Photo of the Day: James Street Redevelopment, Englewood NJ

I took the image accompanying this post last weekend. It documents a major change in James Street, a neighborhood only a couple of blocks from where I live in Englewood, NJ. My cousins lived on this street in my childhood, and a number of friends resided in homes either here or one of the side streets.

In my nearly 60 years in the community, Englewood—very much including James Street—has undergone many changes. Across the street from where this picture was taken once stood Von Roth’s, a nursery that was a local fixture for many years. 

What you see in this picture is the result of a bigger change: an ordinance producing a rezoning a half-dozen years ago. To secure the city of Englewood’s agreement to expand the local ShopRite and its parking lot, the supermarket’s owner agreed to raze blighted homes on the east side of James Street running from the central business district to Tallman Place at the north end of the store, and build eight new single-family residences.

With the supermarket and parking lot now enlarged, building on the James Street single-family homes has proceeded in the last few months, to the store seen in my photo. As I witnessed as a child in my own neighborhood, redevelopment can inflame residents’ passions, particularly if done without concern for the rights of homeowners. James Street had its share of these, as the City Council rejected the developer’s earlier proposals to build even more residential properties than the eight going up now.

Eight, as they say, is enough. Nothing stays the same. In the meantime, I hope this neighborhood I’ve passed through countless times in my life may revive and achieve prolonged stability for its residents.