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Jersey City:
Originally appeared in
New Jersey Municipalities in December 1998 issue
For years, Jersey City was associated with
corrupt government, dangerous streets, and
irresponsible fiscal policies. In short, things
were a mess.
Since the end of World War II, Jersey
City, much like dozens of other American cities, can cities, has suffered from the
deindustrialization of the American
economy. As major industries
downsized, left town, or went out of
business, they took with them well-paying jobs and much-needed tax
revenues. What they left behind were
the hulking, decayed remnants of
abandoned factories, glaring eyesores
that served as daily reminders of the
once-proud history of America's
industrial cities.
As our commercial tax base shrunk,
so did our property tax base. Middle
class residents fled Jersey City for
the greener pastures of suburbia, as
they did in cities throughout the
country. As our tax base declined, the demand for
services increased. City government
could not cope with either the fiscal or
social disaster brought on by the city's
crisis. Citizens could see the decline in
the quality of life around them as government grew increasingly unable to
provide the basic services that citizens
demand. Streets grew dirtier, crime
increased, public schools were no
longer performing up to standards.
In addition, Jersey City suffered under
the weight of corrupt and ineffective
government. Politicians seemed
unconcerned about the common good
of the people or the social distress which surrounded them. They were more
concerned with holding onto their
political power and padding city
government payrolls with their cronies.
Yet in recent years there has been a
distinct turnaround in the fortunes of
Jersey City. I am proud that Jersey City
has now returned to financial stability.
The city's property tax collection rate
has increased from 82% five years ago
to a full 100% today. This has saved
Jersey City property taxpayers millions
of dollars. In addition, Standard & Poor's
has just upgraded our credit rating. We
have kept city spending and taxes in
check, at levels well below both the rate
of inflation and the massive tax and
spending increases of our Hudson
County neighbors.
We have made it a point to create a
pro-business attitude in Jersey City.
Just to give one example, there are
tremendous tax advantages to being
located in Jersey City. We have no
payroll tax; no city sales tax; no city
income tax; no corporate tax; no
personal property tax; no tax on
unincorporated businesses; and no tax on commercial
rent. In addition, downtown Jersey
City falls within an Urban Enterprise
Zone, so the state sales tax here is
only 3%. We believe that lower taxes
not only make
for a more conducive business
environment, but also strengthen the
fiscal health of the city by freeing up
investment dollars to help local
businesses
grow.
The city's quality of life has also
improved dramatically. We have
instituted Neighborhood
improvement Districts (NIDs) and
Special Improvement Districts (SIDs)
to help beautify and renovate Jersey
City's neighborhoods. Special
operating assessments from
members generate supplemental
security, sanitation services, special capital
improvements and promotional events.
As a result, our parks are greener, our
streets are cleaner, and our
communities are safer. If the crime rate
in Jersey City continues along its
present trend for 1998, Jersey City will
have achieved a 36% decline in crime
rates since 1992 when I first took office.
If present trends continue, Jersey City's
streets will be safer than at any time
since 1973.
Such policies have had tangible results
for Jersey City's economy. Total
employment has increased 20% in the
last three years. A Rutgers University
study found that of all the jobs created in
New Jersey's six largest cities during
this period, 91% were created in Jersey City alone! Another recent survey
found that in 1997, Jersey City had the
third largest increase in property values
in the entire nation.
In response to these improvements,
residential and commercial development in Jersey City is absolutely booming. To see the great progress made in
Jersey City, one need only look at the
development of the Jersey City waterfront. Whereas the waterfront was once defined by its empty lots and
abandoned buildings, today roughly
$500 million of construction is being
slated for downtown Jersey City, which
translates into millions of dollars in
additional tax revenues. Recently, plans
were unveiled for the American
Financial Exchange in downtown Jersey
City which, when completed, will
become the tallest building in New
Jersey at 900 feet with an estimated 1.8
million square feet of space. That is in
addition to a 420,000-square-foot
building Hartz Mountain Industries is
erecting and a 575,000-square-foot
Newport Office Tower 3 that the LeFrak
Organization is building. These two
latter projects have already broken
ground. Since the mid-1980s, LeFrak
has been carefully developing 600
acres of land on the waterfront, creating
a mini-community with high-rise
apartments, a marina, shopping mall
with eleven-theater movie complex, and
an international supermarket.
Some of the larger employers in
Jersey City include: Donaldson, Lufkin
& Jenrette Securities Corp.; Merrill
Lynch; the Daily News; First Chicago
Trust Company of New York; Telerate
Systems; Lehman Brothers; Block Drug company; and Fleet Bank. Many Wall Street
firms have found it profitable to move their
back office operations out of New York and
into downtown Jersey City, under the
shadow of the World Trade Center. The New
York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the
American Stock Exchange have all shown
an interest in moving their headquarters to
Jersey City. There is even talk that the New
York Yankees are considering plans to
locate the new Yankee Stadium in Jersey
City.
A modern business center like downtown
Jersey City needs quality hotels. Our first,
the DoubleTree Club Hotel, just opened its
doors for business this summer and already
is running at 70% occupancy. Three more
hotels are in the planning stages. As for
recreation, Jersey City is home to Liberty State Park which receives nearly 4 million
visitor a year, making it the country's most
popular state park. On the drawing board is
a plan to build an 18-hole golf course,
designed by Tom Kite, for the Caven Point
area of Jersey City. It will be the first golf
course in Hudson County.
