A walk through the South Amboy's downtown shows the old and the new happily blend together in a vibrant business community.

South Amboy gets it. The city is transforming itself from a dying urban center with a run down waterfront that literally exploded in flames in the 1950’s into a forward looking, exciting community. This Middlesex county city is the new benchmark for what smart growth, smart change and urban living can be and, indeed, should be.

The success of South Amboy’s revitalization has been so dramatic, that it has even caught the eye of Professor Mario Gandelsonas from the Princeton University School of Architecture, who is using the South Amboy model as a classroom for the students who will build and design the cities of tomorrow.

According to Gandelsonas, “The city of South Amboy occupies a special place in New Jersey, a state that enters the 21 century with renewed energy. South Amboy as a future transportation node within the proximity of Manhattan, presents a unique opportunity to create a new type of city that takes advantage of unique conditions: a solid and stable community, a waterfront with exceptional views, unspoiled natural preserves and large but dormant industrial structures that offer an exciting potential for jumpstarting future development. In the last few years, ambitious plans of a scale that very few large cities would envision have materialized in the form of a new neighborhood and the beginning of a new waterfront that starts to create a new image for South Amboy.”

But make no mistake about it, the South Amboy phoenix is not the result of a massive urban renewal effort where city blocks are destroyed and residents are displaced. It is instead, a moderated, well thought-out, carefully planned and finely executed integration of the old and the new. In one area the reclaimed waterfront is dotted with new homes; in another part older neighborhoods have received the coveted national “Main Street USA’ designation for their beauty.

In South Amboy, the infrastructure has been carefully rebuilt without destroying the bends in the roads and the bumps in the sidewalks that give a community its sense of character and maturity. The city’s planners have given as much thought to new bridges’ aesthetics as they do to traffic. Elsewhere in South Amboy, quality builders are creating commercial ratables that will increase tax revenues without quality of life disruption.

The city’s location, nestled on the water but literally within walking distance of many of New Jersey’s major roadways, make it an ideal location for what will become one of New Jersey’s major data centers. “South Amboy is uniquely suited to positively and proactively take advantage of the major transportation improvements in which NJDOT is engaged,” said NJDOT spokesperson Erin Phalon.

But how did they do it? And where do they plan to go next?

It all starts with a vision, which grew out of long-time Mayor Jack O’Leary’s love of his hometown and dreams for what it can become. O’Leary has never wavered from achieving the goals he set for himself and his city.

Today, South Amboy’s renaissance continues under his leadership. Now in his 18th year as mayor, O’Leary’s smart growth, smart change plan is paying huge dividends after nearly a decade of planning, analysis and management. The new South Amboy is a blend of family-oriented neighborhoods thriving side by side with a modern transportation village, new waterfront residences, and business and professional enterprise zones. In South Amboy smart change works hand in hand with family values, civic responsibility and fiscal conservatism.

Jack O’Leary knew when he began the South Amboy rebirth that it would take years to achieve his vision. But he never wavered. “It was clear to me that the city needed to undergo not only smart growth but smart change. We had to adapt to the changing times in New Jersey,” O’Leary said. But he is quick to add, “I was absolutely committed to insuring that our city did not lose its special character and that it remained affordable for the diverse and vibrant family-based community that we are.”

In order to succeed, O’Leary knew that South Amboy needed a redevelopment partner qualified to resolve significant up-front infrastructure and cleanup problems long before the development phase began. Faced with this unique redevelopment challenge, the city turned to Joseph Jingoli and Son to perform as the Master Developer for the Northern Waterfront Redevelopment Area. The location of the city and its assets dictated the selection of a partner with the expertise in engineering, infrastructure, power plants, technology and environmental cleanup. Jingoli has proven to be a crucial element in tackling the first commercial phase of the city’s plan.

NJ TRANSIT has worked closely with the city for a number of years to both improve its rail station and implement transit-oriented development.

Joseph P.Baumann Jr. of McManimon and Scotland LLC has been watching the redevelopment process evolve in South Amboy and had this to say: “Redevelopment is not for the faint of heart or the shortsighted. It requires vision, long range planning, leadership, diligence, and patience. It requires a leader willing to work hard and make hard decisions—decisions that may not bear fruit for many years. As such, redevelopment does not work well with many political cycles where instant gratification is often the real goal.”

Inevitable Change As a life long South Amboyan, O’Leary had seen his beloved city decline as so many others in New Jersey. “I intuitively understood that change was inevitable,” O’Leary said. “However, I was going to commit myself to insuring that the change in South Amboy evolved in a positive direction, away from the darkness of decay and blight and toward the light of a future designed around combining the best of all worlds into a working city that served the needs of both its residents and its businesses.”

New Homes Today, the signature piece of O’Leary’s dream is the transforming of the once underutilized waterfront of South Amboy into a beautiful environment of upscale homes, a bayfront brick paver walkway, surf fishing beach, marina, gorgeous waterfront park along with water ferry transportation, new public library, Community School and a state-of-the-art 600-plus seat Community Theater.

But long before these homes and amenities became a reality, O’Leary and his team needed to provide tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure repairs and rebuilding of the city’s core business sector. Said O’Leary, “Broadway has always been the gathering spot for our community. Without that we’ve lost our heart.”

Business A walk through the South Amboy’s downtown, shows the old and the new happily blend together in a vibrant business community.

