The following material appears in the June issue of Business Facilities Magazine:
By Bret Schundler, Mayor

Jersey City is on the move! Proudly hailed as America's Golden Door, Jersey City is home to a diverse population of nearly 250,000 people on a modest 14.9 square miles of land.

Our booming business environment Over $1 billion in private sector investment will flow into Jersey City over the next two years. The result? A development explosion of even more state-of-the-art commercial space and residential unit construction is taking place throughout Jersey City. Meanwhile, small investors are revitalizing the housing stock of our oldest neighborhoods as large investors work to transform the rail yards and warehouses of a bygone era into the office and retail malls of the next century.

The Breath Of Life Returns To A Neighborhood

Jersey City's greatest asset is our prime location along the Hudson River. Additionally, Jersey City boasts no city corporate tax, no personal income tax, and no occupancy tax, and has 30 percent lower utility rates and 35 percent lower operating costs than Manhattan. Coupled with the State's Business Employment Incentive Program and the Business Relocation Assistance Grant Program, these financial incentives make Jersey City a premiere business address. Cultural mecca As if the surge in development were not enough, Jersey City also enjoys a rich cultural environment comparable to New York's SoHo. Our Artist Work and Live District Overlay (WALDO) redevelopment area provides much-needed loft space for visual artists, and over a dozen galleries display this fine art year round. In addition, we host myriad performances highlighting the exquisite musical talent of local artists. Whether it's with the Gazebo Concert series in area parks, the Summerfest Concerts at Liberty State Park, or the award-winning "Slice of Heaven" Ethnic Festival Series, Jersey City knows how to celebrate its rich cultural traditions.

City Facts Occupancy of Class A office buildings along the Jersey City waterfront is currently at an impressive 95 percent, and, accordingly, new office space is under construction. The City's Urban Enterprise Zone participation has created over 17, 000 full time jobs, with participating businesses investing over $1.3 billion in capital improvements. A recent Rutgers University study concluded that Jersey City accounted for 91 percent of all the new jobs created in New Jersey's urban centers from 1992 to 1995. Construction of the 20.5 mile Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System, which will run from Bayonne to Ridgefield, has begun and is expected to be operational by March 2000.