Friendly neighborhoods vital to Elizabeth Township, survey says

By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com

One thing was abundantly clear as Elizabeth Township residents completed a survey as part of a public meeting on the comprehensive plan — they like their neighborhoods and they like their neighbors.
Eighty-four percent of the participants said their neighborhoods were the most important aspect of the township. Clearly related to that, 80% said friendly neighbors were the most important social aspect of life in the township. Parks and woodlands tied as the most important natural feature of Elizabeth Township, garnering 56% of the votes for each category.
Those answers correspond with the current nature of the township, where 59% of the township is used for low-intensity uses such as parks, golf courses and cemeteries, half of the undeveloped land in the township is in conservation categories such as Clean and Green, and 42% of all of the developed land is used for single-family homes.
“It is largely a residential community,” said AJ Schwartz of Environmental Planning Design, the company preparing the township’s comprehensive plan. “As a community, you are on the older side. It’s not necessarily an issue, but it’s one of the things to discuss when it comes to housing.”
Schwartz said demographics show that the median age in the township is 48.5 years old, with 46% of the population between the ages of 46 and 69 and another 17% over the age of 70.

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