New municipal offices, a new community college building, and new court building are all being planned for, the Journal Square area. An 80,000 square-foot shopping center, post office, and bank are all slated for development, in addition to the relocation of churches and the rehabilitation of residential buildings. Despite the great news, we in Jersey City still have a ways to go. Crime is still higher than any civilized society should tolerate. Drugs still plague too many lives.
Despair still reigns along the cracked sidewalks of some of our tougher neighborhoods.
Jersey City's budget still suffers from a structural deficit, though we have reduced it enormously during my administration. And our property owners are still overburdened by property taxes. State-aid cuts threaten any progress that has been made. But I remain an incurable optimist about American cities. As someone who grew up in the suburbs, I love living in the city, with its wide range of experiences and alternate ways of seeing life.