Bergen County Realtor, Sal Poliandro, CDPE, SRES, ePRO, Short Sale Specialist

For the fifth year in a row, Ho-Ho-Kus has been named a Tree City USA. What is a Tree City USA you ask? Suprisingly, many of you may not realize that you live near a Tree City. In order to qualify a town must meet four standards:

• Your city must have a Tree Board or Forestry Department . This only means that if your city can't afford a department for tree care and management, you can create a board of volunteers. This is the only way to go in smaller communities.
• Your city must have a local tree ordinance. Every community should have an annual work and action plan. This tree ordinance helps define the action plan. It will provide clear guidance for planting, maintaining and removing trees from streets, parks and other public places.
• Your city must spend $2 per capita. In most cases this amount, and probably much more, is being spent by city work crews. If not, you may need the Tree City USA program more than you know.
• Your city must promote Arbor Day. This may be the easiest of the four standards. Proclaim Arbor Day in your city and plant a few trees.

The program is sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service. I believe that this is a great program. It is extremely important that we take care of our local trees and forests. I know that here in Bergen County many areas are becoming more and more developed with trees being removed to make way for new housing developments. However, at the same time, local towns have kept nature in mind by providing a number of beautiful parks and public spaces for residents to enjoy. Does anyone else live in or near a Tree City USA?

Parents won't have to worry about where their children are on Saturday, January 12th from 7-10pm when the Ridgewood Community Center hosts "Girl's Night Out." Middle school students are invited to bring various items and design their own personalized and unique fashion to model. In addition, a fun make-up demonstration will be offered and dance instructor Marisa Catena will teach hip-hop dancing to the latest songs. Participants will enjoy pizza, soda and desserts. The program will cost $5.00.

I believe this is a great idea. Middle school girls will be able to get together and have fun on a Saturday night in a safe, community environment. I think the town should host more of these events for local teenagers. In the upcoming weeks the Community Center will also be hosting a Boy's Night Out...stay tuned for information on this!

Here in Ridgewood the Citizens Safety Advisory Committee have been awarded a federal grant of $158,000 to improve pedestrian education and help fund improvements to pedestrian routes throughout town. A large portion of these funds will be applied toward capital improvements to improve the safety of children commuting to school.

Projects include:

- The improvement and enhancement of 81 crosswalks in the vicinity of 8 Ridgewood schools to make the crosswalks more visible.

- New "School Zone" markings on roads around Ridgewood schools to inform drivers they are approaching a school zone.

- Flashing Beacon Warning Lights to alert drivers they are approaching a school zone and should be aware of crossing pedestrians and obey the reduced speed limit.

In addition, a Safe Routes to School Coordinator will be hired to work with the various departments throughout the town to insure the safety of children on their way to school and make sure all improvements are completed.

This is an excellent grant that Ridgewood has received from the government. It is extremely important to make sure our children are safe. Here in Ridgewood, since many families are within walking distance to schools, many children walk to school every morning. We need to protect them from drivers and use all of our resources to protect them because they our are most precious resource.

Today I read an article in the New York Times about how apartments in Manhattan have reached a record high of more than $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. This is an increase of 17.6% from this time last year. In addition, the average rental price for an apartment is more than $3,500 per month. This is a very interesting article and I highly suggest reading it. It is a clear example of how the 10 month housing slump is not a nationwide trend. Clearly, the real estate market in New York City is very vibrant and growing. However, with the increase in price comes a downside. New York's Observer newspaper wrote an article a few weeks ago about how more than 8,000 families left NYC last year due to rising costs. So with the good comes the bad and the real estate market will have to level off in New York City before the rising prices become out of control.

The latest census figures have revealed that the population growth of Bergen County is slowing. In fact, for the past six years the population grew by only 2% in Bergen County. In contrast, the population in the state of New Jersey was 3.4%. However, even though the population growth in the county may be slowing, The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported that in 2005 Bergen County was the state's most populous county in 2005 with 902,561 residents. Over 10% of the state's residents live in the county. How are the population trends in your area? I'm curious to see any trends in demographics from throughout the country.