The Revitalization of the City Of Newark in New Jersey

The Revitalization of the City Of Newark in New Jersey

The city of Newark is filled with excellent infrastructure, economic development, and it has the potential to be one of the US thriving cities. Although there are many thriving businesses, museums, and historical landmarks in the territory, many old buildings and neighborhoods need to be renovated. A majority of the cities neighborhood is adverse, and this makes the perception of Newark look as if it was abandoned for decades. We may notice construction on the roads; however, the focus should be on renovating old buildings, houses, and shops around Newark.

On the other hand, without any initial help from the city council bringing investment money to revitalize Newark, there might not be changed. Urban development should be mandatory in neighborhoods where there are low population density and depressed home values. Many homeless people live without jobs or on the streets. Thus, for the revitalization of Newark to take place, those people should be considered for everyone to benefit from the development. Furthermore, to give more momentum, the people living in Newark should be taken into account first because they are the ones seeking change in their city.

Recently, the city of Newark has been in the spotlight as a growing city with prominent leaders talking about its Renaissance. The latter is aimed at working on high profile development projects such as the New Jersey Center for Performing Arts and new housing constructions taking place. Although there are projects in the area to revive the city, Newark is still considered a troubled town. Newark city comprises both the working class and the poor residents who experience the low achievement of education and increased poor health. Poor and abandoned dwellings mark most neighborhoods in the city. However, the city has been benefiting from globalization by increasing immigration and international trading.

Efforts of revitalizing Newark have prepared the city to attract tech firms, companies, and many other businesses. Developers should capitalize on the rising demand for attractive and affordable rental housing for the people who work in companies, which are based in Newark, such as Audible and Panasonic. Other companies, such as Amazon, are anticipated to establish subsidiaries in the area. Besides, companies seeking a conducive working environment with excellent transit connections prefer Newark to other cities, such as New Jersey and Brooklyn whose properties are overpriced,

Infrastructural development in the downtown area of Newark can result in the creation of new residential communities such as the city’s office towers. The town, which is a low populated residence, now has adequate space for new residents and developments. Real estate entrepreneurs, leaders of the community, and politicians of the urban areas are shaping the future state of Newark today, which aims at revitalizing the city. The term renaissance refers to the transformation of Newark city. The mayor of the city hall since 1986, Mayor Sharpe James, advocated for the latest revitalization of the town. He is responsible for the current and future aspects of revival in the city, which resulted in the re-election campaign for his fourth term in 1988. Newspapers such as the New Jersey Star-Ledger and New York Times praised the construction of the Performing Arts Center in New Jersey. The main catalysts that helped in attracting attention and investments include the red brick hall and theatre, which were opened in the downtown of Newark 1997 (Jersey City 2014).

A real renaissance means a significant expansion of opportunities and growth across critical wards of the city. Several neighborhood groups and leaders of the community have emerged to discuss awareness on the projects being undertaken in the city among the people and beyond its borders (McEllrath 1961). According to an analysis carried out by Amazon, Newark is the second safest city, which is a significant victory for the people who seek to invest in the town. Some events, such as the inauguration of  New Jersey performing art center, the construction of the Red bull arena in 2010, and the Prudential Center 10years ago have improved social amenities in the city. additional exciting events include expansion of prudential downtown, the launch of Panasonic’s headquarters in North America, and the addition of Audible to the business community, among others.

Initially, there were difficulties on the residential side to set aside finances for Teachers Village since there was a lack of comparatives before Goldman Sachs, who stepped in with the idea of urban tax credits. These changed the investments side, and later on, people realized a market place there. NCEDC has much range of responsibilities, which aim at boosting Newark’s economic development (Strom 1999). Talents also contribute primarily to the ability of the city to promote growth and opportunity for residents and businesses. Leaders of Newark share confidence in its preparedness for the second headquarters and an increase in the interest rate of the city as a place to invest, live, and work. One of the intentional strategies to benefit Newark’s stakeholders include connecting businesses, art sectors, development, investment, educational sectors, and cooperating with municipal county and state entities.

