NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ-New Jersey can help revive property values in fading suburbs by meeting a pent-up demand for “walkable urbanism,” says Chris Leinberger, a land use strategist with the Brookings Institution who is the luncheon keynote speaker at New Jersey Future’s annual Redevelopment Forum to be held at the Hyatt Hotel and Conference Center here Friday. New Jersey might long have been known as the quintessential home of car-commuter suburbs, but it possesses the right assets to capitalize on a burgeoning trend toward transit-oriented redevelopment, Leinberger says in a preview to his talk, posted at NJFuture.org, the statewide planning group’s website.

Leinberger, who is a visiting fellow at the Washington, DC think tank, says national survey evidence shows that walkable urban settings near mass transit centers command a 40% 200% premium over nearby drivable-only suburbs. He is on the advisory board of an organization called WalkScore, which provides real estate professionals with a ranking of local amenities and commute times they can print out or email to clients. One recent survey cited by Leinberger found that if an area goes up one point in its WalkScore, office rents rise by $9 per square foot and retail rents go up by $7 square foot per year.

Suburbs such as Cranford, Morristown and South Orange have used the state’s Transit Village program to create newly vibrant walkable downtown areas. However, Leinberger says, “Most New Jersey municipalities have not capitalized on the potential benefits of trends by providing a supportive development climate around rail transit stations. Today, too many walkable urban projects are derailed by lack of zoning, lengthy approval processes and local resident opposition.”

In his keynote speech, Leinberger says he will highlight the impressive turnaround in Arlington County, VA, after adoption of a policy to concentrate growth around Metrorail stations: “What was once a fading, auto-oriented suburb has boomed to a point where the walkable urban parts of the county, representing 10% of the county’s land, now account for more than 50% of the county’s tax revenue.”

Other speakers at the all-day conference will include Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and New Jersey-based real estate analyst Jeffrey G. Otteau of the Otteau Valuation Group, who will discuss how downtown redevelopment projects can attract both younger and older people to live and work in a walkable urban community.

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Expert: NJ Can Step Livelier with More &#145;Walkability&#146;

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Expert: NJ Can Step Livelier with More Walkability