North Jersey National Heritage Area Project
To highlight our region’s heritage and distinct contributions to the American story.
To generate jobs and economic opportunity throughout our community.
To protect and support our natural, cultural and historic resources.
What is so special about North Jersey? Actually, a lot.
It is a place of American firsts (industrial city, automobile suburb, town in country suburb) a gateway for millions of migrants who shaped what is the United States today and a center for innovation in technology, urban development and transportation. All of this happened along and near three arterial rivers – the Hudson, Hackensack and Passaic – that have nurtured people for more than 10,000 years.
A great way to share the stories of North Jersey – and to benefit the communities in it – is by making a large part of it a National Heritage Area.
The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation is working to create a federally-designated National Heritage Area covering several counties in North Jersey. A National Heritage Area is a region recognized by Congress as making a special contribution to the heritage of the United States.
We aim to highlight our region’s experiences with migration and immigration, suburban development, industry and innovation, and transportation and infrastructure. What happened here shaped America and the world. The North Jersey NHA would cover Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Union counties.
A North Jersey NHA would offer many benefits to our communities including:
- Hundreds of thousands more federal dollars to North Jersey.
- Increased cultural heritage tourism around the NHA region. This can help support local businesses and arts and cultural activities in many communities, create jobs, and keep more discretionary dollars in the region.
- Elevation and preservation of the diverse cultures in the region.
- Greater awareness and increased pride in the region’s natural and historic assets.
All this can happen with NO required financial costs to residents, local governments, or state governments. An NHA places NO restrictions or obligations on governments or property owners.
But it does need to be publicly and widely supported by stakeholders and elected representatives.
We hope that you will want to learn more and join in this effort.
- Read a white paper on the proposed North Jersey National Heritage Area
- Sign on to show your support or become a partner
What is a National Heritage Area?
A National Heritage Area is a region, corridor or area in the United States that is recognized by the US Congress as a place that contributes to American heritage. Although it is a federal program overseen by the National Park Service, each NHA is managed independently.
According to the National Park Service:
“National Heritage Areas (NHAs) are designated by Congress as places where natural, cultural, and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape. Through their resources, NHAs tell nationally important stories that celebrate our nation’s diverse heritage. NHAs are lived-in landscapes. Consequently, NHA entities collaborate with communities to determine how to make heritage relevant to local interests and needs.
NHAs are a grassroots, community-driven approach to heritage conservation and economic development. Through public-private partnerships, NHA entities support historic preservation, natural resource conservation, recreation, heritage tourism, and educational projects. Leveraging funds and long-term support for projects, NHA partnerships foster pride of place and an enduring stewardship ethic.
Benefits of NHAs
Some of the long-term benefits of NHA activities include:
- Sustainable economic development – NHAs leverage federal funds (NHAs average $5.50 for every $1.00 of federal investment) to create jobs, generate revenue for local governments, and sustain local communities through revitalization and heritage tourism
- Healthy environment and people – Many NHAs improve water and air quality in their regions through restoration projects, and encourage people to enjoy natural and cultural sites by providing new recreational opportunities.
- Improved Quality of Life –Through new or improved amenities, unique settings, and educational and volunteer opportunities, NHAs improve local quality of life.
- Education and Stewardship – NHAs connect communities to natural, historic, and cultural sites through educational activities, which promote awareness and foster interest in and stewardship of heritage resources.
- Community Engagement and Pride – By engaging community members in heritage conservation activities, NHAs strengthen sense of place and community pride.”
Learn more about National Heritage Areas.
New Jersey has one statewide Heritage Area: Crossroads of the American Revolution. That NHA focuses on New Jersey’s special history in the Revolutionary War. The proposed NHA would tell other stories about our region.
Benefits to our region
Hopefully, you are already excited enough about the North Jersey NHA to get involved and help support it. But if not, here are answers to some of the “so what” questions you might have:
Through this new NHA, we can:
- Distribute tens of thousands – or even hundreds of thousands — of dollars to support historic, cultural and environmental organizations in the region. Significant portions of that funding could go to spur cultural entrepreneurship, heritage tourism, environmental protection and cultural experiences in communities with large concentrations of low- and moderate-income residents.
- Encourage more people to visit downtowns, historic sites, recreational sites along rivers and special places (like Radburn or the Little Lima neighborhood in Paterson). This will bring more visibility to the areas and more dollars to businesses and towns in the region.
- Encourage cultural, civic and business leaders to collaborate on programming that can help support sites and places.
- Inspire the development of more public art and community events that help tell deeper stories about the diverse heritages and distinct histories in the region.
- Create a tourism website that serves as an interactive guidebook to places and sites in the North Jersey.
- Create a resource library and support convenings on suburbia, migration and innovation in North Jersey.