It is the job of these leaders to ensure that new projects are right for the city despite their location. These projects include NCEDC supported projects such as Nina Simon House located on Clinton Avenue in the southward of Newark. The project is located on the site, which was occupied by the former Clinton Trust Company. This project has turned a building, which was long abandoned into 27 units’ affordable rental housing for local artists, workplace and art gallery, a café and space for performing arts. Another project, which aims at improving Newark infrastructure, is the Carrino Plaza Apartments, which are located on Broadway in the northward of Newark’s city (Strom 1999). In July, Mayor Baraka joined Charles A Richman, the executive director of New Jersey housing and mortgage finance agency (NJHMFA), as well as the representatives of Reagan development co-operation to work on the site of the former Boys and Girls club. This four-story building is aimed at providing 60 units of housing, which is affordable to residents in one, two, and three-bedroom apartments. Additional features of the building include a retail space of 6000 square feet, laundry facilities, community room, and on-site manager’s office.

Moreover, the J &M properties located in the eastward has transformed a former garment factory into Textile Lofts for mixed-use development. Key features of the building are a five-story,  sixty-four apartments for renting which have high-end amenities, a retail on the ground floor, and a commercial space containing ceilings of 14 feet large windows and exposed brick. A second development from J&M properties, which was approved recently on Mark Whorter, will utilize a new implementation of Mx-3 zoning in the area located around Newark’s Penn station in the city, which allows for taller buildings. The building will contain more than 400 units for residents, a retail space on the first floor, and parking.

Many people believe that the location of the city of Newark, which is a global and regional transportation hub, is the main reason why Amazon and other companies have focused on the town. Newark occupies an excellent geographic position in the northeast corridor with boost one of the busiest airports and sea on the east coast and a highway and rail connectivity. Newark has high-speed internet abilities, which is regarded as the main game-changer behind increasing interests among technology firms, organizations, and companies across the business spectrum (Curvin 2014). It is considered to be a hub for the internet, and its data infrastructure is better than many locations in the country, which features a speed of 10 gigabytes per second. This is one of the fastest urban data networks. Dudley Ryan of CBRE gave credit to the leaders of Newark, who made efforts to expand the cities data networks; therefore, reducing the cost of making connections.

Mayor Baraka, in 2016, launched a network called Newark fiber, which is a cost-effective, high-speed internet initiative, which gives buildings and their tenants’ commercial accessibility in the city. This announcement took place at the Gateway Center, which is part of the signature Gateway complex that is located in the downtown of Newark. Lotus Equity Group agreed to market Gateway Center, the first building to connect to Newark fiber, which is on the main strategies for renovation by new owners to attract modern tenants who seek high-speed internet services. Riverfront Square, which is a mixed-use development, located on almost 12-acre site which was the former Newark Beer Stadium. Riverfront Square will contain 2000 units for residential, both small and large scale retail space, a public and cultural space, a hotel, an office space of 2million, and parking space, which is located in the downtown of the city.

Newark is one of America’s great cities based on culture, innovation, and music. Lotus Equity Group focuses on revitalizing Newark through Riverfront Square. This is a transformative development for mixed purposes, which aims at benefiting local communities through the housing for workers, jobs, and open space for public use (Curvin 2014). The group has been vocal promoters for the city of a Newark through two Gateway, which is the largest commercial office building in Newark, and they are motivated to see both local and international companies attracted to do business in the city. Some of the other projects located along broad street station and Washington Park have resulted into establishment of new neighborhoods found in the downtown of the town and has promoted the importance of connecting different neighborhoods district and open space such as Weequahic Park and fast-growing Riverfront Park. James Corner Field Operation, which is an internationally renowned architectural firm, is working on High-Line in Manhattan by being the leading designer and architect of face II in Riverfront Park project that help in connecting Passaic River waterfront in downtown.

Ruther Ford-based Inglese Architecture, Engineering (IAE), and development team which is made up of L&M partners, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group and Prudential financial INK are working together to position and redesign a landmark of 21 story building with 436 thousand square foot tower which is located at 540 Broad Street. The Art deco building situated near Washington Park was designed and built in the year 1929, which was the former New Jersey Bell Telephone company. It is known for a majestic lobby and an exterior, which is built by bricks and sandstones. This building is recorded in the US National register of historic places. The conversion of the building expects to achieve a new mixed-income, mixed-use development, which contains 265 residential houses. 20% of these residents will be affordable to locals, and the building will have a more than 80,000 square feet retail space and class an office. These affordable units target those families, which earn 40-50% of Area Meridian Income.

