40% of the country’s food supply ends up in a landfill, but Industrial/Organic is tackling the trash in a space-saving set-up perfect for urban areas, creating a sustainable process and eliminating waste.

The Beacon sits high on Bergen Hill, the highest point in Jersey City, and its eight, Depression-era, hospital buildings turned luxury apartments loom large, watching the entire city, seeming as tall as the Manhattan skyscrapers across the Hudson River. And late one foggy Saturday night in October, I walked the long drive lit by fuzzy lamplight, my wine bottles clinking in the quiet, and I wondered, maybe The Beacon really is haunted.

Nicknamed the “Gem of the Bayshore,” Keansburg, New Jersey, is a beachside borough in Monmouth County less than 50 miles from New York City. Keansburg was battered by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and it is still recovering, but great progress has been made as well, attracting events and investments that match the commitment of Keansburg’s earnest residents. Home to the oldest amusement park in the state and two miles of beach with views of the Manhattan skyline, Keansburg has a small town feel and big-time potential.

Jersey City was the Gold Coast’s closely guarded secret for decades: Residents, old and new alike, talked with hushed pride about Chilltown and New York City dwellers just didn’t get the geography of convenience and culture right across the Hudson River. Well now, the word is out.

The work, whether it be in oil and acrylic, pen/ink, or watercolor, achieves, through astounding attention to detail and true talent, a reality so accurate he often acts as a liaison between developers and architects. Architectural renderings are the bread and butter of Mr. La Rovere’s portfolio; his urban streetscapes, however, are a whimsical window into his hometown’s past and present, earning Mr. La Rovere the nickname “Jersey City’s visual historian.”

It’s been debated for as long as anyone from New Jersey can remember, or at least since the 19th Century when two big brands got their start, and despite the often heated disagreements, it doesn’t really even exist outside New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and maybe Maryland. Whether the proper name for the popular breakfast meat is Taylor Ham or pork roll will always be contentious, but it’s the consumers’ perception and geography of the debate that’s interesting.

Writer Marc J. Dunkelman, author of The Vanishing Neighbor: The Transformation of American Community and a fellow at both Brown University and NYU, recently recalled in an article why it was once believed that Jersey City would become what Manhattan eventually did and why Jersey City did not become the “metropolis of the world,” as Alexander Hamilton predicted.

David Goodwin, an urbanist and writer, recently contributed an article to Strong Towns about the scary state of the arts in Jersey City, sparked by an open letter from Jersey City artists and arts professionals to Jersey City officials. The pace of development, growing population, and rising prices have put the once thriving arts scene at a tipping point.

In a recent article, “$1 billion rebirth: Changing face of Asbury Park,” writer Austin Bogues explores both sides of Asbury Park and the results of its ongoing renaissance. Many locals wonder if they still belong as the pace of development quickens and it becomes a destination down the shore for wealthy Manhattanites.