Lambertville, NJ is a fantastic town to walk around. (click to expand.)
Looking for a walkable place to live near Princeton? Terrified about getting trapped in the notorious Jersey sprawl? You’ve come to the right place. Here are fifteen places, near Princeton, where you can easily walk to stores and restaurants. No car required. Leave your ‘what exit?’ gags behind. This is walkable Central Jersey. Continue reading
Princeton is full of hidden parking lots, which are often less then half-full even at busy times.(click to expand).
Take out your smartphone. Click a button and say “SMALL WORLD COFFEE”. Instantly, your phone provides turn-by-turn directions to…an open parking spot near your destination of choice. You arrive shortly, and pull straight into the spot (without driving round on a frantic search for parking for 10 minutes). Getting out, you click a button, and payment is automatically charged to your online account. It’s the ‘Airbnb of Parking’ app, the software that makes parking in Princeton a breeze. Continue reading
Ettl Farm, which was developed as housing in Princeton Township in the 1990s. (click to expand).
Open space. A complete network of cycle paths. Housing options that preserved social and economic diversity. Stores that can be accessed easily on foot. All this was envisaged in 1973 by the Princeton Planning Board, as part of a 20-year vision plan called ‘A Princeton Of Villages’. The plan would have seen Princeton’s population grow to 40,000 by 1990, with new residents added in a series of clustered, mixed-use developments.
One potential site for new affordable housing in Princeton: The ‘Franklin Lot’ at Franklin Avenue and Harris Road. (click to expand.)
The Princeton Planning Board got an update on Wednesday night about affordable housing. Planning Director Lee Solow outlined the process by which the town will need to respond to a landmark decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court from earlier this year, which handed control of affordable housing obligations to the courts. As part of the discussion, Solow described four sites in Princeton that are either zoned or planned to provide future affordable housing.
Current conditions at Princeton’s Valley Road, which is set for engineering improvements. (click to expand.)
Princeton’s engineers held a public meeting last week to discuss planned upgrades to sanitary sewers and storm drains on Valley Road. As Princeton’s ‘Complete Streets’ policy calls for roads to be designed with all users in mind, the engineers also discussed opportunities for making the street layout friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists. Neighbors were invited to make suggestions on the kinds of improvements they would like to see. Continue reading
Visualization from the report of one option for running a modern streetcar on University Place in Princeton. (click to expand)
A task force set up to consider upgrades to transit service along Alexander Street and University Place is set to present a final report to Princeton Council. Their ‘preferred alternative’ is a streetcar/light rail service operating on the existing Princeton Branch rail line between Princeton Junction and Princeton Station, which would then continue via a dedicated track on the east side of University Place to a new stop in downtown Princeton on Nassau Street. The cost of building the new system would be at least $45 million. Continue reading
Princeton University’s campus is a site for all kinds of activities, such as bagpiping as seen here at a recent ‘Reunions’. The University is now inviting members of the community to give input on how they use the campus. (click to expand.)
Princeton University is reaching out to students, faculty, and members of the community with a new website called ‘Campus Compass‘. The site allows people to inform the University about how they use the campus, as part of the ongoing effort to make a new masterplan to address the University’s future needs. Continue reading
!["Waiting for passengers to Trenton is Trenton-Princeton Traction car 21 near Witherspoon Street in Princeton in 1939. The line had been cut back to this point from the former Witherspoon Street trackage by this date. [Photo from Stephen D. Maguire]" (click to expand)](https://walkableprinceton.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/epson029.jpg)
“Waiting for passengers to Trenton is Trenton-Princeton Traction car 21 near Witherspoon Street in Princeton in 1939. The line had been cut back to this point from the former Witherspoon Street trackage by this date. [Photo from Stephen D. Maguire]”* (click to expand)
Existing affordable housing operated by Princeton Community Housing on Bunn Drive in Princeton. (click to expand.)
Princeton should create 660 new units of housing* for people of low and moderate incomes. That’s a conclusion of a new report that revises estimates of affordable housing requirements for each New Jersey municipality. Local municipalities including West Windsor and Hopewell Twp have been set even higher numbers- 1,000 new units are envisaged for both these townships.
The #655 ‘HealthLine’ bus, seen here in Princeton, is facing the ax in NJ Transit cutbacks (click to expand).
This week, NJ Transit announced fare hikes and service cutbacks. Among all the bus lines in New Jersey, the only year-round daily service that is getting the chop is our #655 service between Princeton and Plainsboro. The #655 line was launched in 2012, with support from six funding partners including Princeton Healthcare System and Princeton University. It was intended to provide a transit link to the new hospital, and also provided a link between Princeton and residential areas of Plainsboro. But the bus line has reportedly struggled for ridership, and now faces termination. How is it possible that the #655 hasn’t worked out, given Princeton’s stated dedication to transit? Continue reading
walkableprinceton 