Township of Irvington, NJ

Top: East Ward Redevelopment Concept Plan Center: Mayor Wayne Smith (center, seated) gather with participants of a redevelopment meeting to discuss the progress in irvington's East Ward/East Springfield Ave. Redevelopment Area Bottom: Historic Photo of Springfield Avenue

The New Jersey Redevelopment Authority (NJRA), through a $25,000 New Jersey urban Site Acquisition (NJ-USA) planning loan, investigated whether or not the East Ward of irvington could be designated an area in need of redevelopment. The NJRA financing was used to inventory the physical, social, market and programmatic activities, and uses of the East Ward neighborhood. In addition, the plan identified obstacles to redevelopment along with strengths of the area.

As a result of this planning effort, the East Ward neighborhood and the East Springfield Avenue area, previously identified as separate redevelopment areas, were conbined and designated as one area in need of redevelopment. The East Ward/East Springfield Avenue Redevelopemtn Plan proposes the construction of a community school, new housing construction and revitalization of the East Springfield Avenue commercial corridor.

The proposed school, the catalyst for the revitalization of this area, will integrate social services that will address many of the needs expressed by East Ward residents during the redevelopment planning process. The school will be designed to also meet community needs during off-peak school hours for use by nonprofit, institutional, medical, social, recreational and educational services.

The initial financing provided by the NJRA re-energized the drive needed to move forward with what was put forth inthe newly proposed Redevelopment Plan. The planning component is the fundamental core to any successful revitalization effort. The plan also reinforces the state's goal for creating projects that support Smart growth by considering high-quality design principles and ensuring that a neighborhood is walkable and accessible by public transportation.

DID YOU KNOW?

Irvington's development gained so mch momentum between 1905 and 1930 that the population increased from 11,877 to 56,733, more than a 223% increase.