Projects in Bloomfield, South Orange win Smart Growth Awards

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ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey Future’s Smart Growth Awards recognizes the very best in planning, development and redevelopment in the Garden State. The 2022 virtual celebration, to be held Nov. 10, will honor six winning projects and two Cary Edwards Leadership Award winners for their groundbreaking contributions to making New Jersey communities sustainable and strong. To register for this free event, visit tinyurl.com/49yda4ds. 

The 2022 Smart Growth Award winners are:

• Yvette Jordan, receiving the Cary Edwards Leadership Award. In Newark, Jordan began her activist career as a founding member of Newark Education Workers Caucus, made up of educators committed to fighting for social justice issues within education. She is also a fierce advocate for environmental justice in New Jersey, with her early work in the environmental justice movement focused on the Newark lead water crisis. 
• Christopher Daggett, receiving the Cary Edwards Leadership Award. Born in Orange and raised in Linwood, Daggett served as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Thomas Kean, regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Daggett also served as president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, which has played a leadership role in a number of initiatives to promote a sustainable, resilient New Jersey.
  • 202 Park, a new riverfront development in Cherry Hill that provides a variety of housing options, as well as access to recreational and commercial activities. 
• Dundee Island Park, a revitalized park that combines recreation, public art and green infrastructure to improve quality of life in Passaic.
• Lion Gate Park and Urban Wetland Floodplain Creation Project, a former brownfield site that was converted into a park space to provide recreational opportunities and reduce flood risk in Bloomfield. This project’s primary partners are the township of Bloomfield, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Bloomfield Third River Association, Strauss and Associates/Planners, CME Associates, Princeton Hydro, PPD Design and gk+a Architects.
• North Trenton/Battle Monument Choice Neighborhood Plan, an adopted plan that seeks to create reinvestment in Trenton while providing high-quality, mixed-income housing options and complete streets.
• Pacific Avenue Redevelopment Plan, a plan that will connect neighborhoods and restore a vibrant downtown in Wildwood.
• Taylor Vose, a state-of-the-art, mixed-use development in South Orange that will create a co-retail space. This project’s primary partners are South Orange Village, Vose Avenue Apartments Urban Renewal, Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects, Professional Construction Management and Topology.

  Lion Gate Park, Taylor Vose