Quite a rivalry is brewing in the downtown Rahway pizza scene.
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Tag Archives: NJ Monthly
Zoning Board to take up St. Mary’s senior housing
The Zoning Board of Adjustment is expected to take up an application for a 51-unit senior housing development at its meeting Monday night. The four-story structure would be built on the St. Mary’s Church (now Divine Mercy Parish) complex, where the former convent building on Esterbrook Avenue was razed last year.
After three hours of testimony, questions from board members, and some public comment at its Jan. 28 meeting, the Zoning Board instructed the applicant, Domus Corporation, to come back with more feasible parking options. Domus is the development arm for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark, building similar affordable senior housing in other New Jersey towns, with funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including rent subsidies.
At issue is whether the project will provide enough parking. The current plan eliminates eight of the 86 existing spaces from St. Mary’s parking lot while adding 27 specifically designated for senior housing, leaving a total 105 spaces. The applicant seeks several variances in addition to preliminary and final site plan approval.
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A good read from NJ Monthly about two brothers who have helped to redevelop Jersey City over the past 30 years, and in particular their current project, a former hospital in the Hamilton Park neighborhood.
Beana’s nabs third place for Best Mexican
Beana’s Mexican Restaurant on St. Georges Avenue took third place in the Mexican category of Inside Jersey‘s “Best of N.J. Restaurants” feature this week.
New Jersey Monthly has its annual critics’ and readers’ restaurant poll but no word on how the top three were selected by Inside Jersey.
From No. 400 to No. 467
Rahway tumbled to No. 467 in New Jersey Monthly‘s biannual ranking of top towns in the Garden State. Rahway ranked No. 400 the last time the magazine compiled rankings two years ago. The city was sandwiched behind Monroe Township (Middlesex) and ahead of Harvey Cedars Borough (Ocean), slotting into the 83rd percentile, the bottom fifth of the state’s 566 towns. (Bedminster (Somerset) ranked No. 1, accompanied by a story, and here’s a .pdf of the entire ranking.)
Eight of Union County’s 21 towns ranked in the top 100, led by Mountainside (8) a
nd followed by Berkeley Heights (19), Clark (24), Cranford (34), New Providence (66), Scotch Plains (75), Summit (76), and Springfield (85). Five county towns ranked behind Rahway: Hillside (507), Roselle (533), Linden (540), Plainfield (543) and Elizabeth (563). Other nearby neighbors ranked No. 280, Edison, and No. 358, Woodbridge.
It seemed like a rather peculiar ranking this year, as more than a few towns within the top 20 had jumped from the 200s and 300s the last time around.
According to the report, NJ Monthly‘s research team selected “a prototypical indicator corresponding, respectively, to each of these eight categories”:
* Population growth rate since the last Census (2008)
* Three-year change in median home prices (2009)
* Median property tax bill combined with change in median taxes the past two years (2009)
* Percentage of land preserved as open space (2009)
* Unemployment rate (2008)
* Total crime rate (2008)
* Proficiency on state-mandated standardized tests for fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders
* Number of acute-care hospitals within 10 miles
“To level the playing field, household income was not considered and home values were measured by the rate of increase/decrease over three years rather than current prices. To compare land development, towns with relatively slower growth and more open space were rated more favorably. Towns with lower unemployment and crime rates also scored higher, as did those close to more hospitals.”
Pizza and coffee
Some lighter fare today for your weekend reading. We talk about pizza aplenty here; maybe it’s rubbing off on others. At the risk of turning this into a pizza blog, there’s been a couple of pizza-related items in the past month.
A look back at 2009
What kind of a year was 2009 in redevelopment? Perhaps up-and-down might be the most accurate description.
Surface lot coming to Lot B area
That mound of dirt near Lot B on Main Street could be on its way out in the coming weeks. During this month’s Redevelopment Agency meeting, City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier was hopeful that the dirt and sales trailer at The Westbury site on Main Street could start being moved within the month.
Dornoch, which had planned to construct a multideck parking facility with condos, will lease the site to the Parking Authority for surface parking until a deck is constructed. Pelissier said the Parking Authority will work with the city and Union County to create the surface lot, first leveling out the site and laying gravel until it’s resurfaced in the spring. He expects another 100 spaces could be added.
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Worthwhile piece in New Jersey Monthly about hyperlocal Web sites and the evolution of local, online news. Good thing we got in on the ground floor in Rahway — second anniversary (what!?!) just about a week away.
‘We’re Number 400!’
Sandwiched between Chesterfield Township (Burlington County) and West Long Branch (Monmouth County), Rahway ranks as the No. 400 “Best Place to Live,” according to the latest New Jersey Monthly magazine.
In its March edition, New Jersey Monthly publishes its annual “Best Places to Live” with the Top 100 in the print edition, but all 566 Garden State ranked and available online. No. 400 out of 566 ranks Rahway just inside the 30th percentile (so more than 70 percent of New Jersey towns higher).
The rankings take into account eight categories “best representing the quality of life” in New Jersey towns: property taxes, home values (2007 and % increase from 2000), population growth, land development, employment, crime rate, school performance and proximity to services (theater, hospital).” Household income was not included.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with the ranking? Outrageous, or just about right? Does Rahway still have a way to go before making its way up the list?
The former Spanktown ranked ahead of Union County municipalities like Hillside (429), Linden (461), Plainfield (490) and Elizabeth (499), but behind Roselle Park (260) and Roselle (384). The highest-ranked Union County towns were Mountainside (16), Summit (29), Clark (33), Cranford (37), Berkeley Heights (59) and Kenilworth (66).
The magazine also features a story about local theaters in New Jersey. The piece highlights 11 but not the Union County Performing Arts Center, which was purchased by Union County for $1.3 million as part of a $6-million expansion and renovation last year.
P.S. Chatham Township (Morris County) ranked No. 1 while Chesilhurst (Camden County) ranked No. 566.