At this year’s Smart Growth Awards, we’re honoring exceptional planning and redevelopment projects from across New Jersey! From Hoboken and West Orange in the north to Camden in the south, with central towns like Princeton and Trenton also making waves.

It’s a rare chance to see how diverse communities are shaping their futures and to network with changemakers, leaders, and innovators who are making it happen.

Seven outstanding projects and one Leadership Award honoree will be recognized for transforming how we live, work, and connect. Whether you’re passionate about affordable housing, transit, environmental resilience, or urban design, this event brings together the region’s best ideas and opportunities to collaborate.

Don’t miss it! Be part of the celebration, the inspiration, and the connection!

October 9, 2025
5:30‑8:30 p.m.
South Orange Performing Arts Center

Interested in multiple tickets for your team or getting insider opportunities to showcase your brand? Become a sponsor. Deadline to submit a program book ad is September 26. Thank you to the 2025 sponsors!

New Jersey deserves communities that are healthy, vibrant, and resilient. Where housing is affordable, infrastructure works for everyone, and the climate challenges of today are met with smart planning. That’s exactly what Redeveloping New Jersey, Planning for Prosperity is all about.

While these issues are not new, they now require bolder leadership than ever to shape a better, brighter future that benefits all New Jerseyans. Regardless of who the next Governor is, we understand the significant challenges ahead for our next leaders.

Our policy roadmap has the practical, cost-effective solutions to shape where we live, how we get around, and what future generations inherit. Check out the six policy priorities and stay informed!

We’re calling on Senate leaders to prioritize S3616, which helps prevent serious health risks to both parent and baby through lead screening during pregnancy. Tell Senator Paul Sarlo and Senator Teresa Ruiz to make NJ a safer, healthier place to have a child. Take action now!

Smart Growth is equitable growth. It is also restorative, as smart growth and redevelopment can help correct systemic racial and economic disparities. As New Jersey Future drives land use decision-making toward more equitable outcomes, we will be sharing useful resources and lessons in this monthly spotlight. Please give us your feedback and share with us any particularly insightful articles, talks, events, or videos that you come across.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, our Advocacy and Government Affairs Manager Sabrina Rodríguez Vicenty, MPP, reflects on how her roots shape her work at New Jersey Future. 

“I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where environmental challenges like flooding, hurricanes, and heat islands are part of everyday life and where recovery is often slowed by a lack of resources and representation. When I moved to Elizabeth, a predominantly Hispanic community, I quickly realized the same story of environmental inequities continues here, too. That experience drives my commitment to advancing policies that address the built environment and environmental justice, ensuring all communities, especially those historically overburdened, have the chance to thrive.

This blog feels especially important for Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month because it highlights how our stories and lived experiences are deeply connected to the work of building stronger, more resilient, and more equitable communities. 

You can read more about my story and reflections in this blog, Heat, Air Quality, and Hope: Community Research and Resilience in Elizabeth, NJ“

We have been following the challenges that Trenton Water Works is currently navigating.

Here’s a link to a relatively new substack that represents some of the best, independent information we have seen.

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Follow along on all our platforms for teasers about each winner leading up to the Smart Growth Awards on October 9!