After New Jersey's Washington Township built a new smart growth-style town center, new residents jumped to move in. But lack of coordination among state agencies may now be contributing to the township's challenges with education and taxes.
The NJDOT nixed a proposed turnpike bypass, and the increase in property values and incomes cost the township over $2 million in state aid for schools. The strain on the school system of the increased population and the lack of business development without the bypass has increased property taxes, and now the township is struggling to address its needs.
"Some Washington Township residents, as well as town officials, have started to blame smart growth for the municipal problems. While the majority of the 13,000 residents live outside Town Center, nearly all of the 2,500 who have arrived since 2000 live there."
"The 400-acre Washington Town Center - designed according to state planning goals as a remedy to suburban sprawl - has become a victim of its own success, town officials and residents said. So many families have flocked to Washington Township, eight miles east of Trenton in Mercer County, in the nine years since construction began that the schools are overflowing, property taxes are skyrocketing and the main streets are clogged."
Read the full story: In Success of ‘Smart Growth,’ New Jersey Town Feels Strain
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