Mercer Crossings

Communities Partnering for the Future

The Mercer County Planning Department invited the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to conduct a five-day planning exercise, or charrette, during the first week of August. MLUC was invited by Mercer County Planning Department to partner in this effort.

The purpose of the five-day charrette was to come up with a redevelopment plan for the area comprised of parts of each of the three municipalities surrounding North Olden Avenue. The planning exercise involved not only Mercer County, but elected officials, economic development experts and planners from three Mercer County municipalities – Trenton, Ewing and Lawrence. Among the ULI recommendations was to “brand” this inter-municipal area with a new name – “Mercer Crossings” – that speaks to the regional importance of this area.

ULI provides this service to selected municipalities throughout the country as part of its advisory service. The ULI experts participating in the exercise were drawn nationally from California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. MLUC contributed to the briefing materials for ULI participants. It hosted a reception and provided the location for the stakeholder interviews. The College President Barbara Gitenstein and Dr. David Prensky, Director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, participated in the interviews and expressed The College’s strong interest in the process. The final ULI report will be released in November 2004. It will include a number of policy recommendations and action items.

MLUC will continue to partner with the county and the three municipalities to take the necessary steps to implement the action items that the county and municipalities deem appropriate.