After the bust of the housing market in 2008, a striking reversal of settlement patterns in New Jersey gives cities the lead in population growth over once-booming suburbs and exurbs.
Echoing trends seen across the U.S., Tim Evans, of New Jersey Future, writes on New Jersey's changing growth patterns. "Measured any of several ways," he reports, "the pattern is clear: Between 2008 and 2011, older, more urbanized, more built-out municipalities generally grew faster than less-developed suburban, exurban, and rural municipalities."
This data comes in the face of decades of population loss for many of New Jersey's inner cities, which continued their fall between 2000 and 2008, shrinking their share of the state's population from 66.4% in 1940 to 38.3% in 2010, according to the Census Bureau.
But since the housing bubble slowed the flow of population into the suburbs, cities are not only withstanding the economic slowdown, but are growing faster than the rest of the state. "These big cities had not come close to matching the statewide growth rate since before 1930," reports Evans, "They managed this feat by gaining, on average, 17 times as many new residents annually from 2008 to 2011 as they had between 2000 and 2008."
It appears, however, that unlike the nationwide data, a closer look at the absolute numbers confirms the significance of the trend.
"Considering that New Jersey is the most developed state in the nation," argues Evans, "this trend toward redevelopment of already-built areas and away from continued development of a dwindling supply of open land is good news. If any state is in need of a rethinking of the dominant development paradigm – or is better poised to capitalize on the alternative – it is New Jersey."
FULL STORY: Cities (Of All Sizes) Lead the State in Population Growth

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie