Dianne Brake, president of PlanSmart NJ, brought the issue closer to home by explaining New Jersey's current condition and what needs to be done to help it. New Jersey is currently losing jobs, and according to Brake, housing has become too expensive for most workers. For Brake, the main issues of job growth, housing and transportation choice, urban revitalization and global warming are all linked and must be tackled together, partially through better land use and planning.

To this end, PlanSmart has developed a Smart Growth Economy Project to drive growth and therefore provide housing and jobs in the areas that make the most sense. That means dense growth close to jobs, population centers and mass transit. Although the state provides some incentives for this type of growth in the form of Transit Hub Tax Credits and Urban Enterprise Zone designations, it also limits development in many areas, such as the wetlands and coastal zone areas, Brake pointed out. In many cases, the areas that receive growth incentives are also those where development is restricted in some way. Brake called for the state to select growth areas using a land use score and to find ways to pursue affordable housing and land preservation goals without holding back development.

"We're a very challenged state," said Gil Medina, executive managing director of Cushman & Wakefield in his response to Brake's talk. "If we don't start looking at some of our issues, we'll continue to have major challenges in the future." New Jersey, said Medina, needs to start enticing businesses into the state and create jobs.

"We need to stop the evaporation of growth and find ways to make a difference," agreed Dave Fisher of Matzel and Mumford. He called on the state to reform regulations so that agencies would stop getting in each others' and developers' way.

"We're at a crucial point in New Jersey and I hope we can forge a better relationship with state and government officials to achieve our goals," he said.