Why Is South/Central Jersey So Relatively Undeveloped? (Camden, Vineland: apartment, house)
New Jersey Suburbs of PhiladelphiaBurlington County, Camden County, Gloucester County, Salem County in South Jersey
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Salem County, Gloucester, Burlington, most of it is within 25 miles of Philly and you'd never know it.
If this was another similar metro area it would be McMansions every square mile.
I can't help but think the relative gap here is due to Philly's stagnation.
Salem county was never tied to Philly, but more often to Delaware. When it was at it's peak of population it stemmed from factories such as Dupont which long ago closed. There is also a lot of protected farmland there.
But yes, Philly was always a factory, blue city, a blue collar city. It never turned into a financial center like NYC, but I don't know many cities that are comparable to NYC.
Salem county was never tied to Philly, but more often to Delaware. When it was at it's peak of population it stemmed from factories such as Dupont which long ago closed. There is also a lot of protected farmland there.
But yes, Philly was always a factory, blue city, a blue collar city. It never turned into a financial center like NYC, but I don't know many cities that are comparable to NYC.
As I said, look at any other top 10/15 metro area, the lack of development within such a close commuting shed of Philly is remarkable.
I just do not understand the comparative relative lack of development and land use patterns for this region.
One would figure given how close SJ is to Philly, in a top 10 market, and how flat the land is, that long ago South Jersey from Carney's Point through Trenton would be like Fairfax County, VA or Long Island, NY.
I am shocked when driving the NJTP to realize that at the PATP (exit 6 in Mansfield) you are MAYBE 30 miles from Philly.
It is just as surprising to be driving by exit 2 and see how undeveloped it is despite you being 20 miles or so from Philly, I just do not understand.
Yes, in recent years I have seen apartments and home spring up.
Still though this is relatively little and quite recent compared to areas that are a similar distance outside NY and DC (and DC is a similar market in size).
So I'd like to ask, why is this the case that for a market Philly's size, an area with such close proximity as South Jersey is really not built up like similar hinterlands are outside of NY or DC.
How come when crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge, it instantly feels a lot more isolated even though you are 30+ miles from a top ten market?
I know the NJTP is a long distance road, but still, even with it being a bypass...you can look at any population density or roadgrid map..and see that compared to other major markets, it is really odd to have flat land in such vicinity to be this relatively lightly built.
My thought is that there is only one commuter rail line (PATCO) in all of South Jersey. SEPTA provides many more choices on the PA/DE side of the river, allowing for communities further out to be feasible. In addition, North Jersey's commuter rail is more widespread, allowing for a longer reach of suburban development. Much like Downstate Illinois and Upstate NY, this portion of NJ is at the expense of the more prosperous regions. Then cities like Atlanta and Charlotte are more car-centric and have more favorable living/business conditions to many, which is why their higher rates of growth have allowed their metros to sprawl much further out. If anything, constraining development is a good thing for the environment, and I'd rather focus on redevelopment first, which is what North Jersey/NYC have succeed at much better.
Although if you drive on 295 instead of the TP, you'll see suburban development kick in sooner and last longer. There's a nice exurb around exit 10 on 295 with some businesses/warehouses. But then again, at exit 5 on the TP, there is a dead mall that's now vacant (and sadly, similar in design to the much more successful one in Columbia, MD which has been remodeled several times and is in a more favorable location regarding two cities), which is never a good sign for future development. Meanwhile, the American Dream Mall in North Jersey (by those "undeveloped" Meadowlands) proves that the economic engine still runs strong there, even though very few traditional malls have been built nationwide in the last 15 years. Still, some of this is a de facto urban growth boundary like what some other cities use like Seattle and Portland.
But many other metros of major cities turn rural relatively quickly on one side: Boston suburban development becomes more hit and miss outside of 128/95 (and that's only about ten miles from downtown), the San Francisco Bay Area's Marin County has a lot of mountains/NIMBY restrictions, and Miami of course has the Everglades less than ten miles west of downtown.
My thought is that there is only one commuter rail line (PATCO) in all of South Jersey. SEPTA provides many more choices on the PA/DE side of the river, allowing for communities further out to be feasible. In addition, North Jersey's commuter rail is more widespread, allowing for a longer reach of suburban development. Much like Downstate Illinois and Upstate NY, this portion of NJ is at the expense of the more prosperous regions. Then cities like Atlanta and Charlotte are more car-centric and have more favorable living/business conditions to many, which is why their higher rates of growth have allowed their metros to sprawl much further out. If anything, constraining development is a good thing for the environment, and I'd rather focus on redevelopment first, which is what North Jersey/NYC have succeed at much better.
