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Land Use and Policy
Project Description : This project aims to analyze the one numerous and various redevelopment plans created for the City of Trenton, and evaluate plans to make recommendations for the city. By conferring with Mercer County on its current Master Plan Process and the State Planning office on its current cross-acceptance process, and by visiting neighborhoods that have been prioritized for redevelopment, the project will determine how well these plans relate, and identify any inconsistencies and contradictions. For an example of the type of research that will be conducted, please see the 2007 project on the relocation of Capital Health Systems - Mercer hospital.
Martin A. Bierbaum is the Director of the Municipal Land Use Center at TCNJ. His academic background includes masters degrees in political science, city and regional planning, a J.D. degree and a Ph.D. in Planning and Public Policy. Dr. Bierbaum worked in New Jersey State government from May 1987 through January 2004. Before coming to State government, he was a member of the Rutgers University faculty in Public Administration and director of an undergraduate Urban Studies program. In January 2004, Dr. Bierbaum assumed the post of Executive Director of a newly established, federally-funded Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey (MLUC at TCNJ).
Jessica Godofsky is currently a junior Sociology major at The College of New Jersey, with a minor in Public Policy, Analysis, and Management, and a concentration in Environmental Studies. Her undergraduate coursework has focused on redevelopment, pollution concerns, and other urban and environmental public policy issues in New Jersey and around the country. Jessica is preparing to write her Senior Thesis in Sociology next year, constructing a sociological frame of the contamination and clean-up of a brownfield site in nearby Hamilton Township. She is currently the designated Undergraduate Teaching-Assistant for the Sociology/Anthropology Department’s Quantitative Research Methods course and is a social science and writing tutor at the College. Jessica was recently inducted into Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honor Society and will serve as Co-President for the 2008-2009 academic year, supervising the establishment of a mentoring program for underclass and transfer students. She is a life-long New Jersey resident, growing up in Bergen County and currently residing, very happily, in West Windsor. After graduation, Jessica plans to pursue either her Master’s in Public Policy or a Sociology graduate degree, and hopes to begin a career working to better facilitate collaboration between the government, industry, and the public in realizing the ever-pressing need to protect the well-being of New Jersey’s citizens and the environment. She is honored to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Bierbaum after completing his Introduction to Urban Planning class as a sophomore, and is excited to participate in a project that will have overarching political, social, and economic implications for the people and the City of Trenton.
Student Researcher: Jessica Godofsky
