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NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
A marketing plan under development for northern New Jersey’s Highlands aims to separate the region from the state's long-standing stereotypes: mobsters, fist pumps and reality-show drama.
The branding effort, led by national place-branding firm North Star and funded by the state's Highlands Council, is focusing on fresh air, open space and a break from leisure as usual. Firm officials said the region could be a draw in the short term to licensed, and mostly urban, drivers seeking a short-term escape.
Rather than the cliches cemented by legendary meme generators "The Sopranos," "Jersey Shore" and "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," the Highlands can be positioned as offering fresh cultural, agricultural and recreational discoveries in a unique yet accessible natural retreat, they said.
The ultimate goal, according to officials from both the firm and the Highlands Council, is to generate tourism to help boost a regional economy depressed in some ways by the strict development restrictions in place to protect the region's watershed and preserve its natural resources.
“The belief is that tourism can provide that economic viability,” said Will Ketchum, CEO of North Star.
Still, the push for tourism comes with complications. As it stands, the "Highlands" of Northern New Jersey are not very well-known compared to some of the obvious competition: the Hudson Valley, the Catskills and the Poconos.
The region covers parts of 88 municipalities in seven counties, cutting northwest from Hunterdon County through to Bergen County. However, most of the counties and municipalities are non-conforming when it comes to the Highlands Regional Master Plan, the implementation arm of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act of 2004 that helped define the region in New Jersey. Therefore, most of its towns are not natural promoters.
Search for "New Jersey Highlands" on Google and the first thing it notes is that Highlands is a municipality in northern Monmouth County, adjacent to the borough of Atlantic Highlands. Neither town is in the Highlands Region of New Jersey, however.
Another complication is that the Highlands Region goes beyond New Jersey. A geologic formation, the greater Highlands Region covers about 5,500 square miles from Connecticut deep into Pennsylvania. Less than a quarter of the federally recognized Highlands Region is in New Jersey, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service records.
Highlands Council Planning Manager Maryjude Haddock-Weiler, who recommended the branding and marketing plan to the council in early 2024, said then that New Jersey's Highlands could benefit from a firm identity.
"When you think about the Pinelands, you have a specific image in mind. Even when you think about the Meadowlands, you probably have an image," she said "But when you think about the Highlands, it's really hard to grasp what it is we are."
Highlands Council members recognize the contradiction in the Highlands Act's own policies. The act's strict environmental regulations prohibit the expansion of sewer service areas in much of the region, limiting the development of new infrastructure to support tourism, including hotels. Many municipalities in the region have also been less than accommodating to bed and breakfasts and other short-term rentals, with many introducing policies amid their boom in the past decade to restrict them in the name of protecting neighborhood safety and suburban tranquility.
Highlands Council members in January discussed the possibility of lobbying efforts on local governments to push for rezoning to support the tourism industry in appropriate areas. However, the plan for now is to have people come, but not necessarily stay, according to North Star officials. In the near term, the focus will be on day trips or short stays to build awareness and demand, Ketchum said.
"There is Crystal Springs [Resort in Vernon] and places like that, but there just not enough of them in our view," he said.
The branding effort stems from the 2021 New Jersey Highlands Economic Sustainability Plan, which called for a unified regional identity to drive economic growth, according to Highlands Council records. The branding and marketing plan was expected to cost about $130,000, but the council approved up to $200,000 in total spending to account for any additional work it may want done and other expenses, records show.
The contract was awarded and work began in the spring of 2024, with North Star working alongside the Highlands Council and the Economic Sustainability County Coalition to gather background information and organize outreach efforts, records show. After that, the firm moved on to conduct community surveys, cultural asset assessments and interviews with residents, farmers, business owners and local officials to capture the character of the Highlands and shape a brand.