Although the state and nation are facing enormous challenges going forward in this surreal pandemic-induced environment, I am looking at Plainsboro Township’s future through an optimistic lens.
Having just celebrated Plainsboro’s centennial on May 6, 2019, when the community looked back on our heritage, we now are focusing on our town today and its path forward for tomorrow.
The most recent bright spot on the horizon occurred a few months ago with the approval of a plan on Princeton University-owned lands to create a walkable, integrated mixed-use neighborhood development with a strong sense of place—defined by a “Main Street”-style commercial component, varied housing opportunities (950 units, including up to 200 units being age-restricted), modern office environments and vibrant civic and open spaces.
With an invaluable vantage point that comes from serving as mayor for more than four decades and from being married to one of the town’s few remaining natives, I have watched Plainsboro Township evolve from a placid agrarian to a high-energy suburban community with numerous world-class, for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and research facilities.
The prestigious, high-profile entities include: Novo Nordisk’s North American headquarters, Firmenich Inc., Munich Reinsurance headquarters, Siemens Corporate Research Center, Integra Life Sciences, Novartis, Croda International headquarters, Sandoz Inc., Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (fusion energy), Penn Medicine Medical Center and health-care campus, Genmab U.S., headquarters, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In addition, more than half of the town’s total square miles has been set aside as open space, an invaluable investment in the quality of the life for those who work and live in the community as well as for generations of future residents and employees.
Times have certainly changed over the past 60 years from when my wife, Gale Cantu, would ride a horse down Plainsboro Road through a town with 1,600 cows and only 1,200 residents. And as much as she is nostalgic about the quaint Plainsboro of her youth, Gale is thrilled with how the community has evolved.
Today’s perspective is a future of enormous promise. Plainsboro has been recognized by New Jersey Monthly magazine as one of the top 10 “Best Places to Live” in New Jersey and by Fortune Small Business magazine as one of the “100 Best Places to Live and Launch a Small Business.”
These accolades were due not only to the town’s superb location, but also to forward-thinking governing and planning over many years on the part of the town’s leaders, professional municipal staff, and the numerous residents working as volunteers to support their community.
Specifically, there are six areas that play a role in the vibrancy of Plainsboro’s today and tomorrow
Location, location, location
Plainsboro, 12 square miles in the southwest corner of Middlesex County, has what realtors often say is the number one quality sought after by home buyers and corporations: location, location, location.
Straddling both sides of Route 1, it is in the center of the state and central to the state’s success today and tomorrow. The excellence of its highways and mass transit infrastructure road provide accessibility to almost any employment, educational, or recreational location in New Jersey as well as within the New York-Philadelphia regional corridor.
Diversity
According to the 2020 US Census, Plainsboro’s diverse population is 24,084; about 53-percent of the residents are foreign born. Diversity is evidenced by the population breakdown: 58-percent Asian, about 31-percent White, about 6-percent Black, and about 3-percent Hispanic or Latino.
The fiscal picture
The advantages of Plainsboro’s location would dim quickly if the economy were simply a black hole that swallowed the community’s vitality. Instead, Plainsboro’s economic picture is the bright star in New Jersey.
Plainsboro with a AAA bond rating has one of the lowest (effective) municipal purpose tax rates in Middlesex County, and the taxes have remained low because of an excellent ratable base of $4.535 billion.
The economic strength of the community directly relates to decades of careful, strategic land use planning and implementation. The planning process has enabled Plainsboro to become Central Jersey’s pre-eminent site for world renowned corporations that have gone through a thorough deliberate analysis. They all have come to the same conclusion—Plainsboro is the place to be.
The heart of Plainsboro’s corporate development is Princeton Forrestal Center—Princeton University’s Corporate Office and Research Complex.
Today, Princeton Forrestal Center represents over 90% of Plainsboro Township’s commercial tax ratables. The Plainsboro lands within the Princeton Forrestal Center represent an economic powerhouse in the region with an approximate annual $7.3-billion-dollar economic impact.
Founded in 1973, Princeton Forrestal Center is one of the nation’s premier university-associated office and research parks. Today it is home to over 225 businesses, ranging from prestigious multinationals to start-ups and academic research facilities, focused on a range of disciplines including life sciences, biotechnology, health services, financial services, information technology, engineering, architectural services, legal services, pharmaceuticals, energy services, communications, logistics and philanthropy.
Plainsboro also is now the host community to the first-class, renowned hospital Penn Medicine Medical Center which relocated to Plainsboro from Princeton in 2012. The hospital is the main medical entity within the healthcare campus of more than one million square feet.
The campus development, with an estimated one billion dollar economic impact, also includes: an assisted living facility, skilled nursing facility, fitness center, medical offices, child care center, senior day care center, independent senior residences, and pediatric specialized care medical facility operated by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
A-plus schools
People and corporations flock to Plainsboro for the quality of its K-12 schools, thus providing: developers’ confidence in their ability to market new housing units; corporations’ confidence in their ability to attract quality employees; and homeowners’ confidence in maintaining the value of their homes.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District is consistently ranked among one of the finest in New Jersey. The district is routinely among the top five statewide for highest SAT scores with 96 percent of the students going on to college.
Housing – A solid foundation
Great schools would be irrelevant if people were unable to find suitable housing to fit their lifestyle and budget. Plainsboro, once again, gets an A-plus grade this time the subject being housing for people of all ages, financial means, and physical demands.
The municipality has attracted an abundance of senior housing options on both sides of Route One. It has fulfilled its state mandated requirement for affordable housing, including a new development of 70 beautiful, contemporary, low- and moderate-income affordable apartment homes, made feasible by a partnership between the local government and a private not for profit.
In addition, some of the town’s most popular housing exists in Plainsboro Town Center, within walking distance to the library, restaurants, medical offices, and retailers.
Relaxation, recreation and restoration
Plainsboro’s commitment to excellence in education, jobs, health care and wellness, land use planning, economic stability, and housing, is matched by its commitment to open space and other amenities that enhance mental and physical health of every resident in the community.
More than 50% of Plainsboro’s approximately 12 square miles is preserved open space. Every building project that has been approved during the past several decades has an open space and walkways component. Plainsboro’s public parks provide for both active and passive recreational pursuits.
The jewel is the 1,000-acre Plainsboro Preserve, which includes the 50-acre McCormack Lake, walking trails, wetlands, wooded areas, and natural habitats for plants, animals and migratory birds.
The 6,500 square foot Rush Holt environmental education center, managed by Plainsboro Township’s Recreation Department, offers many nature and environmental programs. The township hosts a public Middlesex County owned golf course, and there are three fitness centers (two of them with state-of-the-art pools) that accommodate all levels of exercise needs.
Going Forward
It has been my privilege to serve Plainsboro as a volunteer and as an elected official for half a century. And as good as Plainsboro is today, I see the future to be even more spectacular – a fact that I hope will be celebrated at the town’s bicentennial on May 6, 2119.
Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu.// <
