Pros of multifamily housing outweigh cons
NOVEMBER 14, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2014, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Downtown housing: pros outweigh cons
To the Editor:
Like many other passionate residents of Ridgewood, I’ve been closely following the discussions around the proposals for new multifamily housing in downtown and I believe the benefits will outweigh any negative impacts.
While I wouldn’t live anywhere else, I have the uneasy feeling that Ridgewood is kind of idling. The vacant storefronts, the empty car dealership lots, give me, and others, a sense that Ridgewood is stuck, with no plan for the future.
So along comes a group of developers with proposals to do something – and it’s up to all of us to figure out if it’s a good idea, given any number of inevitable alternatives. I think it is.
As we and our neighbors age, new downtown housing will give all of us the opportunity to downsize one day into a modern apartment without having to leave the town we love. And who knows – maybe our young adult kids will move back into town with other young professionals, who aren’t ready to buy a house yet and want an easy commute.
Stores and restaurants will also benefit by having patrons not just on the busy weekends, but on the off-days too – shopping and dining without the need for a car.
But most importantly, I’ve learned our schools would see minimal impact. According to the Board of Education, 277 non-garden style apartments in town yield a mere 17 public school children.
The use of non-garden apartment data is the most accurate predictive measure of school age children in this case, since the proposals fit this category of housing. And besides, how many families with kids would rent a luxury apartment when they can already rent a house in town with a backyard for the same price?
The schools superintendent also says that some schools do have capacity, such as Orchard, which would be fed by The Dayton, for instance. Using the data above, The Dayton would yield very few children, certainly at a level that could be absorbed across K-12th grade classrooms.
So when looking at the full picture, I believe the Planning Board and Village Council must act to bring some degree of new housing, and progress, to Ridgewood.
Louis J. Reynolds
Ridgewood
https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-pros-of-multifamily-housing-outweigh-cons-1.1133324
How about we get someone other than a builder, developer or spokesperson for the developer to write letters. Then I might take you half seriously.
Can the Village legally stipulate the age of residents in these apartments be limited to non-school age children?
Absolutely not 2 …..never going to happen.
And if you think for one second that hoards of
Asians from cliffside and palisades park are not going to live 10 to a condo to use the schools you fooling yourself. Too bad folks, that’s just how it is…..
#2 Call it or make the apartments or condos for 55 and up, child issue solved.
#2 & #4 – Please note the developers are not putting an age restriction forward – they know there will not be sufficient demand.
The author states that the BOE says “277 non-garden style apartments in town yield a mere 17 public school children”. Perhaps when hundreds of new apartments in town are non-garden apartment style the new apartments will have a much different statistic.
The author states “And who knows – maybe our young adult kids will move back into town with other young professionals, who aren’t ready to buy a house yet and want an easy commute.”
I hope my children are smart enough and successful enough to get a place in Hoboken until they are ready to buy a house.
Ridgewood isn’t a bad commute, but I wouldn’t call it an “easy” commute, especially if you are young and want to be out with other young professionals.
#1 is spot on. Anyone interested might take a look at https://ljreynolds.com/
Thanks #8. I checked out. You can’t make this shit up.
I wonder if Big Al is Reynolds attorney? You know keep among friends.
I feel ill.
Would the author of this piece be the same Louis J Reynolds that owns LJ Reynolds construction in Ridgewood? The website mentions they are multi family property pros. If so, no conflict of interest here folks, move along, nothing to see.
https://ljreynolds.com/
This what our Carpetbagger Mayor has brought to Ridgewood. Hudson County politics and all that goes with it.
WOW! You really can’t make this stuff up. Damn Hudson County contractor (specializing in multi-family conversions) newbie living in the Heights. Those of us who have been around a while and have put kids through RHS can tell you, with certainty, that many families move into rental units in Ridgewood for a limited duration just to have their kids go through RHS. My kids friends live in a one bedroom with two parents and a sibling. How? Two kids kids share the bedroom and mom/dad sleep on the pull-out couch, that’s how. And then they move on after 4 years or so.
Mr Reynolds, why did you move to Ridgewood instead of Hoboken? Did you like our low density feel, our good schools, etc? I didn’t move here for the urban vibe.
If it is true — and I wouldn’t hold my breath on it — that only 17 children from “non garden apartments” attend the schools, then I do need to ask how many such apartments are out there. I did happen to live in an apartment with my husband when I first moved here. And we were the only ones without children. There were at least two children to every apartment, often more — and they were much smaller than these are slated to be. So I don’t believe for a second that these new apartments/condos won’t have children in them. I can also assure you that if I ever sell my house after my children are grown, it would not be to buy an even more expensive condo or townhouse beside the railroad tracks.
I really hate when people lie.
The area is currently zoned for housing — it just isn’t as profitable as the developers would like it to be. So, all the “pro’s” mentioned by this buffoon would be met if the land was developed the way that it has been zoned to be developed all along by our master plan. There is no need to change the master plan just to line the pockets of developers.
IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE GET OUT TO THE MEETING TONIGHT AND LET THE PLANNING BOARD KNOW HOW YOU FEEL — MONDAY THE 17TH AT RHS. THE BOARD IS CONTINUING WITH PUBLIC QUESTIONING OF THE BLAISE BLANCHEAU.
Bingo #17. And as has been mentioned on this website before, some of those building are left intentionally dilapidated.
One only needs to look at the Ridge School, the middle schools and high school rosters to know that the estimates and number of children per year are under-reported.