Our latest piece by Patrick Conlon breaks down what the evidence actually says — and what JC/Hoboken should do next on parking pricing, loading zones, and people-first design.
5/🧵
Read more 👇
betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/21/p...
Newark Ave and Washington Street faced loud opposition before they opened. Both have since won statewide awards. The pattern holds everywhere: fear precedes the project, data vindicates it after.
4/5
Pedestrianization changes how people shop — from goal-oriented (park, buy, leave) to experience-oriented (linger, explore, spend more). Walkable districts generate $6.92/sq ft higher retail rents and 80% more retail sales than car-dependent ones. (Brookings)
3/5
NYC DOT tracked retail sales before/after street redesigns. Bike lanes on 8th & 9th Ave → +49% local retail sales (vs. +3% borough-wide). Parking lots converted to a public plaza on Pearl St (Brooklyn) → +172% retail sales.
2/5
Every time Jersey City or Hoboken proposes a pedestrian plaza or bike lane, local businesses fear it'll destroy them. The data says the opposite. 🧵
1/5
We have been writing about the need for more housing supply because of the high demand to live in places like Jersey City.
If we continue to build housing, then it will pay dividends as less of your household income goes to paying rent.
betterblocksnj.org/2025/12/15/w...
Top five! Let's gooooooo! @feathersmcg.bsky.social is crushing it!
There are parts of Jersey City right now where rents are at 2022 levels.
If we’re putting in a massive convention center + hotel in the Meadowlands, NJ Transit needs to start running shuttle service at least from Hoboken. njbiz.com/3b-meadowlan...
New blog by me: Objectors who are trying to block an inclusionary housing development on Spruce Street in Princeton are circulating some wild misrepresentations of what might be built on the site... walkableprinceton.com/2026/04/15/s...
New Jersey's 23-game Jeopardy champion Jamie Ding is more than a self-described faceless bureaucrat. He allocates Low-Income Housing Tax Credits ("LIHTC") to fund affordable housing construction across New Jersey.
We used his historic run to explain LIHTC!
betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/16/j...
Jamie Ding (and New Jersey’s LIHTC Program) Win on Jeopardy!
It is no surprise to us that Jamie Ding, a self-described “faceless bureaucrat” from the state of New Jersey with a degree from Princeton, would end up as one of the all-time great Jeopardy champions with 23 game appearances and wins…
PATH expansion. BRT. Safe streets. Vision Zero.
@hudcostreets.org is bringing it all together at the North Jersey Transit Forum on April 25 at St. Peter's University in Jersey City.
Keynote: NJ Transit Chair Priya Jain.
Link here:
betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/15/a...
We made a handy flowchart to explain how decisions are made when it comes to implementing evidence-based parking, transit, and housing reforms at the municipal level in New Jersey.
There's a particular kind of paralysis in Jersey City that masquerades as civic virtue.
It shows up dressed in the language of "resident input," "stakeholder engagement," or "co-governance."
And it ends with almost nothing getting built, fixed, or decided.
betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/13/j...
It's a very similar story in Hoboken and JC, but I far prefer this matter of fact, sober minded messaging. Both towns bent over backwards not to raise taxes, that's why they're in a hole. hudsoncountyview.com/jabbour-hobo...
Uncontested elections should not mean unaccountable politicians.
We sent every Hudson County Commissioner candidate a commitment letter to gauge their support for housing, safe streets, Bus Rapid Transit, and parks.
Voters are watching to see who signs.
betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/08/a...
A Commitment to Better Blocks in Hudson County
While eight of the nine county commissioner races are uncontested in this year's election, accountability to the voters should still be paramount for our elected officials. As the sixth mostly densely populated county in the United States, Hudson…
The World Cup is coming. So is congestion and pollution. A call from our president, Johan Andrade, on the need for getting Hudson County World-Cup-ready with quick build bus lanes, bike lanes, and pedestrian corridors before it's too late.
Traffic calming in Chatham, NJ. Along their walkable main street, they have:
1. Implemented a left-turn restriction to reduce conflict, improve comfort & safety for pedestrians, and smooth traffic flow.
2. Corners are painted with orange stripes, making obvious the illegal parking zone. /
We keep forgetting BlueSky doesn't throttle links like Twitter does.
The Journal Square 2060 redevelopment area was amended to include a 10% IZO but it is partially funded with 20 stories in "bonus" floors thanks, in part, to @3underscores.bsky.social's advocacy.
New from @3underscores.bsky.social on BBNJ:
547-555 Summit Ave would bring:
-1,517 homes
-A pedestrian retail street (Homestead Market)
-874 bike parking spaces
-0 car parking to Journal Square right across the street from the PATH
-Estimated $10–12M/yr in property taxes with no PILOT.
New Jersey's 566 municipalities exist because of tax fights, temperance movements, wartime housing disputes, and boroughs racing to incorporate so they could claim a single tax ratable.
The late Assemblyman Alan Karcher called it "multiple municipal madness." He wasn't wrong.
Why does NJ have the highest property taxes in America?
One answer: we have 566 municipalities, each running its own government, schools, and police. Assemblyman Alan Karcher spent his career trying to fix it and wrote the definitive book on the madness of our boroughitis.
Not enough attention is paid to buses in NJ.
From FY2025 ridership data, I estimate there were at least 30M NJ Transit bus rides in Hudson County. For context, PATH serves 60M rides a year, the HBLR serves 15M, and the NEC serves 22M.
Why are these buses ever stuck in traffic?
Myth 3: PILOTs defund the schools. (The schools set their own levy and collect every dollar they ask for. Your school taxes went up because the state slashed aid — not because of developers.)
Myth 2: Almost all new construction gets a PILOT. (Jersey City has granted 8 since 2017, almost all for affordable housing.)
Myth 1: Buildings with PILOTs don't pay taxes. (They do — and by law they can never pay less than before the development.)
