. [Newark is a bit remiss here, but does have a large Portuguese/Brazilian community, unlike any other city in the United States, and has as well a significant Hispanic community, as do many other cities in the United States.]
International financial institutions, law firms, corporate headquarters (especially conglomerates), and stock exchanges that have influence over the world economy.[We're a little lite here too. We do have Prudential Financial, one of the world's greatest financial conglomerates, and IDT/Net to Phone. We also have branch offices of major law firms, tho no major media bureaus because we are so close to the very center of the world's media, New York. ]
Advanced communications infrastructure that modern trans-national corporations rely on, such as fiberoptics, Wi-Fi networks, cellular phone services, and other high-speed lines of communications. [Got it.]
World-renowned cultural institutions, such as museums and universities. [World-renowned? Hmm. The Newark Museum's Tibetan collection is renowned among the cognoscenti, and well-informed people in the world of American art also regard the Newark Museum as a first-class institution. It does not, however, have the stature of the Louvre. Our educational institutions, such as Rutgers and NJIT, are well regarded in the United States, but I don't know about the world at large.]
A lively cultural scene, including film festivals, premieres, a thriving music or theatre scene; an Orchestra, an opera company, art galleries, and street performers. [Now, here we have a problem. We do have NJPAC, (www.njpac.org — which wasn't working when I went to check the site today; I don't know why) which does host the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. We have no opera company, but should. We do have a Newark Arts Council, but few art galleries yet decorate our streets.]
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Newark is a large city. It could be a great city. But it will need to be physically larger to achieve that. Let's annex the 'burbs.
posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 12:17 AM
Link: http://newarkusa.blogspot.com/2005/1...er-newark.html
Oh and also just wanted to say it's great to be back on one of my favorite websites. I go on here everyday just to check on whats going on in the metro area and have been doing so since 07 (when i was in 6th grade lol) I've been meaning to get a new password considering I forgot it for about 2 years now and i finally did it! Now i can enjoy the post of the many well informed people on here and put in some of my opinion too. So again nice to be back!!
Wb, jc!
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