NY Times:
War on sprawl in NJ hits a wall. Living in NJ during the 80’s, this is what would occur: Local farmers retire, selling off large plats of land. Developers take the land, building cluster housing, sometimes increasing the number of residents for a particular municipality by 1000%. No money into infrastructure [roads, electric, water, schools]. No town centers, no sidewalks ... just endless houses and the need to drive everywhere. At a certain point, infrastructure must be brought up to snuff. Schools must be built. Taxes go through the roof, yet still can’t keep up. Infrastructure suffers. Inviting in “big box” mercantile outfits, to increase ratables. The character of the Princeton area was completely shifted from a walking neighborhood of fascinating individuals to a driving mall of strangers.