Jim Moutsadatos, the owner of Jimmy’s Broadway Diner agrees “It’s great to watch the changes that are taking place on Broadway. It took years of hard work and planning to bring it about and now there is definitely a difference.”

The city has already been the beneficiary of well more than $100 million in re-development funds that the Mayor and the City Council have been directly responsible for bringing into our city.

Just ask Bob Dato, an attorney in town, who had a choice of where he wanted to locate his business, why he came to the city. He says, “Locating my business in South Amboy was an easy decision. The town is growing, the business potential is increasing and it is all due to the smart growth tools being used by the Mayor and Council.”

The local government team is also committed to its Neighborhood Preservation Program, which provides grant money to improve the visual appearances of older homes in a targeted area of a community, and the surrounding entranceways including sidewalks and landscape plantings.

Community gatherings and festivals also enrich life in South Amboy. The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade fills the streets with onlookers as the city celebrates its Irish heritage. Each year, the highlight of the parade is the city’s volunteer fire department, which has won the top honors in the statewide parade competition in Wildwood three times in a row. The city also hosts the Annual Raritan Bay Seafood Festival which draws anywhere from 8,000 to 12,000. And at its Annual Tree Lighting in December, South Amboy’s youngest citizens are treated to a visit from Santa Claus who arrives on his own fire truck accompanied by other decorated fire equipment.

In South Amboy, no one is left behind. The city’s elderly population, many of whom have lived and worked here for a lifetime are well cared for and housed in the senior citizen complex, known as McCarthy Towers. Under O’Leary’s leadership, that facility has also enjoyed more than $1 million in renovations and upgrades in just the last year. The city and the South Amboy Housing Authority are poised to add another tower to its Senior Citizen housing inventory.

O’Leary believes that the community life of the city is a tribute to the strength and character of its citizens. He says the culture of the city attracts people who want to live and work together, sharing their common interests and protecting the middle class life style and unique quality of life that South Amboy provides.

According to Phil Green, a South Amboy native who has recently returned to the city, “South Amboy is not only the best kept secret in Middlesex County, it’s the best kept secret in the state.”

An architect's drawing shows the planned Raritan River Landing

Redevelopment Tools Mayor O’Leary and the South Amboy City Council have consistently used redevelopment tools made available by the State of New Jersey to reinvigorate their city. The positive impact of successful redevelopment can be seen readily in this mile square city. And nowhere is this more visible than where the city meets the Bay. Here you will find residents strolling the waterfront walkway, and families enjoying the Raritan Bay waterfront park’s panoramic views.

“The Raritan Bay Environmental Education Center and Nature Preserve in South Amboy is one of the region’s most exciting and publicly beneficial new projects,” noted Greg Remaud, the Preservation Director and NY/NJ Baykeeper for the Bi-State Harbor Estuary Program. “It combines natural land preservation, ecosystem restoration and environmental education in an urban setting. It also serves as a key component of South Amboy’s model community redevelopment that links environmental preservation with mass transportation, main street revitalization and economic growth. The Nature Center and Preserve located along Raritan Bay at the mouth of the Raritan River will provide hands on research opportunities and nature education to school children and residents throughout the area.”

The resurgence of Broadway, and jobs that will be produced by Raritan Landings, the planned Hotel, Conference and Office Park and Data Center are all positives that have resulted from the careful implementation of the city redevelopment plans.

A Transportation Village Key to the overall business success of South Amboy has been its embracing and understanding of the benefits of its location and working with the major transportation players in the state.

For example, NJ TRANSIT has worked closely with the city for a number of years to both improve its rail station and implement transit-oriented development according to Jack M. Kanarek, NJ TRANSIT’s Senior Director of Project Development. NJ TRANSIT assisted South Amboy in the development of a vision plan for transit-oriented redevelopment and new development using the rail station as the focal point. With the vision in place, South Amboy was among the first five Transit Villages designated under the State of New Jersey’s Transit Village Program. This has enabled South Amboy to receive assistance from several state agencies. The result is that the rail station is being improved, roadway access is being upgraded, ferry service to Manhattan is operating and the city’s Broadway area is being revitalized. In addition, new transit-oriented development is also planned along South Amboy’s waterfront.

South Amboy can provide bus, rail, commuter and ferry service from within its borders for those that need it. Few, if any, other cities can compete with that convenience. For South Amboyans to have the lifestyle we provide without having to significantly extend their daily commute makes all the difference in the world to our residents. And finally, the design of our transportation village is such that we do not adversely impact our residential areas while maximizing opportunities for our commercial enterprises. That planning forethought makes a huge difference in the character and feel of South Amboy.

And for those that do not live in the city but want to take advantage of the transportation village, the direct benefits to the downtown business community are readily visible. Where once there were vacant storefronts and empty buildings, there are now few, if any, “for rent” signs.

In just the last three years, O’Leary’s South Amboy has also seen the reclamation of its waterfront, the creation of beautiful new housing, the rise of an intermodal transportation village and business center and a new office park along with additional acreage for his open space inventory and so much more.
Mayor O’Leary wants to see the completion of the Community Recreation Center/YMCA for his residents and their children. There are road improvement projects on the horizon and he pledges to continue the search for quality businesses that enhance the city while simultaneously providing the critical tax ratables that are the economic engine of the South Amboy miracle.

Asked about his success, O’Leary takes a moment or two to reflect before answering.
“We are a great city”, he says, “and our people are our greatest asset. Because of that, I believe together we have a great future.”

Article published in April 2006, New Jersey Municipalities