County Centric Planning and Development for New Jersey Document & Executive Summary

Responding to stakeholders in the South Jersey region, Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers – Camden (WRI) was approached to help explore ways to better manage regional development. Under the leadership of WRI, a Regional Development Forum was organized, bringing together diverse stakeholders for candid policy discussions about development issues. The group, comprised of builders, environmentalists, planning experts and policy advocates came together to identify common goals and generate recommendations for improving planning, with special consideration for southern New Jersey, the fastest growing region in the state. The group came to a consensus that a county-centric planning model, entitled Growth Fit.  This document serves to discuss this model, generating the necessary interest to this county-centric plan into legislation.