the rix mix

Elizabeth Gets Transit Village Nod

ELIZABETH, NJ-This city of 125,000 people is set for a new round of redevelopment in the wake of its designation by the state, this morning, as a transit village. The New Jersey Department of Transportation’s transit village program focuses of fostering commercial and residential development around the state’s transportation hubs.

With nearly 10,000 people moving through this city’s midtown train station on a daily basis, it’s one of the state’s busiest. The transit village designation brings with it eligibility for a variety of state grants, beginning with an initial grant of $100,000 for planning purposes. Other benefits include planning assistance and a streamlined approval process. This city is the 18th to win transit village designation from the state.

I choose not to pay a lot of attention to what goes on in Elizabeth, but I use the train station quite a bit, so this is good news. The station & surrounding area is not an attractive place, particularly after dark, definitely not late at night when I often return home. The station has an under-utilized open plaza. The lovely old Jersey Central building was renovated & is occupied by a nice restaurant that never seems to be busy, opens & closes early. The elevators are urinals. The streets around the station are crappy. There's a greasy hot dog stand & small liquor store as you exit, both specializing in individual portions. Standing on the northbound platform you look down on another liquor store & a chicken takeout. Panhandlers are everywhere, including the ones that want to "help" you use the ticket vending machines. When the inside ticket window is closed, these pests create lines at the two machines, often forcing travelers on to trains without tickets where they have to hope for a sympathetic conductor who won't insist on the surcharge. There's no taxi stand, you have to call ahead or gamble that an available cab is parked out front. People get off the trains & scatter, many for a multilevel parking garage across the street. Later at night, a number of us always walk quickly away from the station, past the restaurant & into the Morris Ave. business district, where our pace slows a bit. That street has some good cafes open late & is anchored at the far end by a 24 hour Dunkin' Donuts. I live two long blocks beyond that. Unlike other stations on the Northeast Corridor line, no commuter would want to live near the Elizabeth station for convenience, much less linger in the neighborhood. Athough I have my doubts the area can sustain a "Transit Village," it's not like Plainfield on the Raritan Valley Line, a station hopelessly planted in the middle of gang territory where even during the day you feel like you're standing in the O.K. Corral.