Top Left: decorative planter box in Collingswood’s West Side Business District (Borough of Collingswood); Bottom Left: outdoor holiday market in South Orange, with South Orange train station in the background (South Orange Downtown); Right: wayfinding maps and signage in downtown Montclair (Arterial Streets)
People gravitate toward places that are enjoyable to use and easy to access. These environments are created through placemaking, a range of practices designed to attract diverse groups of people with varying interests. This diversity ensures that quality places are used consistently at different times, for different purposes, and in different ways.
Common elements of quality public places include:
- Accessibility and diverse transportation options
- Mixed uses and activities, such as arts and culture, recreation, and socialization
- Distinct visual identity through design, materials, and signage
- The presence of people—the most vital component (Dwyer, 2024; Project for Public Spaces, 2022; Wyckoff, 2014).
Often, these places are comfortable, safe and attractive, walkable, bikeable, and human-scale. In other words, quality places are designed for people. By investing in great public spaces, communities can increase social interaction, promote health and wellness, foster a sense of identity, and grow the local economy.
Transportation determines the form of our places.”
— Alex Marshall (qtd. in Dorsey & Mulder, 2013, p. 66)
The Intersection of Transit and Placemaking
Combining quality public transit, mixed-use development, and thoughtful land-use regulations can create “people-oriented places” (Dorsey & Mulder, 2013, p. 66). NJ TRANSIT supports this through its Transit Friendly Planning Program, which encourages development patterns and circulation that support pedestrian activity and local economic growth (NJ TRANSIT Transit Friendly Planning, 2022, p. 8). Transit-friendly places typically feature:
- Active, human-scale public spaces
- Development around transit facilities
- Visually appealing and welcoming transit infrastructure
- Robust bicycle and pedestrian networks
Historically, many US communities prioritized automobiles, leading to modern challenges such as traffic congestion, safety concerns, physical and mental health concerns, pollution, inadequate transportation options, and a lack of community identity (MacKenzie, 2015). However, strategies like Streets as Places, transit-friendly planning, Complete Streets, and right-of-way improvements are now being used to not only make streets safer for all users but also to transform streets from mere roadways into vibrant community hubs.
Principles in Practice
The Project for Public Spaces suggests eleven principles for developing great community places. A critical concept is triangulation—how different elements within a space (such as a bench, coffee kiosk, and a transit entrance) interact to draw people together. When placemaking near transit, the transit facility must be a primary anchor, ensuring seamless movement between it and the surrounding community.
Collingswood: The “Festival Capital”
Collingswood (Camden County) is home to a station on the PATCO Speedline and several NJ TRANSIT bus stops. In 2003, it became the first designated NJ Transit Village centered on a PATCO station. Placemaking here is a collaborative effort between municipal government, nonprofit organizations, and local businesses. Collingswood describes itself as the “Festival Capital of South Jersey,” hosting multiple community events including the May Fair, the Collingswood Book Festival, Second Saturdays, outdoor movies, and the Collingswood Farmers’ Market (Borough of Collingswood, n.d.-a).
Collingswood Partners, a nonprofit organization that manages the Borough’s Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), promotes the community through events and beautification (Borough of Collingswood, n.d.-c). The nonprofit Collingswood Civic Collective (CCC) also strives to make the community welcoming through workshops and initiatives (Collingswood Civic Collective, n.d.). It oversees the West Collingswood Revitalization Committee, which invests in the West Side Business District by installing new bike racks, outdoor tables and seating, native pollinator gardens, and public art (Borough of Collingswood, 2025a). Furthermore, the Collingswood Bike Share program, created in 2008 and operated by the Department of Recreation, promotes biking as a viable alternative to driving for a $25 annual membership fee (Borough of Collingswood, n.d.-b; Flowers, 2016).
In September 2025, the Borough opened a new Pocket Park in downtown Collingswood, revitalizing an underutilized parking lot with movable furniture, native habitat gardens, and stormwater management improvements (Borough of Collingswood, 2025b). This follows the success of the Borough’s parklet, a seasonal public space established in 2013 that transforms excess street parking at different locations along Haddon Avenue into public seating (Skoufalos, 2013). Both projects followed the principle of experimenting with “lighter, quicker, and cheaper” (LQC) methods. In 2021, after residents voiced concerns about cyclist and pedestrian safety on Atlantic Avenue, the Borough also partnered with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)’s Experimental Pop-Ups (ExPo) program for the “All Aboard Atlantic Avenue” project (DVRPC, n.d.). This pilot program tested an advisory shoulder bike lane, painted curb extensions, and bollards to improve safety (Connect 2020, 2022; DVRPC, 2021a). Surveys following the project found that nearly 65 percent of respondents wanted the enhanced crosswalks to be made permanent, leading to further Complete Streets pilot projects near the PATCO station in 2022 (Connect 2020, 2022; DVRPC, 2021b).
