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Access to abundant homes can lower expenses and improve affordability, especially when strategically coupled with public transportation
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Our Region

RPA operates in the interconnected 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region.

Map of the Region RPA works in

3

States

31

Counties

782

Municipalities

23 million

Residents

13 thousand

Square Miles

Our Areas of Expertise

  • Energy & Environment

    Energy & Environment

    RPA’s Energy & Environment program helps the region to rise to the challenge of climate change through proactive regional planning, smart policy development, and advocacy for sustainable land use practices.

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  • Housing & Neighborhood Planning

    Housing & Neighborhood Planning

    RPA’s Housing & Neighborhood Planning program explores how to make the region affordable for everyone and builds collaborative local plans focused on healthy, inclusive, and well-designed communities.

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  • Transportation

    Transportation

    RPA’s Transportation program helps shape and strengthen the network of railways, roads, airports and ports that binds the region together and connect us to the rest of the world.

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  • Governance

    Governance

    RPA works to fix the institutions that are failing us by assisting and reforming the governments and agencies responsible for investments and policies that cut across the region’s three states and 782 municipalities.

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Ongoing Campaigns

Transportation in the Region

RPA is researching and advocating for the infrastructure improvements we need to support sustainable and accessible transportation in the region.

Reducing Emissions & Adapting to Climate Change

RPA is researching and advocating for policies that ensure our region is both mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Building an Affordable Region

RPA is working to transform the tri-state area from one of the most segregated and least affordable regions to one of the least segregated and most affordable in order to serve our diverse and growing population.

Interborough Express

Running 24 miles on existing track from Co-op City in the Bronx to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, the Triboro would be an above-ground rail line connecting 17 subway lines and 4 commuter lines.

The Gateway Program

Build Gateway Now is a coalition of civic, labor and business leaders building support for the construction of a new rail tunnel to connect New York, New Jersey, and the entire Northeast Corridor.

Streets as Public Space

RPA has long advocated for prioritizing people over cars. We are now building momentum for large-scale, permanent changes to promote transit, biking, cycling, and walking on streets.
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By successfully navigating the IIJA process, it is possible to promote health equity in infrastructure projects. RPA State Directors demystify the process to ensure projects in all communities promote a healthy future.
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A visualization of how S3605 would reduce statewide parking requirements around train and light rail stations by 20-50%.
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As part of its Centennial and with support from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, RPA organized three park and open space events in the Meadowlands, at Nat Turner Park in Newark, and at the Paterson Great Falls.
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If planners are not careful and intentional, equity could become a buzzword instead of an outcome people experience as a result of our work.”

Fourth regional plan cover
The Fourth Plan seeks to address issues including housing affordability, overburdened transportation infrastructure, and vulnerability to climate change—by addressing the underlying shortcomings in the region’s governance structures.
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