Kevin Burkman
Geographic Information Sciences Analyst
New Jersey Future
Program Fellow
Trenton, NJ
June 2015 to September 2016
My first work after graduate school was as a Program Fellow with New Jersey Future, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Trenton, New Jersey, which promotes sensible growth, redevelopment and infrastructure investments to foster vibrant cities and towns. As Program Fellow, I developed two major projects for New Jersey Future; the Places to Age Assessment and the Downtown Economic Redevelopment Assessment.
Places to Age Assessment
The Places to Age Assessment model focuses on the demands of an aging population, which will require New Jersey municipalities to re-examine how they manage the built environment.
More than 2.3 million New Jersey residents – 26.6 percent of the state’s population – were at least 55 years old in 2012, with more than half of that total over the age of 65 and nearly 200,000 aged 85 or older.
If this growing segment of the population opts to remain independent longer, rather than moving in with younger relatives or into institutional living quarters, this phenomenon will only become more pronounced as the Baby Boomers go on to swell the ranks of older Americans.
The main components of the Places to Age Assessment include:
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The development of an analysis model for land use and planning characteristics for senior living conditions in the case study communities of Garfield and Fair Lawn, NJ.
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Extensive review of municipal policies and programs for mixed-use centers, transportation, housing, and public spaces and amenities.
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Extensive use of U.S. Census data.
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Comprehensive master and redevelopment plan reviews and analysis.
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In-person analysis ("ground-truthing"), including photographic surveys.
The GIS analysis of the project focused on the creation of maps and analysis for transit areas, zoning, SID (special improvement district) zones.
Garfield Station Transit Area
Garfield Station Transit and Center Area
Fair Lawn Transit and
Center Area
Fair Lawn: Radburn Station Transit and Center Area
Downtown Economic Redevelopment Assessment
The Economic Redevelopment Assessment is a model which utilizes socioeconomic, real estate, and business data to demonstrate municipal redevelopment readiness. It is tool that allows the New Jersey Future team to educate municipal leaders and formulate recommendations for priority strategic redevelopment opportunities based on existing community assets and market conditions.
The assessment calls for a review of existing plans (redevelopment plan, master plan, etc.), site visits, and interviews with local stakeholders and a market assessment to document demand for various uses. Existing downtown economic development assessments already collected by New Jersey Future and its partners will also be reviewed.
The goal of the assessment is a recommendation of components that could be used when conducting a basic downtown economic development assessment.
The main components of the Economic Redevelopment Assessment include:
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Burlington City, NJ, was used as part of a pilot assessment.
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Extensive use of U.S. Census, NAICS, and State of New Jersey employment and business data.
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Comprehensive master and redevelopment plan reviews.
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Extensive use of ESRI’s Business Analyst.
The GIS analysis of the project focused on the transportation, redevelopment areas, and evaluation of land and improvement values.
Burlington City
Zoning Districts Map
Burlington City
Public Transportation &
Walkability Map
Burlington City
Urban Renewal District:
Assessed Values
Burlington City
Land/Improved Value Map
Burlington City
100 Year Flood Zones Map