Cyclists and pedestrians using the enhanced safety improvements along Atlantic Avenue during the All Aboard Atlantic project. Courtesy of DVRPC
South Orange: A Model Transit Village
In South Orange Village, placemaking is centered on the South Orange Station, served by NJ TRANSIT’s Morris & Essex Line, and South Orange Avenue, which includes stops for several NJ TRANSIT bus lines. The municipality gained its Transit Village designation in 1999 when the program began. Its Special Improvement District (SID), South Orange Downtown, leads the effort to support many of these placemaking activities, including community events, live music, streetscape improvements, and public art installations.
Outdoor yoga class on Village Plaza sponsored by the SID and a local yoga studio. Courtesy of South Orange Downtown
Village Plaza and the neighboring Spiotta Park serve as a focal point for these efforts. In 2016, the SID partnered with the Village to pilot a pedestrian plaza, closing Village Plaza to vehicles on weekend evenings to coincide with the annual Downtown After Sundown concert series (The Village Green, 2016). While the plaza remains open to vehicles daily, it still closes for events like outdoor yoga classes and the annual fashion show (South Orange Downtown, 2025a; 2025b). Another key location is the municipal parking lot on Sloan Street, located immediately adjacent to the train station. In 2020, this lot hosted the Open Air Holiday Market to support local businesses during the pandemic, an initiative that received a placemaking award from Downtown New Jersey (Mercer, 2021). The lot also hosts the weekly Farmers Market and the annual Beer Fest (South Orange Downtown, 2025c; Szulzeski, 2025).
These community events reflect the principle of experimenting with LQC options. Rather than permanently converting a street, these temporary projects create new uses for underutilized spaces and depend on partnerships between Village officials, business owners, nonprofits, and residents. Additionally, South Orange Downtown has invested in permanent art, such as the “Spirit of Spiotta” mural and the Village Plaza Triangle renovation (Smith, 2018; South Orange Downtown, 2022; Downtown New Jersey, 2023). The SID also installed a “Music Walk” in the alleyway connecting the Sloan Street lot to South Orange Avenue, featuring lighting, seating, murals, music, and digital kiosks displaying information about downtown events (Kelleher, 2019; Editor, 2023).
Montclair: Innovation in the Downtown Core
Placemaking activities in Montclair range from temporary pilot initiatives to large-scale permanent changes to the built environment. The Township of Montclair is served by several bus lines, and multiple train stations along NJ TRANSIT’s Montclair-Boonton Line. Bay Street Station, in downtown Montclair, received a Transit Village designation in 2010 (NJ TRANSIT Transit Friendly Planning, 2022). Most placemaking in Montclair is focused on the Transit Village district and along Bloomfield Avenue. The Township was an early proponent of Complete Streets, adopting a policy in 2009 that has enabled numerous pedestrian-friendly initiatives (Township of Montclair, NJ, n.d.).
In 2009, the Township renovated South Park Street, located about a half-mile from Bay Street Station. This renovation widened the sidewalks to 25 feet, narrowed the roadway, and added a median and new crosswalks, allowing the street to be closed to vehicles in one direction for pedestrian activity (Arterial Streets, n.d.-a; Lustberg, 2021). This design proved invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Township and the BID closed South Park Street and nearby Church Street for outdoor dining and shopping (Baristanet Staff, 2020a; 2020b; Mercer, 2021). Church Street also featured the Pop Goes the Plaza installation, which used artistic shade canopies and modular seating to bring people back downtown. The installation received a 2021 Early Action/Volunteer Organization placemaking award from Downtown New Jersey.
In 2016, the Township approved the Seymour Street Redevelopment Plan, which led to the creation of a new mixed-use development around the historic Wellmont Theater (Katzban, 2016). This project resulted in the Wellmont Arts Plaza, a 14,000-square-foot space featuring outdoor seating, landscaping, and an outdoor stage (Arterial Streets, n.d.-b; Kofsky, 2017; New Jersey Business Magazine, 2018). The plaza received the Built Project Excellence award from Downtown New Jersey and serves as an important venue for events like the free Outdoor Concert Series (Downtown New Jersey, 2022; Gilmore, 2025). Furthermore, the plaza has become a primary venue for the annual Montclair Jazz Festival. In 2021, the festival recorded 20,000 attendees who spent a total of $500,000 in the downtown, demonstrating how transit-oriented placemaking can serve as a catalyst for significant local economic growth.
Creating Great Transit-Friendly Places
Increasingly, communities throughout New Jersey—and the country—are investing in higher-density, mixed-use development near transit. While transit access is essential, transit-oriented development (TOD) alone cannot create great communities. Incorporating transit-oriented placemaking ensures that neighborhoods are not only convenient but also enjoyable places to be. These examples demonstrate how placemaking strategies—ranging from community events and visual identity to public art—are effective in diverse municipalities across the state. Despite differences in size and character, these communities all benefit from dedicated local partners, including BIDs, SIDs, local governments, nonprofits, and other community groups, who work together to make New Jersey’s transit hubs vibrant places to live, work, and play.
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