NJDOT has revised the New Jersey urban area based upon the 2010 U.S. Census urban area boundaries. The U.S. Census defines an Urban Area as any area with a population >= 2,500. Under the Urban Area definition, Urban Clusters contain a population of 2,500-49,999 and Urbanized Areas are >= 50,000. FHWA, however, has slightly different criteria for what defines an urban area. Under FHWA, an Urban Area is >= 5,000, with Small Urban Areas 5,000-49,999 and Urbanized Areas >= 50,000. NJDOT followed the FHWA urban area definitions for this urban area update. To perform this update, NJDOT first combined the 2000 NJDOT urban area with the 2010 US Census urban areas greater than 5,000 in population. Since census urban area boundaries are based upon census block boundaries, which can be irregular, NJDOT extended outward the urban area ("smoothed") to the nearest road, stream, political boundary, or manmade feature using the 2012 NJ orthophotos as a base map. Where there was no obvious boundary to smooth to, the census boundary was retained. NJDOT also expanded the urban area to include any densely developed areas not included in the 2000 NJDOT urban area or 2010 Census urban areas.The urban area update underwent a thorough public review and comment period. Representatives from NJDOT, all 21 counties, and the 3 metropolitan planning organizations (NJTPA, SJTPO, and DVRPC) met during various phases of the project to review the updated urban area. All comments were logged into an Urban Area Comment Tracking Form, and an official NJDOT response was provided for each comment.In 2017, minor revisions were made to the urban area based upon comments from FHWA. These revisions were limited in scope and consisted of the following: 1) Adjusted boundary breaks within the urban area so that each Census urban area was only within one NJDOT urban area. 2) Delineated the Poughkeepsie--Newburgh, Mystic Island, and Newton urban areas within the NJDOT urban area. 3) Removed the Belvidere, Milford, and Maurice River urban areas. 4) Merged Upper Greenwood Lake urban area with Poughkeepsie urban area; merged Laurel Lake urban area with Vineland urban area; and merged Woodstown urban area with Philadelphia urban area. 5) Added small portions of the Census urban area (previously omitted from the NJDOT urban area due to smoothing), to the NJDOT urban area to ensure all Census urban areas with a population > 5,000 within the official NJ state boundary were included.

NJDOT has revised the New Jersey urban area based upon the 2010 U.S. Census urban area boundaries. The U.S. Census defines an Urban Area as any area with a population >= 2,500. Under the Urban Area definition, Urban Clusters contain a population of 2,500-49,999 and Urbanized Areas are >= 50,000. FHWA, however, has slightly different criteria for what defines an urban area. Under FHWA, an Urban Area is >= 5,000, with Small Urban Areas 5,000-49,999 and Urbanized Areas >= 50,000. NJDOT followed the FHWA urban area definitions for this urban area update. To perform this update, NJDOT first combined the 2000 NJDOT urban area with the 2010 US Census urban areas greater than 5,000 in population. Since census urban area boundaries are based upon census block boundaries, which can be irregular, NJDOT extended outward the urban area ("smoothed") to the nearest road, stream, political boundary, or manmade feature using the 2012 NJ orthophotos as a base map. Where there was no obvious boundary to smooth to, the census boundary was retained. NJDOT also expanded the urban area to include any densely developed areas not included in the 2000 NJDOT urban area or 2010 Census urban areas.The urban area update underwent a thorough public review and comment period. Representatives from NJDOT, all 21 counties, and the 3 metropolitan planning organizations (NJTPA, SJTPO, and DVRPC) met during various phases of the project to review the updated urban area. All comments were logged into an Urban Area Comment Tracking Form, and an official NJDOT response was provided for each comment.In 2017, minor revisions were made to the urban area based upon comments from FHWA. These revisions were limited in scope and consisted of the following: 1) Adjusted boundary breaks within the urban area so that each Census urban area was only within one NJDOT urban area. 2) Delineated the Poughkeepsie--Newburgh, Mystic Island, and Newton urban areas within the NJDOT urban area. 3) Removed the Belvidere, Milford, and Maurice River urban areas. 4) Merged Upper Greenwood Lake urban area with Poughkeepsie urban area; merged Laurel Lake urban area with Vineland urban area; and merged Woodstown urban area with Philadelphia urban area. 5) Added small portions of the Census urban area (previously omitted from the NJDOT urban area due to smoothing), to the NJDOT urban area to ensure all Census urban areas with a population > 5,000 within the official NJ state boundary were included.

NJDOT has revised the New Jersey urban area based upon the 2010 U.S. Census urban area boundaries. The U.S. Census defines an Urban Area as any area with a population >= 2,500. Under the Urban Area definition, Urban Clusters contain a population of 2,500-49,999 and Urbanized Areas are >= 50,000. FHWA, however, has slightly different criteria for what defines an urban area. Under FHWA, an Urban Area is >= 5,000, with Small Urban Areas 5,000-49,999 and Urbanized Areas >= 50,000. NJDOT followed the FHWA urban area definitions for this urban area update. To perform this update, NJDOT first combined the 2000 NJDOT urban area with the 2010 US Census urban areas greater than 5,000 in population. Since census urban area boundaries are based upon census block boundaries, which can be irregular, NJDOT extended outward the urban area ("smoothed") to the nearest road, stream, political boundary, or manmade feature using the 2012 NJ orthophotos as a base map. Where there was no obvious boundary to smooth to, the census boundary was retained. NJDOT also expanded the urban area to include any densely developed areas not included in the 2000 NJDOT urban area or 2010 Census urban areas.The urban area update underwent a thorough public review and comment period. Representatives from NJDOT, all 21 counties, and the 3 metropolitan planning organizations (NJTPA, SJTPO, and DVRPC) met during various phases of the project to review the updated urban area. All comments were logged into an Urban Area Comment Tracking Form, and an official NJDOT response was provided for each comment.In 2017, minor revisions were made to the urban area based upon comments from FHWA. These revisions were limited in scope and consisted of the following: 1) Adjusted boundary breaks within the urban area so that each Census urban area was only within one NJDOT urban area. 2) Delineated the Poughkeepsie--Newburgh, Mystic Island, and Newton urban areas within the NJDOT urban area. 3) Removed the Belvidere, Milford, and Maurice River urban areas. 4) Merged Upper Greenwood Lake urban area with Poughkeepsie urban area; merged Laurel Lake urban area with Vineland urban area; and merged Woodstown urban area with Philadelphia urban area. 5) Added small portions of the Census urban area (previously omitted from the NJDOT urban area due to smoothing), to the NJDOT urban area to ensure all Census urban areas with a population > 5,000 within the official NJ state boundary were included.