New Jersey over the past two centuries has thrived with industry. Many of the northern towns and cities are know for their production. Paterson for being the first planned industrial city in the United States. They are also known as the "Silk Capital of the World". Roselle Park is known for being the first city to be lighted by elecricity. Newark, Jersey City, Edison, Madison, among others, were loosing their status as some of the most important historic sites and instead becoming known as the homes of many of the fortune 500 companies. Urban Sprawl was getting out of control. More and more natural land was being developed to build more industry and housing; while the air pollution was increasing the land's natural ability to absorb the pollution was decreasing. We were in danger of damaging our water supply. In south jersey tap water comes from a natual underground source. Developement was causing too much water run off and the ground no longer had enough area to absorb enough water.
In 1993, when Chrstine Todd Whitman took over the Governors Office from Gov. Florio, she promised to make changes with the preservation of what she called open space. At that time many people in New Jersey were more concerned with jobs and industry but were starting to notice over-population and constant traffic congestion. The air pollution was so bad in the summer you could see a constant haze in the streets and every year we were in a drought. Governor Whitman at the time was considered radical in her Open Space policies, but the present-day benefit can't be measured.
With what has become Green Acres at a budget of over $115 million dollars per year, New Jersey has become an ideal place to live and work. The pollution is better controlled, the water supply is getting better, and the people who live in New Jersey have "breathing space" and places for their children to play.
The way it works is simple. The state buys and restores natural land, farm land, and places of historical value. They reimbuse towns and cities for buying land or using existing empty lots to create parks and play grounds. They preserve large portions of our eco-systems and fund educational programs to study them. They also have a 50/50 matching program for non-profit organizations that are not government based.
Now some who read this may be thinking, "well that's nice, but how can you spend so much on just having extra parks". For those need to justify the expenditure with math:
- New Jerseys second largest industry is now tourism bringing in around 17 billion dollars in revenue, and supplying over 353 thousand jobs.
- We produce 1/6 of the worlds pharmaceuticals, which requires a good deal of growing.
- We produce two thirds of the worlds eggplant.
- We lead the nation in production of cranberries and blueberries
- And, move over Georgia! We are the 4th in production of peaches, with hybrids developed by New Jersey farmers, the New Jersey Experiment Station, and Rutger University such as Jerseyglo and Lady Nancy.