In this project, residential houses will be located from the sixth floor up to the 21^st floor, while the lower floors will be used for retail office and many other non-residential purposes. This building has been a home of regional offices of Verizon, and therefore they will continue to occupy the fourth floor of this building. Attention from the National is drawn on new works revitalization due to efforts made by the city and other anchor institutions to boost economic growth and city plan.

Establishment of businesses in the city’s downtown provides new opportunities which help in revitalizing Newark and re-establishing it to be recognized as one of US great cities, Newark art and cultural scenes link businesses, artistic community and developers in the city. The Grammy Museum of Los Angeles chose Prudential Center of Newark to be its east coast home. This facility is one of the top-ranked sport and entertainment venues across the US, which can accommodate 1.75 million guests every year as NHL’s Devils Sexton Hall University basketball and many other performers such as Elton John and Bruno Mars. One theatre square, which is a joined project that is located between Dranoff properties and NJPAC, creates this connection. This project is situated on 1.2-acre land, which is opposite to the Performing Arts Center and Military Park in the middle of the downtown pf Newark. The project contains 265 apartments, which are up to scale (Mcelrath 1961).

Revitalization of Newark is taking place block by block. The city has some advantages over other struggling towns in the United States. It contains a significant seaport, an international airport, and a labor pool, which stretch from Connecticut to Pennsylvania. Newark also has a fiber optic cable that runs in the middle of the city, which has data servers at Bamberger.

Newark still experience challenges that revitalization is yet to solve. The city had some of the oldest buildings with old forms of drainage and conduit pipes (Centre for urban policy research 1997). This results in water leakages and blocking of drainages, which in return lead to water shortages. 98% of Newark’s population, including businesses and government facilities, depend on public community water supply, which supplies drinking water. These systems were constructed in the periods of 1890-1830 when the city was growing. Water treatment plants were built and rebuilt in the 1980s as demanded by the Federal Safe drinking water act. However, most of New Jersey’s infrastructure for drinking water is old and has not received funding for an extended period. New Jersey should, therefore, improve and maintain water supply infrastructure since these drinking water systems protect public health and are responsible for economic vitality.

According to data, New Jersey is the 17^th city among US States and territories, which has hazardous waste, and it is ranked first with the number of contaminated sites by the National priority list (NPL). NPL list the most severe abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites, which require long term clearing (University hospital 1996). Newark should improve its environment to help business owners and residents live in a healthy environment through the Licensed Site Remediation professional program.

Poverty and violence are some of the issues faced by the city of Newark. Most of the neighborhoods in the city have a higher rate of poverty than the Sussex County. The demographics of the town are old since they were constructed decades ago. Housing in some parts of the city is in good condition, while most of the neighborhoods signify poverty abandonment and disinvestment. Most communities have empty storefronts, vacant lots, and deteriorated houses. Revitalization has aimed at rehabilitating and developing the entire regions in the city. Most of the residents of Newark city are poor people of color while the residents of Suburbs are white and wealthy. Most of these residents suffer from health problems, which are related to poor environmental issues and lack of access to health services. Children in Newark are not able to access quality public education, which lowers levels of academic achievement. Vitalization should aim at fully funding the education system to improve academic performance in the area.

Newark housing authority has been making transformations in the state of housing. They should come up with policies, which improve the housing estates in the city of Newark. The local government made rulings to enable affordable housing for low-income people. The court is battling against housing and education inequity (Strom 1999). Court rulings allow builders to sue towns if they are denied permission to build affordable units in housing development. It has prompted the State agency to set affordable housing goals in the entire city. The court also ordered the State to distribute funds equally and initiate educational reforms in Newark. The legislature, which enacted reforms for school funding laws to comply with rules that have been of benefit in Newark’s schools.

In conclusion, the city of Newark has undergone revitalization from its former state. It now contains developed infrastructure, economic, and cultural development. Revival has led to a set of businesses and thriving of landmarks as well as museums. Basing on cultural events, the city of Newark is one of the most developed cities in the United States. There have been several constructions with the focus being a renovation of old buildings shops, houses, and other social amenities. The mayor of the city hall started revitalization in Newark, and the projects are still ongoing. However, the city of Newark still experience challenges such as water problems, racial segregation, poverty that has and low levels of educational achievement as well as inadequate health care facilities. Projects that aim at revitalization should take into account these issues to improve conditions in the city of Newark.