That’s what the headline from this piece from the Courier-Post calls those projects that have yet to come to fruition.
City officials have been humbled into taking different approaches to development: increased citizen involvement, more modest plans, and working around properties in good condition. Excerpt:
Now, local officials are picking up the pieces — and, in some cases, vowing to re-assemble them in a less controversial manner.
“There’s going to be a different approach,” said Camden Councilman Curtis Jenkins, who wrote a city ordinance — unanimously approved last month — that gives residents a voice in redevelopment projects. That measure — and a new focus on the city’s Lanning Square neighborhood — are among several significant shifts in the city’s approach to redevelopment, officials say.
Changes also are forecast in Merchantville and Westville, where controversial projects have foundered due to the weak real estate market.
In Merchantville, officials are scaling back plans for a downtown redevelopment area, said Mayor Frank North.
It’s especially good to see that Camden’s Lanning Square project will not include eminent domain as an option might be more sympathetic to residents, especially considering the massive projects the city has attempted to undertake in the past.