We have been writing about the need for more housing supply because of the high demand to live in places like Jersey City. If we continue to build housing, then it will pay dividends as less of your household income goes to paying rent. betterblocksnj.org/2025/12/15/w...

Top five! Let's gooooooo! @feathersmcg.bsky.social is crushing it!

There are parts of Jersey City right now where rents are at 2022 levels.

If we’re putting in a massive convention center + hotel in the Meadowlands, NJ Transit needs to start running shuttle service at least from Hoboken. njbiz.com/3b-meadowlan...

New blog by me: Objectors who are trying to block an inclusionary housing development on Spruce Street in Princeton are circulating some wild misrepresentations of what might be built on the site... walkableprinceton.com/2026/04/15/s...

New Jersey's 23-game Jeopardy champion Jamie Ding is more than a self-described faceless bureaucrat. He allocates Low-Income Housing Tax Credits ("LIHTC") to fund affordable housing construction across New Jersey. We used his historic run to explain LIHTC! betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/16/j...

Jamie Ding (and New Jersey’s LIHTC Program) Win on Jeopardy!  It is no surprise to us that Jamie Ding, a self-described “faceless bureaucrat” from the state of New Jersey with a degree from Princeton, would end up as one of the all-time great Jeopardy champions with 23 game appearances and wins…

PATH expansion. BRT. Safe streets. Vision Zero. @hudcostreets.org is bringing it all together at the North Jersey Transit Forum on April 25 at St. Peter's University in Jersey City. Keynote: NJ Transit Chair Priya Jain. Link here: betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/15/a...

We made a handy flowchart to explain how decisions are made when it comes to implementing evidence-based parking, transit, and housing reforms at the municipal level in New Jersey.

There's a particular kind of paralysis in Jersey City that masquerades as civic virtue. It shows up dressed in the language of "resident input," "stakeholder engagement," or "co-governance." And it ends with almost nothing getting built, fixed, or decided. betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/13/j...

It's a very similar story in Hoboken and JC, but I far prefer this matter of fact, sober minded messaging. Both towns bent over backwards not to raise taxes, that's why they're in a hole. hudsoncountyview.com/jabbour-hobo...

Uncontested elections should not mean unaccountable politicians. We sent every Hudson County Commissioner candidate a commitment letter to gauge their support for housing, safe streets, Bus Rapid Transit, and parks. Voters are watching to see who signs. betterblocksnj.org/2026/04/08/a...

A Commitment to Better Blocks in Hudson County While eight of the nine county commissioner races are uncontested in this year's election, accountability to the voters should still be paramount for our elected officials. As the sixth mostly densely populated county in the United States, Hudson…

The World Cup is coming. So is congestion and pollution. A call from our president, Johan Andrade, on the need for getting Hudson County World-Cup-ready with quick build bus lanes, bike lanes, and pedestrian corridors before it's too late.

Traffic calming in Chatham, NJ. Along their walkable main street, they have: 1. Implemented a left-turn restriction to reduce conflict, improve comfort & safety for pedestrians, and smooth traffic flow. 2. Corners are painted with orange stripes, making obvious the illegal parking zone. /

New from @3underscores.bsky.social on BBNJ: 547-555 Summit Ave would bring: -1,517 homes -A pedestrian retail street (Homestead Market) -874 bike parking spaces -0 car parking to Journal Square right across the street from the PATH -Estimated $10–12M/yr in property taxes with no PILOT.

New Jersey's 566 municipalities exist because of tax fights, temperance movements, wartime housing disputes, and boroughs racing to incorporate so they could claim a single tax ratable. The late Assemblyman Alan Karcher called it "multiple municipal madness." He wasn't wrong.

Why does NJ have the highest property taxes in America? One answer: we have 566 municipalities, each running its own government, schools, and police. Assemblyman Alan Karcher spent his career trying to fix it and wrote the definitive book on the madness of our boroughitis.

Not enough attention is paid to buses in NJ. From FY2025 ridership data, I estimate there were at least 30M NJ Transit bus rides in Hudson County. For context, PATH serves 60M rides a year, the HBLR serves 15M, and the NEC serves 22M. Why are these buses ever stuck in traffic?

Jersey City politics runs on three myths about tax abatements and PILOTs. We spent a few thousand words debunking them. betterblocksnj.org/2026/03/17/t...

Banning institutional investors from housing is vogue populist policy. But the data says it hurts renters. Rotterdam tried it. Rents went up. Last year we wrote about bans; this year we’ll revisit this topic to look at how this proposed tax might hurt the single-family rental market.

A neighbor filed a zoning complaint against a Jersey City café for baking cinnamon rolls in-house. The “evidence”? They paid a grease trap fee. (Every coffee shop does.) “The Cinny” is baked off-site. Jersey City planning confirmed it twice. The complaint is still moving forward.

Following last night's council vote, Councilman Lavarro continues to drag with his (and Gilmore's) votes against Annisia Cialone as Director of Housing, Economic Development, and Commerce. We hope to see the council take action on 150 Bay, Barrow Street, and permit parking soon.

This sucks. The rule in Newark is Baraka dgaf about Ironbound or Central Ward NIMBYs, but Westside and esp Weequahic he cares about. www.tapinto.net/towns/newark...

