Township of Belleville, New Jersey

residents get to major transit centres quickly and efficiently. Those developments cater to a younger generation of people who are having fewer children, which in turn means they require less bedrooms and less parking spaces. The Township of Belleville has suburban pockets with homes set back that have front yards and large backyards, but it also has neighbourhoods that feel more urban. The newest development will be a two-story, glass-enclosed Starbucks, that was approved by the Planning Board in November. For Mayor Melham, a Starbucks coming to a municipality means “we are trending in the right direction. It means that those in the corporate world that are looking at our demographics, seeing projects that are in the pipeline, and they are saying, ‘This town is a town on the rise, they are moving forward, this town is certainly heading in the right direction.’” That forward momentum carries on in the downtown core, where the township just announced a $15 million investment into its main street, Washington Avenue, to increase walkability by adding bicycle lanes and upgrading sidewalks. Belleville is also home to the Motorcycle Mall, the state’s premiere place to purchase motorcycles, boats and quads. They boast a 100,000 sq. ft facility on Washington Ave and attract customers from near and far. According to the Mayor, “We have a little bit of everything and I think that’s why some of the Mayor, Michael Melham