- Inspire more research about suburban life and culture, which is often overlooked with so much focus on cities and rural areas.
- Help protect our waterways, woodlands, wildlife and open spaces by highlighting their important role in supporting human civilization in the area for more than 10,000 years.
- Support the work of destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce and downtown associations, and other groups working to support businesses, jobs and entrepreneurship in the region.
How will the NHA be managed?
The impacts could be big. A 2012 study of six NHAs in the Northeast and Midwest found that each:
- Supported between 1,944 and 6,154 jobs,
- Generated between $222.6 million and $921.2 million in economic impact (in 2023 dollars), and
- Generated between $19.7 million and $49.4 million in tax revenue (in 2023 dollars).[1]
Of these six, the NHA that is most like the one proposed for North Jersey – the Schuykill River Greenway NHA – supported more than 6,100 jobs, and generated $771.8 million in economic impact and $49.4 million in tax revenue (in 2023 dollars).
This kind of impact can especially help places that are culturally diverse or that have high concentrations of low and moderate-income residents; not just Newark and Paterson, but also places like Passaic, East Orange and Hackensack. More visitor spending can support more jobs in retail, arts and culture, and service industries. It can help support the cultural sites and small local businesses that strengthen communities and serve its residents.
The North Jersey NHA can bring hundreds of thousands of federal dollars to North Jersey. Each year, every NHA gets a federal allocation of at least $150,000, and could get up to $1 million. Many NHAs get about $500,000. The Foundation plans to use a significant amount of these federal dollars to provide grants to nonprofit organizations or local agencies for activities related to the NHA goals. This includes:
- Arts organizations working on projects that elevate local histories or cultures,
- Chambers of commerce or merchants’ associations for events or programs that support cultural or heritage tourism
- Cultural, heritage and environmental organizations
- Educational organizations – such as colleges or universities – for informational events on suburbia, migration or innovation
- Municipalities or counties for programs that support cultural preservation or entrepreneurship, recreational programs that support the natural environment, or historic preservation
The North Jersey NHA can also elevate and help protect local traditions, build greater pride among residents in their communities, and create even more experiences, which together help enhance quality of life in our region.
At the Foundation, we are particularly excited about the potential for the North Jersey NHA to honor the original people of the area – the Lenape (also known as the Lenni Lenape or the Delaware).
[1] The Economic Impact of National Heritage Areas: A Case Study Analysis of Six National Heritage Areas in the Northeast and Midwest Regions, TrippUmbach, 2015
NHA Project Status
We are in the early stages. As of April 2024, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation is:
- Building a diverse steering committee of representatives from cultural, environmental, governmental, educational and business groups in North Jersey.
- Generating public support and seeking volunteers for this effort. Get involved or show your support.
- Seeking financial support from foundations, corporations and government entities. We estimate that the cost of completing the feasibility study and gathering public support will be at least $150,000.
We also plan to work with two consultants with exceptional expertise in developing and managing National Heritage Areas.
August R. Carlino is the president and managing partner of Acorn Hill Strategies, LLC. His client base is extensive, having worked with National and State Heritage Areas, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and local governments. In addition, Carlino is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation (RSHC) based in Homestead, Pennsylvania. His experience working with numerous organizations demonstrates that success depends on an effective organizational structure and a committed and active board and staff. His team of partner consultants have all served as staff to nonprofit organizations and on boards at the national and community levels.
Carlino has consulted with several nonprofit groups on strategic planning, board and organizational development, and fundraising. Carlino was recognized in 2020 by a major foundation as one of Pittsburgh’s most effective nonprofit leaders. In 2018, Smart Business Magazine named him as one of Pittsburgh’s Top 50 Business Leaders. In addition, Rivers of Steel has been recognized as one of the most successful National Heritage Areas in the United States under his leadership.
Dr. Nancy Morgan, of Point Heritage Development Consulting, is a heritage development specialist with a background in cultural anthropology has experience in National Heritage Area management and planning, research and interpretation, and community development. Following seven years as Executive Director of Cane River National Heritage Area in Louisiana, she established Point Heritage Development Consulting in 2008. She has also served as Co-Executive Director of Goodwood Museum & Gardens, a historic site in Tallahassee, FL, since 2015.
We will also begin outreach later in 2024 to generate public support for the North Jersey National Heritage Area. If you would like to show your support, please add your name (and organization, if appropriate) to the petition calling on public officials to support the North Jersey NHA.
Questions? Please contact Leo Vazquez, Executive Director, North Jersey National Heritage Area and NHA Project Director, at leo@nnjcf.org or 201-568-5608, x2.
