INNOVATIVE
PLANNING FOR A HISTORIC URBAN VILLAGE
150 years ago, the new City of Hoboken was developed
in accordance with a plan prepared by Colonel John
Stevens’ Hoboken Land & Improvement Company.
That legacy lives on today in Stevens Institute
of Technology, the mansions on Castle Point, neighborhoods
of rowhouses, and the classic design of Washington
Street. The historic districts of today are thanks
to forward-looking planning in the nineteenth century.
150 years later, Hoboken is in the midst of remarkable changes. The
industrial waterfront is being transformed into open space, as well
as redeveloped for housing and offices. Factories have been redeveloped
for housing. Rowhouses have been lovingly restored. The City has
been transformed from an industrial enclave to a vibrant, livable,
mixed-use community that is increasingly popular among people from
all walks of life.
150 years from now, what will Hoboken’s residents say of our
time and our plans for the future?
The Hoboken Master Plan is predicated on creating a new type of urban
village, using cutting edge planning techniques that incorporate
new technologies, while preserving and enhancing what is best about
Hoboken. Hoboken is in a unique position to utilize such innovations.
While often touted as New York City’s sixth borough, Hoboken
has the additional advantage of being a small city in control of
what happens within its boundaries. And while other communities consider
incorporating “smart growth” concepts into their planning
efforts, Hoboken already is what they seek to be: a compact, walkable,
transit-accessible community with a mix of land uses. This plan will
help ensure that future development in Hoboken will be balanced and
sustainable, with new parks, upgraded public facilities, and transportation
improvements that will benefit the entire community.
The Master Plan is comprehensive, as it should be. Its recommendations
range from small interventions to large-scale actions that will create
lasting improvements, and improve quality of life for all in Hoboken.
The plan’s key ideas and initiatives can be summarized as follows:
1. Transportation: Hoboken is a walkable city with great
transit access, but also is a city that has many residents who have
an automobile. Transportation improvements will make Hoboken a better
place for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders, while improving
conditions for those who drive.
• It will be safer to walk and bicycle in Hoboken because of new facilities, intersection
improvements, and other actions.
• All residents will have improved transit access as expanded light rail
service and a system of jitney routes will connect all parts of the
City.
• Public parking inventory will be increased through shared parking, new
garages, and better utilization of existing facilities.
• Shuttles and taxi stands will serve the garages, light rail stops, and
Washington Street.
• Flexible pricing, information technology, and improved signage will promote
use of empty garages.
2. Community Facilities: Like the best of
suburbs, Hoboken will have high-quality, modernized school facilities.
Like the best of urban centers, Hoboken will have a vast array of
community facilities consistent with its demand for social and cultural
enrichment.
• New and existing parks will be the focal points of the neighborhoods
in which they are located, with community and cultural
facilities grouped around them.
• State-of-the-art schools will be built, including a new high school and
middle school with ad-joining parks. Schools facilities also will
be designed for use by the whole community.
• Police and fire departments will consolidate in modern facilities, in
the center of town, taking former contaminated site to safe and productive
use.
• Historic schools, fire stations, etc. will be converted into popular
charter schools, cultural incubators, community centers, and the
like. |
