Sustainability and Infrastructure
Walking along Bidwell Avenue in Bergen Lafayette the other day, I noticed something that most people would probably overlook. The street had been freshly repaved, the pavement seams were clean, and traffic flowed without the jarring dips and patched trenches that so often linger after utility work. It was the result of the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority’s emergency sewer replacement project along Garfield Avenue from Bidwell to Fulton, which included new water mains, sewers, and gas lines. The work wasn’t glamorous, but it was done right, and the difference was immediately visible at street level.
JCMUA’s quiet, consistent role in maintaining water quality, stormwater systems, and aging underground infrastructure is easy to miss. But their efforts are essential to keeping older neighborhoods functioning day after day. In a city where many systems were built for smaller populations and a different climate, this kind of maintenance underpins everything happening above ground.
My own path in historic adaptive reuse began years ago, walking blocks to document buildings for historic district designations and restoration efforts. Over time, I’ve worked on expanding districts and restoring historic churches throughout the country. Those experiences have taught me that the health of a neighborhood depends as much on what’s beneath the surface as on what stands above it.
Jersey City-from Hamilton Park to Bergen Lafayette, Greenville, and Journal Square are built on a historic urban layout: narrow streets, dense buildings, and mixed uses layered over more than a century of change. The infrastructure beneath these neighborhoods was never designed to support today’s population or environmental pressures. When water mains burst or sewers back up, it doesn’t stay below ground. Businesses lose revenue. Commutes are delayed. Buildings are damaged. Daily life is disrupted. Over time, repeated failures quietly chip away at residents’ confidence in their neighborhood’s stability.
Preservation is often associated with façades and architectural details, but true preservation requires modern infrastructure. Sewer and stormwater upgrades, like the work completed on Bidwell Avenue, are critical to protecting historic building foundations, preventing flooding, and allowing these neighborhoods to grow without losing their character. Recent developments abound in Jersey City, but none of it works without reliable infrastructure beneath it.
In Greenville, flooding remains a real threat. The storms of July 2025 brought flash flooding across Hudson County, prompting a state of emergency. Nor’easters underscored how vulnerable these neighborhoods can be. Sewer upgrades increase drainage capacity, protecting properties and keeping streets passable during increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
JCMUA’s continued projects, including upcoming sewer main repairs on Lexington Avenue, reflect the kind of steady work that keeps these systems functioning. Infrastructure investment isn’t separate from preservation; it’s a prerequisite for it and should be supported. The sidewalks, storefronts, and streetscapes that define Bergen Lafayette, Greenville, and Journal Square rely on what’s happening below ground. If we want these neighborhoods to thrive for another century, we have to care as much about the pipes and tunnels as we do about the cornices and façades.
