News
Bloustein, Heldrich Center Welcome Laura R. Peck, Ph.D.
Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy is pleased to announce the appointment of Laura R. Peck, Ph.D., as Associate Professor, effective September 1, 2025.
Dr. Peck will also serve as a Principal Faculty Fellow at the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, housed within the Bloustein School.
Graduate Virtual Information Sessions | Fall 2025
Tuesday, October 7 @ 9am (0900) EDT: Graduate Program in Public Informatics Virtual Information Session Thursday, October 9 @ 6pm (1800) EDT: Graduate Program in Public Policy Virtual Information Session Tuesday, October 21 @ 6pm (1800) EDT: Master of Health...
Design and Data: Transforming Urban Mobility
“What I enjoy most about the field of urban planning is that it combines design, data, and the ability to make a difference for communities, helping create fairer and more accessible cities. That’s the kind of work I want to do. My goal is to apply the transportation planning and GIS expertise I’ve developed at Bloustein to design more inclusive, efficient, and sustainable transportation networks that improve quality of life in our communities.”
NJSPL: Breast Cancer Outcomes for Black Women
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death due to cancer in New Jersey, and recent research has determined that this form of cancer disproportionately affects the mortality outcomes for Black women, as they are 40% more likely to die due to breast cancer compared to Non-Hispanic White women.
Safe Routes to School: Back to School, Back to Safety
Safety isn’t seasonal. While school brings urgency to these reminders, the truth is: safer streets benefit everyone, every day. Whether you’re dropping off your child, biking to class, or commuting past a crosswalk, remember, our roads are shared spaces. Let’s keep them safe, welcoming, and calm.
After Stafford mobile home landlord jacked up rent 20%, is rent control the answer?
“Rents are the high, and they’ve gone up quite a bit, particularly since the pandemic,” said Eric Seymour, a Rutgers University professor who co-authored a study looking at rent control in New Jersey. “And so there’s interest in understanding the policy levers available to try to keep rents manageable.”
Edwards: Work from Home and Job Satisfaction
A new paper co-authored by Renée Edwards, Ph.D., Assistant Director at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and Managing Director of the Employer Disability Practices Center, analyzes how different measures of job satisfaction vary between people with and without disabilities, and the extent to which working from home moderates the relationship between disability and job satisfaction
Office vacancy issue in New Jersey will only get worse, experts say. Here’s why
“Today that office inventory is between 44 and 34 years of age. All the stuff built then was before the internet, before mobile technology,” Hughes said. “A lot of it was cheaply built. So now we have the aging, obsolete suburban inventory that we have to deal with today.”
NJSPL: The Trouble with Neighborhood Trash
Communities must be willing to address disparities in their policies, budgets, and priorities in order to address equal access to sanitation infrastructure, fair enforcement of polluting laws, and other waste-related decisions. Because clean streets shouldn’t be a luxury. They should be the baseline, no matter your zip code.
New Jersey is gearing up to dispatch a new round of ANCHOR property tax relief money to homeowners and renters
Hughes said, “They’re living on the edge right now, they’re really stretched,” he said. “We’re in a higher inflation era both now with high energy costs and for what may be coming, because of the [Trump administration] tariffs, any benefit they can receive will be helpful.”
Here’s what NJ’s latest economic data indicates
Rutgers professor Will Irving was less sanguine about the office market and the state’s economy. With respect to a hard or soft landing, he said, “it’s still a landing, and the landing that we’re seeing in New Jersey is a little ahead and a little harder than we’re seeing elsewhere.”
Xie and Smart Research Spatial Accessibility of PCPs
This study examines the spatial accessibility of primary care physicians (PCPs) in New Jersey and neighboring areas.