Stellar Community

Stellar Community. 2014 and Beyond. 2014 marks the Bicentennial Celebration of Princeton, along with a period of great civic improvements. Princeton's mission statement is, "To provide residents, visitors and the business community with the highest quality municipal services in an efficient, courteous manner and to enhance the quality of life through planning and visionary leadership." Keeping true to the mission statement, Mayor Bob Hurst began master planning for the city of Princeton to accomplish just that. Mayor Hurst's comprehensive vision for downtown revitalization necessitated acquiring grant monies to help fund the city's strategic plan. He met with success in 2012 when Princeton was named a Stellar City, making the City eligible for over $20 million dollars in awards and tax credits toward improvement projects. An additional $7 million came from local and private funds. Improvements to building facades, sidewalks, street lighting and landscaping are transforming the downtown into a pedestrian-friendly community and an economic hub. Bicentennial Park, which you are standing in today, was created from a block-wide parking lot and is just one of the many Stellar projects that can be found throughout Princeton. Other projects include an urban trail system, gateways into Downtown, renovation of the Princeton Theatre, senior housing cottages, a new city pool at Lafayette Park and the extension of 2nd Avenue. Looking to the future, the City of Princeton adopted this motto to lead them through their Stellar improvement projects: "CREATING A WORLD-CLASS COMMUNITY," where businesses want to invest and people want to live. Princeton has come a long way from its early days of log cabins around the Courthouse Square, and it continues to evolve, expanding beyond its city limits and ever accommodating the demands of new businesses and industries.