Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Glenn Patterson grew up in Point Pleasant Beach, where his father served as the chairman of the local zoning board. After undergraduate studies at American University and a master’s planning program at Rutgers, he worked for Asbury Park until Christiana Foglio, then a New Brunswick city planner, hired him as an assistant in the Planning Department. In 1991, Patterson became the director of Planning, Community, and Economic Development for New Brunswick. Patterson recalls the history of the revitalization process and the involvement of Johnson & Johnson. Patterson comments on the initial projects he worked on in the Planning Department, including the building of affordable housing as a part of the Regional Contribution Agreement with Warren Township and the innovative housing program Renaissance Station. In addition to exploring the roles of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (Devco), Rutgers and the city government in redevelopment, Patterson discusses the importance of the Heldrich Center, the growth of the city’s hospitals, the lack of student housing, controversies surrounding the Gateway Project, and the demolition of the Memorial Homes housing project.
The Rutgers Oral History Archives is part of the Department of History at Rutgers University. Learn more at https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/new-brunswick-redevelopment-oral-histories
Glenn Patterson grew up in Point Pleasant Beach, where his father served as the chairman of the local zoning board. After undergraduate studies at American University and a master’s planning program at Rutgers, he worked for Asbury Park until Christiana Foglio, then a New Brunswick city planner, hired him as an assistant in the Planning Department. In 1991, Patterson became the director of Planning, Community, and Economic Development for New Brunswick. Patterson recalls the history of the revitalization process and the involvement of Johnson & Johnson. Patterson comments on the initial projects he worked on in the Planning Department, including the building of affordable housing as a part of the Regional Contribution Agreement with Warren Township and the innovative housing program Renaissance Station. In addition to exploring the roles of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (Devco), Rutgers and the city government in redevelopment, Patterson discusses the importance of the Heldrich Center, the growth of the city’s hospitals, the lack of student housing, controversies surrounding the Gateway Project, and the demolition of the Memorial Homes housing project.
The Rutgers Oral History Archives is part of the Department of History at Rutgers University. Learn more at https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/new-brunswick-redevelopment-oral-histories
