Do you believe that Passaic is already a crowded place to live?

Passaic is one of the most densely populated cities in the entire United States! 

Historically, in the late 1800’s, Passaic was built as a factory town, with dense housing serving an active industrial base. When that base evaporated by the 1940’s, Passaic spent decades struggling to fill its housing supply. In that context, the R1A Zoning was established to allow high rise apartment buildings in a portion of the city that contained obsolete houses on large lots that were not in demand. A handful of buildings were built at that time (the high rises along the Passaic Avenue corridor). However, in the last two decades, the desirability of single family homes led to a resurgence in demand for the old homes, with new ownership investing to upgrade them to modern standards, and no further high rises were built. In the City's 2013 Master Plan, the City found that the area was saturated with housing and that such High Rise Development should no longer occur, but the City did not remove High Rise development as a Zoning option.

However, in May 2025, a property owner submitted plans to construct a 194-unit, 11-story, 160-foot-tall apartment building—right in the middle of a neighborhood filled with single-family homes like yours. This demonstrates that leaving the zoning in place poses a continuing danger of overwhelming the stable density balance of Passaic.

At the same time, in March 2025, the City passed a new Zoning Amendment to allow townhouse development in the R1 and R2 districts, further spreading the risks associated with putting increased density alongside single family housing, including unsafe streets, lack of parking, and loss of privacy.  Altogether, this disconnect between the planning objectives of the City and its citizens requires all of us to voice our opinions and encourage our elected officials to change course before it is too late.

While this isn’t the only important issue that we want to champion, it is a pressing place to start. We hope you will join us in advocating for Passaic’s future.