Issue #133, January/February 2004

Listening to Newark

By Linda Ocasio

Back to One City: Newark, NJ

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The Newark in the 21st Century Task Force brought together 22 civic leaders to examine the future of the city. “We wanted a public discussion of Newark’s prospects that would result in the civic elite getting feedback from the community,” says executive director Roper, who made presentations in each of the city’s five wards. Revitalization was embraced by the neighborhoods, he says, but “they felt isolated and that development was downtown-centric.”

“The attitude in the neighborhoods was that there was no coherent plan for development, that the city hasn’t taken steps toward planning,” says Roper. He believes that the task force’s recommendations, issued in its final report in November 2000, have been “catalytic…a point of departure for a lot of different organizations,” he says. Recommendations fell into four broad areas – Newark’s image, the city’s role and contribution to the regional economy, identifying city assets and the public schools – and were clearly directed at city and state officials, business leaders and the nonprofit sector.

Many of the city’s assets have not been fully utilized in planning for the city’s future. “Newark is the core of a region, but it’s not recognized as such,” says Roper. An enormous transportation web (airport, seaport, railroads and highways) converges in Newark but has not been exploited for the full benefit of the city or region. Five college campuses are located in the city’s Central Ward, but they have yet to fully engage with their surrounding community.

Among the ideas put forth:
• Clean up neglected eyesores and develop an image campaign to better promote the city to nonresidents;
• Establish a forum where Newark’s various constituencies can communicate with one another;
• Design strategies to build on the city’s economic assets, such as transportation, entertainment and higher education;
• Give occupational skills development a higher priority so that residents can benefit from new jobs, including construction jobs related to new investment;
• Establish a citizens panel to monitor school management and financial issues;
• Press for effective implementation of the school construction and reconstruction program mandated by state courts.

Resources

Newark in Focus: A Profile from Census 2000. Living Cities: the National Community Development Initiative and The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan policy. www.brookings.edu/urban/census.

Association for Children of New Jersey
35 Halsey St.
Newark, NJ 07192
973-643-3876
www.acnj.org

“Gentleman’s Agreement: Discrimination in Metropolitan America,” by Kenneth T. Jackson, in Reflections on Regionalism, Bruce Katz, ed. The Brookings Institution. 2000. www.brookings.edu.

Newark in the 21st Century Task Force Final Report
The Roper Group
550 Broad St., Ste. 601
Newark, NJ 07102
973-286-2780
www.ropergroup.org/reports.html

New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute
33 Livingston Ave.
New Brunswick, NJ
732-932-3133 X599
http://policy.rutgers.edu:16080/njppri/index.php

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