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Rice: By Helping Our Cities, We Are Helping The State

TRENTON – Senator Ronald L. Rice, Chairman of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, released the following statement today following the Housing Community Development Network of New Jersey’s release of a report that identifies positive and negative changes in the state’s urban areas.

“As promising as the signs of growth in our cities are, we need to recognize the fact that the quality of life for the residents of our cities is not improving. Redevelopment and growth in our cities are important but we can not allow the finical gap between rich and poor to continue to grow as well.

“The majority of new construction projects are in our cities, but the population is still ‘bursting at the seams’. It’s critical that we create more affordable housing in perpetuity for the urban communities.

” We must create better paying jobs, and job training for urban residents. We need to make sure that many of the jobs in our cities go to those living there. We have to look at how the rapid increase in the number of children and immigrants have affected the quality of life and what we can do to help them better themselves.”