Unlike some redeveloped central business
districts, Downtown Jersey City does not
shut down after 5 pm. This is a residential,
as well as a business, district. Ferry service
and PATH subways provide our residents with
easy and quick transportation to
Manhattan. Those working in Jersey
City or commuting to Manhattan can
choose to live either in the
brownstones which line the streets of
the historic Paulus Hook and
Hamilton Park neighborhoods or in
the new, modern high rises which dot
the Jersey City waterfront, providing
panoramic views of the Manhattan
skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis
Island. Nearly 2,300 residential units
have been built in the last few years
and over 4,300 units are in the
planning stage. With spectacular
growth like this, we expect Jersey City
to become the state's largest city by
the beginning of the 21st century.
The second project, still only in the
planning phase, is our Bergen Arches
plan. Presently, many of the roads
leading to Jersey City from the west
are heavily traveled. Many of those
driving into Jersey City get funneled
into traffic headed for the Holland
Tunnel, which backs up during rush
hour. I have proposed that an
abandoned east-west railroad cut
through the Jersey City Palisades be
resurfaced as an expressway to bring
drivers from the west straight to the
Jersey City Waterfront without their
having to deal with rush-hour traffic
headed towards the Holland Tunnel.
This will make downtown Jersey City
an even more attractive and
convenient place to do business.
But there is more than just building going
on. It is the people of Jersey City who are
our true natural resource. One hundred
years ago, when millions of European
immigrants came through Ellis Island,
many of them chose to come ashore in
Jersey City, which earned the nickname:
"America's Golden Door." Some stayed
and made their lives here and others
caught trains to points west. Today, we
are once again a major stop for
immigrants, this time from Asia, the
Middle East, Latin America and Africa. I
believe this cultural diversity is one of our
city's great strengths. The vitality, work
ethic, family values, and entrepreneurial
spirit of today's immigrants have helped to
revitalize Jersey City.
Because of this, I have taken to calling
Jersey City a "Slice of Heaven," where
all of the world's people get along in
peace. And we celebrate our cultural diversity with a variety of ethnic
festivals throughout the year. Just this
year, our "Slice of Heaven" festivals
won the Cultural Diversity Award from
the National Black Caucus of Local
Elected Officials.
Such diversity creates the possibility
for an exciting future in Jersey City. I
foresee Jersey City becoming a miniature Silicon Valley, capitalizing on the
regional brainpower and the economic
benefits that we can offer small firms.
Visionics, Inc., a company specializing
in face-recognition technology, is an
example of the type of high-tech company that we attract. I also foresee
Downtown Jersey City becoming
another Soho, with creative people
attracted by our cheaper cost of living
and cultural diversity. Already, we have
created the WALDO (Work and Live
District Overlay) section of Jersey City,
with old warehouses being converted
into loft studios for artists. We have
given tax incentives to landlords to create this district so that when property values rise, struggling artists don't get
squeezed out of the neighborhood
like they did in Soho during the 1980s.
After all, what good is all of this
development if we do not have the
cultural base that uplifts our people?
Development is not just confined to
Downtown Jersey City. Work has
begun on beautifying the
Journal
Square central business district,
which had long been a commercial
and entertainment hub of the city, but
has fallen on hard times in recent
decades. New municipal offices, a
new community college building, and
new court building are all being
planned for, the Journal Square area.
Across town, along Martin Luther
King-Drive, the Jersey Economic
Development Corporation and the
MLK Drive Neighborhood
Development Corporation have
formed a joint partnership for a
massive redevelopment of the 26-
block-long strip known as the Community Hub District. An 80,000 square-foot shopping center, post
office, and bank are all slated for
development, in addition to the
relocation of churches and the
rehabilitation of residential buildings.
Despite the great news, we in
Jersey City still have a ways to go.
Crime is still higher than any civilized
society should tolerate. Drugs still
plague too many lives. Despair still
reigns along the cracked sidewalks of
some of our tougher neighborhoods.
Jersey City's budget still suffers from
a structural deficit, though we have
reduced it enormously during my
administration. And our property
owners are still overburdened by
property taxes. State-aid cuts threaten
any progress that has been made.
But I remain an incurable optimist
about American cities. As someone
who grew up in the suburbs, I love living in the city, with its wide range of
experiences and alternate ways of
seeing life. And many of my fellow Americans are also rediscovering the pleasures of city life. Recent history in
places like Jersey City shows that an
honest, reform government which
implements solid policy decisions
can
attract people back to cities. It's not
that the American people prefer the
suburbs over the city, but rather we
just
need to give them good reasons to
live
in cities.
Bret Schundler is Mayor of Jersey City and a member of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities' Executive Board
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With all of this development, Jersey
City needs a strong transportation
infrastructure to keep up. To this end,
two major projects -- one just beginning
and the other in the planning stage -- will
significantly improve our
transportation network. The first
project is the Hudson-Bergen Light
Rail system. Work has already begun
in Jersey City laying tracks for this light-rail system, which will begin
operations in 2000 and extend 20.5
miles through Hudson and Bergen
Counties. The electric trains will
combine the convenience of a trolley
with the latest train technology. When
completed, the system will have 32
stations and carry over 100,000
passengers a day, while decreasing
traffic congestion and air pollution in
Jersey City and improving
neighborhood aesthetics.
