Mapping Princeton's Future

Asphalt parking lots in downtown Princeton may be replaced with green parks, sidewalk cafes and a new parking garage if the plans proposed by the citizens' group Princeton Future are implemented.

Earlier this month, Princeton Future shared its conceptions of the future of the town center with the Princeton Borough Council. The proposals focus on how to redesign the downtown area, with particular emphasis on parking and community needs.

"The overall goals of Princeton Future are both social and physical goals," said architect Robert Geddes, who along with former University President Robert F. Goheen and Princeton businessman Sheldon Sturges, founded Princeton Future late last fall.

The group's plans divide Princeton's town center into five zones, said Sturges.

At the Borough Council meeting, Princeton Future presented its overall plan for Zone I — the area from Wiggins Street to Nassau Street and from Tulane Street to Witherspoon Street. This area will be "a place for people," Sturges said.

Though the group is considering a number of combinations of residential housing, retail space and parking, the plans presented recently include a parking garage fronted with a layer of apartments. Two walkways — one running north-south and the other east-west — would crisscross the area. The pedestrian walkways would be lined with shops, restaurants and other commercial spaces, Sturges said, and perhaps even dotted with cafe tables.

The north-south walkway would lead into a park to be called Madison Square, in honor of James Madison, who studied at the University from September 1771 to April 1772. Madison Square, one of three parks planned, would occupy 2.8 acres just south of the public library.

Princeton Future plans to continue to work with Desman Associates, a New York-based firm hired by the Borough to conduct an analysis of Princeton's needs. "We pick up where they leave off," Geddes said.

Princeton Future has paid close attention to Desman Associates' analysis of parking areas, but the two groups differ in terms of the distribution of mixed-use buildings between garages, apartments and retail space, he said.

"This is all tentative," Sturges said. "These are all ideas that have been put forward for community discussion."

Princeton Future has held 26 community meetings to understand the needs of different neighborhoods and groups, Geddes said. One of the key constituencies that Princeton Future is trying to take into account is University students, Sturges said.

"The one thing we really want to work on is to try and create a downtown with everyone where kids want to hang out," he said. "What we have to do is jazz it up to get [students] to cross the street."

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The group's plan emphasizes "walkability," Geddes said. Existing parking areas will be replaced by parks and new construction, but new parking spaces will be created. "There will be concentration and dispersion of cars," he said.

The Princeton envisioned by the citizens' group is still very much in the future. The Borough has asked the group to continue its work on local development issues, but the actual implementation of the plans depends on the upcoming expansion of the public library. Construction on the library is tentatively slated to begin in 2002, Geddes said.

As the library construction takes shape, Princeton Future's plans and budget will too. Though the Borough has hired two groups of consultants to study town development issues, Princeton Future is not prepared to say how much its plans would cost.