Town of Princeton Uses Picture of Abandoned Icelandic Village for Affordable Housing Department Webpage

Posted on April 8, 2018 by walkableprinceton

Screenshot of Town of Princeton’s webpage for Affordable Housing Department. (click to expand)

The Town of Princeton recently launched a new municipal webpage. Interestingly, the Affordable Housing Department page features a picture of an abandoned village next to a remote, subarctic mountain range. It’s not clear what this has to do with affordable housing in Princeton. Presumably it is a stock photo that was left in as a placeholder by the web designer, but it’s an unfortunate choice after a judge ruled that the town needs to plan for hundreds of new affordable homes. At this time, town officials have released no information about where they plan to place these new homes, even though a decision is needed by June. Continue reading →

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Site Plan For Senior Living Facility Next to Princeton Shopping Center

Posted on March 31, 2018 by walkableprinceton

Rendering of assisted living facility proposed for North Harrison St and Terhune Road, Princeton (click to expand)

In the 1990s, a plan was submitted to build a senior living facility on the site next to Princeton Shopping Center, at the intersection of North Harrison St and Terhune Road. The plan drew opposition and nothing ever got built. The site is currently scrubby wasteland. But last year, ‘Sunrise Senior Living’ apparently started holding meetings with local neighbors to discuss a new plan, and subsequently filed detailed plans with the Zoning Office at Princeton City Hall. Electronic versions are not available, but we took some grainy photos, to show what the building might look like. Continue reading →

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Princeton Planning Board Approves 6-Unit Infill Apartment Project on Spring Street

Posted on February 26, 2018 by walkableprinceton

Rendering of Nelson Glass building addition with residential units. (click to expand, credit: JZ&D architects)

The Princeton Planning Board recently approved a proposal to add three stories to the ‘Nelson Glass’ building at 45 Spring Street. The project promises to add 6 new apartments in a very walkable location at the heart of downtown Princeton. One of the apartments will be designated as an ‘affordable’ unit under the town’s inclusionary zoning policy, and the project will meet LEED-Silver environmental standards. Continue reading →

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Parking-On-Demand Comes To Princeton With Launch Of ‘Possumus’ Program

Posted on February 20, 2018 by walkableprinceton

Arash Sadeghi, at the launch of the ‘Possumus’ parking system, Nassau St Princeton, Feb 17, 2018 (click to expand)

Princeton just got a new way to park. You may have read about Arash Sadeghi last year in the Princeton Echo or in the Princeton Packet. The graduate of Oxford and Princeton universities was launching a tech startup to allow people to find parking in town. Using a smartphone app, users could enter details about where they were going, and be guided to an open parking space by their phone. A solar-powered ‘smart meter’ would sense when the user arrived, and begin a parking session. At the end, the user simply drives away. No more hunting for a parking spot. No more searching for quarters. It’s parking, on demand. And now, it has finally launched. Continue reading →

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The Greater Princeton: A Smart Growth Vision for the Princeton Region

Posted on January 24, 2018 by walkableprinceton

Blatchford Development in Edmonton, Canada (Could be Princeton or West Windsor)

This post was submitted by a guest blogger.

Princeton and its surrounding communities are at a turning point and need to make critical decisions about how they want to grow. The affordable housing obligations now being determined will very likely require much more development, and there is a pressing housing shortage. Moreover, there is a retail and suburban office space apocalypse upon us. Do they want to continue encouraging business as usual auto-dependent sprawl? Or do they want to make strategically guided equitable smart growth development on public transit and create walkable sustainable lifestyles that people are seeking?

Continue reading →

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Site Plan for New PFARS Ambulance Station at Witherspoon St and Valley Road in Princeton

Posted on January 9, 2018 by walkableprinceton

Rendering of concept for new Princeton First Aid and Rescue Service amublance station at Valley Road in Princeton (click to expand)

On Wednesday evening, January 10, Princeton’s Site Plan Review Advisory Board will consider a plan for a new Princeton First Aid & Rescue ambulance station at Witherspoon Street and Valley Road. The plan to move PFARS from their current home at Clearview Ave to this site has been discussed since 2014. It is expected to cost $7.5 million. We obtained the site plans and rendering of the current concept from the Princeton Zoning Department (apologies for low quality of the pictures). The site is at the intersection of Continue reading →

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10 Princeton Predictions for 2018

Posted on December 31, 2017 by walkableprinceton

What changes are coming in Princeton in 2018? (click to expand)

The year 2017 saw some ‘interesting’ developments in Princeton, although everything local was kinda overshadowed by Trump. What about 2018? What does it have in store? Here are 10 predictions… remember, 6 of our predictions from last year turned out to be correct! (see bottom for proof!) Read on…and try to guess how many of our latest predictions will turn out to be right! Continue reading →

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Princeton University Names Site For New Residential College

Posted on December 5, 2017 by walkableprinceton

Proposed site for new Princeton University residential college. Via www.princeton.edu (click to expand)

Princeton University just released an update to their long-range campus planning exercise. As expected, the University is planning to add a new residential college, to accommodate an increase in undergraduate numbers of 10%. The site for the new college will be down-campus from Butler College, at Elm Drive and South Drive (next to the existing soccer field, see image above).  Continue reading →

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How Princeton Could Fund New Affordable Housing

Posted on November 23, 2017 by walkableprinceton

‘Carnevale Plaza’ on Nassau Street, under construction in March 2016. The complex includes 5 below-market-rate rentals. (click to expand)

A ruling is expected soon in the Mercer County affordable housing trial, which is likely to require Princeton to supply hundreds of new affordable homes. We already considered where the new homes might go. And recently, planners gave some clues about sites they are considering for housing. But how will the town pay for the new homes? And will it mean higher property taxes? Continue reading →

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Planners Eye Seminary, Princeton Shopping Center As Sites For New Housing

Posted on November 13, 2017 by walkableprinceton

Tennent Hall, Princeton Theological Seminary (click to expand)

Princeton’s Planning Board last week passed a Reexamination Report for the Community Masterplan. The report, which must be prepared regularly according to state law, contains a list of problems facing the community and what planning remedies will be used to address those problems. As could be expected, affordable housing and traffic are mentioned as issues facing the town of Princeton, and the report gives some insight into where planners are considering as potential sites for new housing. Continue reading →

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