Jersey City, NJ, is becoming a hotspot for new housing developments due to its proximity to New York City, according to The New York Times.
A Promising Future
With a hospital, a nearly century-old Art Deco building, now transformed into an apartment complex called The Beacon, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sees his city’s future in Jersey City. He says that new housing construction should be a priority, and everything else that the city wants to do should come after.
Mixed Emotions
However, Jersey City residents have reported mixed feelings about the housing boom. Some feel positively about the public transit-oriented growth, which promises to be efficient and environmentally friendly. Longtime locals have felt frustrated witnessing their sense of community eroded as they become gentrified and residents are displaced. A recent study found that approximately one third of the census tracts in Jersey city had experienced residential displacement or were at high risk of it.
According to government data, Jersey City is only home to 3% of the state’s population, yet it accounts for 20% of new building permits in New Jersey.
Tracking the Housing Market
Rents were rising in previous years and finally started settling in 2023 and 2024. Now they may be falling as a result of the mayor’s “clear and deliberate playbook:” the median asking rent in the city was $2,650 in December, compared to $1,995 in 2017. Last month, the median asking rent in NYC in December was $3,874. The playbook consists of rezoning for denser building and taller towers, incentivizing developments in lower-income areas through tax breaks, getting rid of parking requirements, accepting imperfect projects, and getting comfortable facing off with labor interests and community groups.
Pricing Out
The mayor of Jersey City primarily cares about building, and he is prepared to deal with the positive and negative consequences that may come as a result. This includes unaffordable housing taking spots in neighborhoods where they do not match the character. In the same vein, local families run the risk of new housing pricing them out as over two-thirds of the newly built housing came in the form of studios and one-bedroom units.
A boy’s basketball powerhouse at St. Anthony High School had to shut down in 2017 after it ran out of money to keep tuition reasonable for nearby families, whose median household income is $95,000. This is not the only recreation center/affordable after-school destination that has closed for the same reason.
The decline in available affordable housing has notably affected Black residents, who on average have less wealth than white families. Between 2013 and 2023, the city’s Black population fell by about 3,000, while its white population grew by about 15,000, according to a report from Rutgers University’s law school. Mr. Fulop, the mayor, said he had no regrets about how the city had developed, but that he understood concerns about the decline in the Black population.
Mamdani Takes Notes
Mamdani takes New York’s housing shortage seriously and has pledged to build 200,000 affordable housing units in New York over the next decade.
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Information courtesy of The New York Times