Although if you drive on 295 instead of the TP, you'll see suburban development kick in sooner and last longer. There's a nice exurb around exit 10 on 295 with some businesses/warehouses. But then again, at exit 5 on the TP, there is a dead mall that's now vacant (and sadly, similar in design to the much more successful one in Columbia, MD which has been remodeled several times and is in a more favorable location regarding two cities), which is never a good sign for future development. Meanwhile, the American Dream Mall in North Jersey (by those "undeveloped" Meadowlands) proves that the economic engine still runs strong there, even though very few traditional malls have been built nationwide in the last 15 years. Still, some of this is a de facto urban growth boundary like what some other cities use like Seattle and Portland.
But many other metros of major cities turn rural relatively quickly on one side: Boston suburban development becomes more hit and miss outside of 128/95 (and that's only about ten miles from downtown), the San Francisco Bay Area's Marin County has a lot of mountains/NIMBY restrictions, and Miami of course has the Everglades less than ten miles west of downtown.
I think this is mostly true and one of the nice things about the Philly metro is that it has TONS of established, developed suburbs which may actually reduce sprawl by absorbing some of the metro areas growth. For example, you mention Charlotte which sprawls in every which direction and has way fewer established suburban areas in which to grow. Therefore, it's all fairly recent auto-centric suburbia that sprawls farther out than Philly.
Another huge thing to consider - though perhaps less so post-pandemic - is that the major job centers just aren't in South Jersey. For the longest time Center City was the biggest job center. It was easy to access from the NJ side. However, many of the region's jobs have shifted to the KOP/Main line area over time. While Center City (particularly University City) have seen job growth, South Jersey has seriously lacked in significant growth. If Cherry Hill was a true KOP equivalent, I think you'd have lots more sprawl on the SJ side. So it makes sense that SJ's sprawl has slowed down and left lots of rural land available close to the city limits, while the PA side has sprawled more.
My thought is that there is only one commuter rail line (PATCO) in all of South Jersey. SEPTA provides many more choices on the PA/DE side of the river, allowing for communities further out to be feasible. In addition, North Jersey's commuter rail is more widespread, allowing for a longer reach of suburban development. Much like Downstate Illinois and Upstate NY, this portion of NJ is at the expense of the more prosperous regions. Then cities like Atlanta and Charlotte are more car-centric and have more favorable living/business conditions to many, which is why their higher rates of growth have allowed their metros to sprawl much further out. If anything, constraining development is a good thing for the environment, and I'd rather focus on redevelopment first, which is what North Jersey/NYC have succeed at much better.
Although if you drive on 295 instead of the TP, you'll see suburban development kick in sooner and last longer. There's a nice exurb around exit 10 on 295 with some businesses/warehouses. But then again, at exit 5 on the TP, there is a dead mall that's now vacant (and sadly, similar in design to the much more successful one in Columbia, MD which has been remodeled several times and is in a more favorable location regarding two cities), which is never a good sign for future development. Meanwhile, the American Dream Mall in North Jersey (by those "undeveloped" Meadowlands) proves that the economic engine still runs strong there, even though very few traditional malls have been built nationwide in the last 15 years. Still, some of this is a de facto urban growth boundary like what some other cities use like Seattle and Portland.
But many other metros of major cities turn rural relatively quickly on one side: Boston suburban development becomes more hit and miss outside of 128/95 (and that's only about ten miles from downtown), the San Francisco Bay Area's Marin County has a lot of mountains/NIMBY restrictions, and Miami of course has the Everglades less than ten miles west of downtown.
There is the RiverLine and the AC Line in addition to PATCO.
If there was a train line over the Commodore Barry Bridge, there'd be more growth around the exit 10 area of 295/ exit 2 of NJTP as you described. And if train service existed by Burlington besides the RiverLine but one going east west, between Burlington and PA, more population and development there as well.
From census figures, South Jersey lost population, while Delaware increased in population. NJ only maintained its House seats because of growth in counties such as Middlesex, and Ocean counties while South Jersey didn't experience growth in any of its counties. (I don't consider Ocean to be South Jersey in this context).
While families are getting smaller, I bet higher NJ property taxes play an important part, where retirees and those that don't need to be so close to Philly, could opt for Delaware. I agree with your point on redevelopment, and in SJ, I'd think Berlin and Atco have a lot of sites that could be redeveloped (it'd help if PATCO was extended down there).
Just in Cherry Hill alone, there are a lot of apartment/condo(s) being built on sites that were used for something different in the past. I'm surprised the former Strawbridge building in Voorhees isn't be demolished for more apartments or maybe condos yet. It's a quick drive to a PATCO station and rather an ideal location.
There is the RiverLine and the AC Line in addition to PATCO.
From census figures, South Jersey lost population, while Delaware increased in population. NJ only maintained its House seats because of growth in counties such as Middlesex, and Ocean counties while South Jersey didn't experience growth in any of its counties. (I don't consider Ocean to be South Jersey in this context).
Not true. Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester Counties gained population according to the Census. Small, slow growth that trailed the US and NJ as a whole, but growth nonetheless.
South Jersey’s days of sustained and competitive growth are indeed long gone though, and I don’t think they are coming back. I would not be surprised to eventually see those three counties decline in population at some point in the near future…it just hasn’t happened yet.
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