Proposed North Jersey National Heritage Area themes
Every region in the United States is special in its own ways. But places designated as National Heritage Areas, according to the National Park Service, are “places where natural, cultural, and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape. Through their resources, NHAs tell nationally important stories that celebrate our nation’s diverse heritage.”
We believe that North Jersey can add at least four chapters to the story of the United States. These themes are: Model suburban development, migration and immigration, industry and infrastructure, and transportation and infrastructure. And as with any good story, the chapters connect to one another to make North Jersey a very special place.
(More themes may come to light. We plan to listen to community members and experts in North Jersey as we develop the National Heritage Area proposal.)
Suburbia
North Jersey is the site of some of the earliest American suburbs – such as Llewelyn and Radburn, which became models for other suburbs in the early 20th century and for New Urbanist design.
These suburbs, with their pleasant design and connections to nature, were very different from the ticky-tacky designs of suburban developments created later in the century.
North Jersey is also home to some model “metroburbs” – walkable suburbs that also provide the energy and diversity of experiences that you used to get only in cities. Places like Hoboken, Morristown and Montclair are not just great to live in – they are great to visit. And they are good models for how small towns across the United States can be places to have fun and to relax.
From the earliest days, many people moved to the suburbs to find a balance between getting access to the resources found in cities – jobs, entertainment, and more – and being close to nature.
That access to nature was made possible by the Lenape people – the area’s first residents – who had cultivated the land for more than 10,000 years.
But the benefits to some of suburban development comes with significant costs – to the Lenape, who lost so much of their homeland; and to local ecosystems, which today still struggle from pollution and (ironically) loss of natural habitat.
Migration and immigration
You can’t tell the American story without talking about the waves of migration and immigration that have happened since even before the nation was founded.
North Jersey is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the United States. From Little Lima in Paterson to Little India in Jersey City to the Koreatowns in Fort Lee and Palisades Park, you can travel the world in a day in North Jersey.
North Jersey’s story of immigration began with Dutch settlement in the 1600s and pulses today with residents from all over the globe. The region has also drawn waves upon waves of first and second-generation Americans leaving New York and other major cities, and of Black Americans who left the South in the Great Migration of the early 1900s.
Innovation and industry
Did you know that the Wizard of Menlo Park – Thomas Edison – actually spent the last 40 years of his life working and living in West Orange? That Hoboken is the birthplace of the ice cream cone? That Orange was once the hatmaking capital of the United States? If you’ve seen movies about this, you can also thank North Jersey – Fort Lee launched America’s film industry.
North Jersey has been a center for innovation and industry from its beginning years, when Alexander Hamilton founded Paterson as the nation’s first industrial city.
Many things created or manufactured in North Jersey affected the lives of millions of Americans. One innovation launched in Newark and Elizabeth changed the world: the cargo container. This simple box and the system surrounding it reshaped urban waterfronts around the world, reordered global economies by putting globalization into overdrive, and fundamentally changed the lives of millions of people.
The region continues to be a major source of innovation with so many major companies like LG and Merck headquartered in the region.
We have the Lenape and the colonial Dutch to thank for North Jersey’s rise as an industrial center. The Lenape cultivated the wealth of the region’s resources, and the Dutch established international trade networks.
This part of North Jersey’s story also has tragic elements – slavery, the abuse of labor, and the fouling of North Jersey’s natural environment – that also shaped the character of the United States.
Transportation and infrastructure
With so many people living in North Jersey and traveling to New York, and so much industry creating goods to go around the United States, the region developed one of the most expansive and innovative transportation networks.
The region’s infrastructure – embodied by such innovations as the Hackensack Waterworks and the New Jersey Turnpike — made it possible for suburban residents to get the same benefits as city dwellers.
Get involved with the North Jersey National Heritage Area
Everyone can get involved in the North Jersey NHA. Right now, the Foundation is looking for allies who:
- Are connected with cultural, heritage, business, environmental, educational and government organizations in North Jersey;
- Are residents who live or work in North Jersey; or
- Can help promote the NHA to elected officials at all levels of government – from the municipal to the federal levels
As we move along in this effort, there may be other ways for you to get involved. To get involved, or just show your support, please fill out this short form.
If you have any questions, please contact Leonardo Vazquez at the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation at leo@nnjcf.org or 201-568-5608, x2. You can also write to him at Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, 1 University Plaza Drive, Suite 128, Hackensack, NJ 07601
Support the North Jersey National Heritage Area
We need two main kinds of support to make the North Jersey National Heritage Area a reality:
- Vocal public support, which you can show by signing on to a support letter.
- Providing a financial donation. Your support will be used for research, outreach, and other activities that will help make the National Heritage Area a reality. Any support will be appreciated.
Contact
Questions? Comments? Please reach out to Leo Vazquez, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, at leo@nnjcf.org or 201-388-9212
