Plans for bicycle facilities unveiled by Mercer County Planners 07.09.2019. (click to expand)
At a meeting at Princeton University’s Fields Center last week, planners from Mercer County presented their draft Bicycle Master Plan. The meeting was intended to get public input and explain the various different types of bicycle facility that the County is considering on local roads. Continue reading
Proposed site for addition to Princeton High School (click to expand)
At a special meeting on Tuesday night (June 4, 2019), the Princeton Board of Education considered bids for work to be completed to local schools as a result of the bond referendum that was passed by voters last year. The Board also inspected plans and renderings for a proposed addition to Princeton High School. Two ‘concept plans’ for the addition were presented, with different styles. In each case, the additions would allow improvements to fitness and wrestling facilities on the ground floor, and creation of a ‘learning commons’ on the second floor. Mechanical apparatus and air-conditioning equipment would be placed on the roof.
Molly Jones, Executive Director of Sustainable Princeton, presenting the Draft Princeton Climate Action Plan at a public meeting at Princeton Town Hall May 14 2019 (click to expand)
The public comment period for the draft Princeton Climate Action Plan is due to finish on May 31 2019, but how many residents really know what is in the plan? We have assembled all of the policy proposals into one page. By our count, there are eighty-two individual recommendations. Which do you like the best? Continue reading
Rainbow over Princeton Shopping Center after recent wet weather. (click to expand)
After a very wet April and May, Princeton residents might be asking “why is it always raining??” According to data from the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist, the answer is clear: it’s Climate Change. Last year was the wettest fall on record in New Jersey, and rainfall totals are well above average throughout Central and Northern NJ in the last couple of months. According to Sustainable Princeton’s recently-published Draft Climate Action Plan (read it here), average temperatures in Princeton are now 4 degrees higher than they were back in the day. Continue reading
New ‘Bon Appetit’ food kiosk at Carnevale Plaza. (click to expand)
‘Bon Appetit‘, a mainstay of Princeton Shopping Center since 1967, opened a new outlet last Thursday at 255 Nassau Street (click here for map). The new Bon Appetit kiosk serves crepes, waffles, sandwiches and drinks. Continue reading
Rendering of new residential colleges at Princeton University, as seen from Poe Field. (click to expand)
Earlier this year, Princeton University made a presentation to the Princeton Planning Board about their new Colleges. The two new Colleges are intended firstly to provide a residence for 500 extra undergraduates that the University intends to enroll as its student body expands. The new Colleges will also provide ‘swing space’, providing a temporary home for existing undergraduates during redevelopment of aging College buildings. We reported about the proposed development in February of this year. Ronald McCoy, the Princeton University Architect, presented about the Concept Plan for the new Colleges, assisted by attorney Christopher DeGrezia, and Maitland Jones, who was representing Deborah Berke Partners, the firm that is designing the new buildings.
Part of the old Princeton Nurseries complex in Kingston NJ (Image via CKCurtis via FPNL, click to expand)
In Kingston NJ, just across Carnegie Lake from Princeton, the ‘Mapleton Preserve‘ offers open space and a chance to connect to nature. The site was formerly part of the largest commercial nursery in the USA, ‘Princeton Nurseries‘. After its closure in 1995, a significant part of the Princeton Nurseries land was preserved. The 53 acre core of preserved area, including the most significant nursery buildings, became the Mapleton Preserve. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and South Brunswick Township established the ‘Mapleton Preserve Commission’, to ensure that the land could be managed for recreation and conservation purposes, for passive recreation, historic preservation, and nature preserve purposes, as well as historic agricultural and horticultural activities. In order to meet the goals set for the Preserve, the Commission developed a creative plan for development to preserve the historic landscape including its buildings. This week, however, the redevelopment proposal was withdrawn after substantial local opposition, and the historic warehouse buildings now face demolition. Continue reading
Cars parked on Hulfish Street in Princeton on April 13 2019. (click to expand)
Princeton Council meets Monday night to consider the impact of recent changes to street parking in downtown Princeton, which included the first increase in parking meter rates for many years. Local merchants have sent letters to local media, arguing that “fewer people are coming to our downtown to shop” and commenters on social media have argued that they are no longer coming to Princeton to shop because of the higher parking rates. If the new meter rates were really scaring away potential customers of downtown Princeton stores, you might expect to find lots of empty street parking spaces. The reality was rather different on Saturday afternoon, however, as every available metered parking space in downtown Princeton seemed to be taken. Continue reading
“Paul Robeson Plaza” in New Brunswick, NJ, which was dedicated today. (click to expand)
Rutgers University today dedicated a new plaza in downtown New Brunswick in honor of Paul Robeson. The famed former Princeton resident graduated from Rutgers as class valedictorian 100 years ago, in 1919. He became internationally famous as a singer, actor, and activist for social justice, before his career was cut short by harassment from government agencies. The construction of ‘Robeson Plaza’ was enabled by a gift of the Rutgers Class of 1971 and the work of the Rutgers African-American Alumni Alliance. Continue reading
The new municipal fueling station on Mt Lucas Road in Princeton. It was built without any consultation of neighbors. (click to expand).
Laurel Road residents attended the Princeton Council meeting last Monday to express fury at the unexpected construction of a new gas station at the bottom of Mt Lucas Road. The gas station – which is in a residential R-6 zone – was built without any public consultation. Many neighbors only found out about it when a construction crew appeared in February to start building. It replaces a grassy area where trees had grown and where sculptures were on display. The residents were also angry that the town was closing part of Terhune Road without having any alternative circulation plan in place. Continue reading
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