Booming 'Burbs: Suburbia Shapes NJ Culture

January 4, 2016

New Jersey has been the scene of revolutionary warfare, manmade catastrophes and devastating storms, but nothing has transformed our state like the Baby Boom, the unparalleled population explosion unleashed by the end of World War II.

As veterans returned from the war, they were eager to start families and move to the suburbs. Sitting between New York and Philadelphia, New Jersey was positioned for an unprecedented period of suburban housing, school and retail construction, as described by the distinguished Rutgers professors James W. Hughes and Joseph J. Seneca in their book, New Jersey’s Postsuburban Economy (Rutgers University Press, 2015).

New Jersey Monthly, January 4

Recent Posts

NJSPL: The Potential of Participatory Budgeting Within New Jersey

Budget Cuts and Who Absorbs Them When budgets are cut, the first programs to go are those without dedicated funding or legal mandate. Many of those programs serve low-income, disabled, and vulnerable populations. New Jersey is in a period of fiscal austerity. The...

Prof. Andrews and PhD Candidate Lina Moe: Make Room for Robots

Make Room for Robots Read Article Summary As robots become increasingly common in cities, from sidewalk delivery bots and security robots to drones and autonomous vehicles, policymakers face new questions about safety, privacy, accessibility, and the use of shared...

New Jersey State Policy Lab Holds 5th Annual Internship Presentations

On Wednesday, August 5th, the New Jersey State Policy Lab hosted the end-of-summer presentations for the 2026 intern cohort at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. These presentations are the culmination of the work accomplished through the 10-week...