Cambridge passed a 20% affordable housing mandate in 2017. In 2023, the entire city built 5 units, zero affordable. The policy failed so spectacularly they had to legalize 6-story buildings citywide just to restart housing production. Jersey City might try the same 20% mandate.

Jersey City's existing 15% mandatory IZO downtown has been in place since 2021. Affordable units built under it without a PILOT? Zero. The new mayor ran on the promise to expand this IZO mandate to 20% and make it citywide. Learn more about what IZOs are. betterblocksnj.org/2026/02/08/t...

Judge Casts Doubt on City’s Argument that Christ Hospital Closed Illegally betterblocksnj.org/2026/03/19/j...

The housing voucher program is the most effective tool to help low-income families access housing, but Jersey City's "Section 8" waitlist is a decade long and completely out of the city's control. What is income-restricted affordable housing? And who qualifies? betterblocksnj.org/2026/01/22/w...

New "luxury" apartments in Jersey City actually make rents cheaper for everyone nearby. Studies show new construction cuts surrounding rents by ~6%. Here's the evidence politicians ignore when they fight new housing. betterblocksnj.org/2025/12/15/w...

Tax abatements, exemptions, and PILOT agreements are some of the most misunderstood tools in municipal finance. In our latest article, we explain the history and use of these agreements debunk three of the most common myths circulated on social media around tax abatements. 1/

Three Myths about Tax Abatements, Exemptions, and PILOT Agreements in Jersey City As the Solomon administration works to renegotiate the agreement between Jersey City and KRE for the Pompidou project, PILOT agreements and tax abatements are once again at the forefront of local political discourse.…

The first two ordinances Better Blocks was tracking went to a vote after second reading so we finally have data for our council vote tracker and score card. Lavarro falls to last place voting against Better Blocks' supported positions. Everyone else is batting .500 raw votewise.

Like 50+ towns are going to have similar issues.

We are working on building a subreddit where we will share not only our posts but hope to create a repository for all the research articles that @3underscores.bsky.social and @eaconner.bsky.social end up reading and using. If folks have good econ papers on housing they want to share, post there!

The deal between Jersey City and Liberty Science Center that sold land for "just $10" is frequently misrepresented. We looked into the project to see how this deal was actually structured to benefit Jersey City and the beloved local non-profit science center. betterblocksnj.org/2026/03/10/b...

As a political advocacy group, we support candidates and make endorsements, but we need to keep our local electeds accountable too. We are publishing issue trackers and scorecards to see how well local officials stack up on housing, transit, safe streets, and public amenities.

Also, join us next week at City Hall as there are some interesting ordinances on the agenda. We hope to speak on topics of interest relatively early and then head out and grab a drink around 8:30 or so after brief public comment in support of 150 Bay Street. betterblocksnj.org/2026/03/05/m...

No article but according to Terrence McDonald, the Newark Bay Bridge widening is ded. It'll remain 4 lanes. cc @turnpiketrap.org

Does Unfunded Inclusionary Zoning Produce Affordable Housing at Scale? Part IV in our Housing Policy Series The post discusses the challenges of… https://betterblocksnj.org/2026/03/03/does-unfunded-inclusionary-zoning-produce-affordable-housing-at-scale-part-iv-in-our-housing-policy-series/

We got the city council to recognize the bird-glass ordinance has costs. They amended to 1) lower height to 85 ft; 2) exempt projects that don’t require a site plan; and 3) exempt 100% affordable housing. More affordable housing builders should reach out to educate council on ordinance costs.

It's going to be a busy night at the Jersey City Council.

Reiterating our call to action to support more housing (including 150 income-restricted affordable units) near transit in downtown Jersey City. It is essential the city council know the public wants more housing near transit downtown. Please help. betterblocksnj.org/2026/02/13/c...

You can read all our previous commentary on the great Jersey City bird-glass debate in this thread: 1/6

New Permit Parking Zone Coming to Communipaw Council President Denise Ridley has introduced Ordinance 26-013, establishing a new permit parking zone for streets adjacent to the Liberty State Park Light Rail Station.

Amazing. NYC NIMBY populist councilmember is voting FOR an upzoning in her district—because if she didn't, the mayor and borough president would approve something even bigger and with poorer tenants. This is thanks to the charter revision amendments Eric Adams sponsored last November.

@PATHTrain is shut down between WTC and Exchange Pl with the Exchange Pl station completely closed, and we've received reports that PATH is NOT allowing PATH riders to board the ferry from Brookfield Pl to Exchange Pl as a substitute. Only the one from Brookfield to Hoboken (1/2)

One note on the costs that @3underscores.bsky.social pointed out: developers are required to make a 1.5% contribution to the affordable housing trust fund in Jersey City. For some project, the bird glass ordinance would be as expensive or more than direct monetary contributions to the trust fund!

NWK-JSQ suspended. I don't understand not just running a JSQ-WTC shuttle. Why is PATH historically so opposed to the practice, e.g., during all the recent track work between NWK-JSQ?

JC Birds Continues to Mislead Jersey City on Costs, Impact of Bird Ordinance Ever since the bird-safe glass ordinance was introduced in 2025, Better Blocks has worked hard to make it a better, more targeted ordinance [Jersey City Times]. Our goal is to reduce bird strikes in high-risk areas…