CAMPAIGN CORNER by Rick Pratt: We need to re-establish our downtown as a place to visit, explore, stroll or just sit and watch the world go by at a reasonable pace.
Hightstown’s history reflects the evolution of American transportation. In the late 1800s, the railroads made it possible to develop the less accessible open spaces throughout the country. The land around freight and passenger stations developed into bustling commercial districts. Beyond the downtown commercial districts, neighborhoods developed and the people in those neighborhoods shopped and entertained themselves in the local downtown areas. People walked or rode into town in their horse-drawn carriages. Their only connection to faraway towns was the railroad. Without the railroad, Hightstown would be a much different place.
Towns naturally developed around the train stations. Hightstown was a destination for the farming community to ship their produce and to shop for their wares. The railroad brought customers, and Hightstown thrived with activity. With the advent of the automobile came the freedom to stop in locales between railroad stations and to travel far beyond railroad stops more quickly and efficiently. As a result, Hightstown became a thoroughfare through which people traveled to reach other towns. The more remote open spaces became more readily developed since it was easier to travel longer distances. Hightstown slowly evolved into a bedroom community, far different from its roots as a hub of commerce. People lived here, but traveled to larger cities to work, shop and play. Hightstown lost its identity as a destination. With the advancement of surrounding industries, the evolution of the combustion engine, and the use of long haul trucks, buses, airplanes and ships, demand for transportation by rail diminished. Ultimately the railroad vanished from Hightstown altogether, along with much of its pedestrian life.
Cars quickly overtook the place of people on the streets of Hightstown. We gained easy access to the New Jersey Turnpike in 1952, but at the cost of accommodating hundreds of additional vehicles on a daily basis. Until recently, the best way to reach neighboring towns beyond Hightstown was by driving right through the heart of the town. Surrounded by rapid development in Central New Jersey, this once rural community was soon clogged with an overwhelming glut of traffic. Finally, after years of wrangling over logistics, the Route 133 bypass was built. Sadly, this $60 million project has been poorly designated and vastly under-used, and logjam in downtown Hightstown remains. Few people consider it worthwhile (or even safe) to walk through this town that once bristled with life.
Through the Pedestrian Safety Council recently established by Mayor Amy Aughenbaugh, we are now working with local, county, state, Turnpike Authority and East Windsor officials toward orienting drivers to use the bypass more readily. However, we need to do more as a whole community. We need to re-establish our downtown as a place to visit, explore, stroll or just sit and watch the world go by at a reasonable pace.
Because of my background in architecture, I have already been consulted by local business owners for assistance in space planning by reviewing proposed layouts and suggesting alternatives (for example, the creation of a new outdoor eating area at the Americana Diner). I hope to help local commerce provide incentive for people to visit Hightstown for pleasure once again.
There are many ways to establish an inviting sense of place in our downtown. For example, by working with the Hightstown-East Windsor Historical Society to create written and recorded descriptions of the history of our fascinating town, we can offer guided (or self-guided) walking tours traversing our neighborhoods, businesses, and The Peddie School campus. These resources could be provided by the Municipal Building, Historical Society, and The Peddie School. We can open the backs of our businesses to overlook Peddie Lake, and we can renovate the rears of our buildings to be more appealing to pedestrians from the parking lots, where currently businesses have turned their backs on the neighborhood. We can develop outdoor meeting and concert places; a gazebo at Memorial Park overlooking the Peddie Lake, as proposed in the town’s master plan; outdoor eating areas separated from traffic; and parking by buffers that minimize noise and shelter garbage. We can link our town with our neighboring towns through the Greenways project and by establishing bike lanes and bike paths into other communities.
The Peddie School’s formidable arts programs and a soon-to-be-rejuvenated downtown can offer us places to meet, talk and enjoy the arts. Together, we can evolve into a town where people will want to take off their coats and stay a while. As evidenced by the creation of the Community Arts Partnership at The Peddie School (CAPPS), and in conversations that Dan Buriak and I have had with its executive director, Robert Rund, Peddie is very interested in creating a stronger bond with Hightstown and involving the community in activities on its campus. They have opened their doors to a fruitful relationship that can be mutually beneficial.
We need to weave our diverse community into the fabric of our town, and to weave our many cultures into the fabric of downtown life. Festivals, town picnics, art and craft shows and concerts can celebrate the range of gifts and ethnic traditions of our residents. Through inclusive community involvement, we can glean from the best of Hightstown’s past and present in order to build a better future. Hightstown has beauty, history, legend, culture, and even scandal; all of these are enticing ingredients that, if nurtured and creatively presented, can help to re-establish Hightstown as an exciting destination.
Rick Pratt is a Democrat seeking election to the Borough Council.

