News & Events

Tech Updates: Essential Technology Budgeting
Budgeting for technology requires careful planning, clear priorities, and hard decision-making. This guide will walk you through the key steps to creating an effective technology budget process for your municipality.

Innovative Summer Climate Data and Literacy Workshop
Teachers learned about local climate change data, conditions and impacts and explored NJ ADAPT digital tools, with Rutgers experts Dr. Marjorie Kaplan of the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute and NJ Climate Change Resource Center, and Lucas Marxen and Dr. James Shope of the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center.

Webinar Series on Sustainable Healthy Futures: Extreme Heat in our Communities
Watch here: https://youtu.be/90CA63nAzC0 A collaborative research team from The Bloustein School at Rutgers University and Florida State University have launched a three-part webinar series exploring the intersection of community-led climate adaptation efforts and health equity. This series is bringing together practitioners and community leaders to share...

Promoting Business-Friendly Regulations
But specifically adding criminal matters is “unusual,” said Marc Pfieffer, associate director of Rutgers University’s Center for Planning and Public Policy at Bloustein Local.
“But these are also unusual circumstances in Camden,” Pfieffer said.

Compare Electricity Rates in New Jersey
“Not everyone bothers to take advantage of the opportunity to switch,” said Clinton Andrews, professor of urban planning and policy development at Rutgers University and director of its Center for Urban Policy Research (which has research contracts with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities).

After ex-N.J. mayor’s indictment, city revising rules that could help pay for her defense
But specifically adding criminal matters is “unusual,” said Marc Pfieffer, associate director of Rutgers University’s Center for Planning and Public Policy at Bloustein Local.
“But these are also unusual circumstances in Camden,” Pfieffer said.

Residents compare Clifton council members fighting over seats to preschoolers
A longtime observer of New Jersey’s local governments, Marc Pfeiffer, a researcher at Rutgers’ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, said part of the problem can be attributed to the recent member turnover on the City Council, with the exit of James Anzaldi as mayor after more than 30 years and the deaths of members Peter Eagler and Lauren Murphy.

EAC Included in $16 Million Climate Project Funding
University researchers to lead green infrastructure, community engagement, K-12 education and planning initiatives as part of a $72.5 million federal grant Rutgers University researchers will lead several components of a $72.5 million federal initiative to fortify New Jersey's coast against climate change and extreme weather events. The National Oceanic...

American Dream says it’s 87% occupied. But Meadowlands towns are still owed $13 million
“Economic conditions change. Your expectations have to change,” said Marc Pfeiffer, associate director of the Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. “They wouldn’t be able to cut that same type of deal today.”

Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Flooded Into Newark Schools From Covid. Where It All Landed Is Not So Clear
When the federal government allotted $190 billion to school districts throughout the nation in an attempt to address learning loss caused by Covid-19, Newark Public Schools was a big beneficiary of what are called ESSER funds, or Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief. Some of that spending has raised the ire of elected officials in New...
Recent Products
Monitoring summertime indoor overheating and pollutant risks and natural ventilation patterns of seniors in public housing.
Abstract Indoor heat and air pollution pose concurrent threats to human health and wellbeing, and their effects are more pronounced for vulnerable individuals. This study investigates exposures to summertime indoor overheating and airborne particulate matter (PM2.5)...
First, Do No Harm: Algorithms, AI, and Digital Product Liability
The ethical imperative for technology should be "first, do no harm." But digital innovations like AI and social media increasingly enable societal harms, from bias to misinformation. As these technologies grow ubiquitous, we need solutions to address unintended...
Focus Group Synthesis for Increasing Access to Nature for People with Disabilities
This project is a component of a research-informed white paper focused on the challenges and opportunities associated with access to outdoor recreation for people with disabilities in New Jersey. This report shares the key findings from three focus groups with people...
Research Summary of State Policies for Increasing Access to Nature for People with Disabilities
First, we discuss federal policies that increase public recreation access to the outdoors, in order to understand how states have used this context to inform their own efforts to increase outdoor access. Using policy examples from twelve states (Alaska, California,...