New Case Study Posted on HUD User

Rowan University and Glassboro Grow Together

HUD User publishes a series of case studies based on federal, state, and local strategies that increase affordable housing opportunities and support inclusive community development. The projects and community development efforts featured in these reports have demonstrated innovation through a multitude of partnerships and initiatives.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Philadelphia’s suburban expansion brought commercial development to the regional highways and residential subdivisions to the farm fields near the borough of Glassboro, New Jersey. That growth, however, bypassed Glassboro’s downtown, and in 2000, Glassboro’s merchants began meeting with government officials to discuss downtown revitalization. Rowan University, located a mile from downtown, decided that, after a decade of growth spurred by a $100 million donation, further expansion should take place off campus even though its campus contained developable land. A new era of trust between the university and the borough began as plans for redevelopment took shape. The city bought 90 properties between downtown and the campus, where the $425 million Rowan Boulevard Redevelopment Project broke ground in 2008.

Visit HUD User's Case Studies page to learn more about affordable homeownership and to view other promising examples of how communities across the nation are raising the bar on sustainable community development.