Smart Growth

“EDC showed exceptional leadership by bringing together key non-profit organizations in order to effectively address the critical neighborhood needs.”
Denise McGregor Armbrister
Wachovia Regional Foundation Executive Director

What is Smart Growth?

Smart Growth principles include mixed-use development, walkable town centers and neighborhoods, mass transit accessibility, sustainable economic and social development, as well as preserved green space.

To limit sprawl in New Jersey, Smart Growth prioritizes development and redevelopment efforts in communities with existing infrastructure networks such as Elizabeth. With a population boom of more than 10 percent over the last decade, Elizabeth is the quintessential Smart Growth success story.

Target Elizabethport

In its continuing efforts to rebuild and revitalize the Elizabethport section of Elizabeth, the City was awarded two Smart Growth planning grants from the State Department of Community Affairs to support targeted initiatives aimed at enhancing land use and transportation services in the neighborhood.

These planning grants support the Elizabeth Development Company and its partners in their efforts to identify a mix of land use and housing types with good transportation access in the Elizabethport neighborhood, as well as bolster the area’s social services network and strong sense of community.

Specifically, these grants help EDC and the City pursue its Neighborhood Empowerment Plan, an ambitious and detailed program for revitalizing both the economy and the people who live in the Elizabethport neighborhood.

Many Parties, One Neighborhood.

The Elizabeth Development Company has taken a leadership role by coordinating the revitalization efforts for Elizabethport and bringing together key non-profit organizations in order to effectively address critical neighborhood needs.

Elizabethport Presbyterian Center

This faith-based, non-profit organization provides the Elizabethport community with an array of social services aimed at promoting self-sufficiency and empowerment. The Elizabethport Presbyterian Center delivers family oriented services such as daycare, after-school programs, summer camps, scholarships, senior outreach, job readiness and computer training.

PROCEED is one of Union County’s largest providers of social services. This non-profit agency has been contracted by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to assist low-income residents with establishing Individual Development Accounts (IDAs).  IDAs are an innovative empowerment tool, which leverages matching funds for personal savings accounts targeted for homeownership, business development and post-secondary education.

Housing Authority of the City of Elizabeth (HACE)

Elizabeth’s Housing Authority has played an integral role in this collaborative partnership. The Authority has guided the vision and commitment to focus on a redevelopment strategy around the hundred million dollar HOPE VI housing renewal project, with a strong emphasis on social service issues. Under the Authority’s direction, antiquated and distressed high-density apartments are being replaced with beautiful, new, affordable/market rate homes and rental units for hundreds of families and senior citizens. The project also resulted in the creation of Elizabethport’s new, multipurpose community center.

This non-profit has been responsible for developing a number of new affordable housing and mixed-use properties in Elizabethport. Brand New Day also provides residents with homeowner counseling and financial literacy training.

Wachovia Regional Foundation Grant

The Elizabeth Development Company was awarded a $700,000 Neighborhood Development Grant for its holistic approach to neighborhood revitalization in Elizabethport. Wachovia’s grant helps provide EDC and its partners with the necessary resources to implement a comprehensive Neighborhood Revitalization Plan. This plan is a “bottoms-up”, community driven initiative geared toward meeting the needs of the Elizabethport neighborhood, today and into the future.