Development on LBI: A Discussion
Ask anyone who grew up visiting Long Beach Island what they remember, and chances are you’ll hear about modest cape-style homes, no air conditioning, no wifi, sandy backyards, and long summer days spent outside. Those memories stick with people, and it’s part of why conversations about new development on the island can stir up so much emotion. In fact, if you go on Facebook on any given day, you’ll probably stumble across a post of an old home being knocked down and a thread with hundreds of comments from people lamenting how they “miss the old LBI,” sharing their disappointment in the changes, or even declaring that they’re never coming back. Whether or not they follow through on that promise is another story, but the intensity of those debates shows just how much the island means to people.
It’s no secret that LBI has changed. New construction dominates the market, with many builds focused on maximizing interior square footage, adding pools, and pushing lot coverage right up to the edge of zoning allowances. From an environmental standpoint, this raises real concerns as permeable ground is shrinking, stormwater has fewer places to drain, and flooding continues to worsen alongside rising sea levels. From a lifestyle perspective, the trade-off is just as striking. With homes filling the entire lot, outdoor space becomes an afterthought on an island where enjoying the outdoors has always been one of the main attractions. And what makes it even more puzzling is that many of these houses are seasonal. They aren’t built with year-round living in mind and often sit empty for much of the year, despite being constructed on a scale that seems more fitting for full-time family life.
A big part of the reason homes are built so large comes down to economics. On the owner’s side, a bigger house almost always means stronger resale value. Buyers shopping at today’s prices often want as much square footage as possible, so when it comes time to sell, a maxed-out build typically commands more money than a modest one. That makes the investment feel safer and more appealing. On the contractor and developer side, larger homes also maximize profit. Their costs such as permits, mobilization, site prep are somewhat fixed whether they’re building a 1,600-square-foot house or a 3,000-square-foot one. The bigger the home, the more revenue they generate from the project, which makes it worth their time and resources. In short, the economics on both sides push toward larger builds: owners see it as future appreciation, and builders see it as higher margins. But what often gets lost in that equation is livability. A house doesn’t have to be built only with resale and profit in mind. It can and should also reflect how a family truly wants to use the space, especially in a market like LBI where every property is already a major financial commitment.
At the same time, it’s worth remembering that uniformity in design isn’t new here. Entire sections of Ship Bottom, the Dunes, and Holgate specifically, along with much of the rest of LBI, were built out decades ago with rows of nearly identical cape-style homes from the same developer. Those small houses may feel more “authentic” today, but when they were first built, they didn’t exactly win awards for variety either. In that sense, the complaints about sameness in architecture have always been part of LBI’s story.
Where does that leave us? Somewhere in the middle. The smaller, traditional homes offered charm and a scale that felt connected to the core of the island, even if they lacked individuality. The larger new builds provide modern amenities and space for extended families, but often at the cost of outdoor livability, and ironically, many of them often sit vacant outside of peak summer weeks.
Personally, I wish more builders would look for a middle ground. Contemporary designs could balance indoor comfort with outdoor space. Imagine a modern cape that maximizes light and open floor plans while still leaving room for a yard, a deck, or simply a patch of grass (or classic LBI stones) where kids can play. That balance between indoor luxury and outdoor connection feels much closer to the spirit of Long Beach Island than the current trend of maxed-out seasonal homes. This is of course at the end of the day, just my personal opinion.
Change is inevitable, and the island will continue to evolve. But if LBI is to keep its character, the future shouldn’t just be about building bigger. It should be about building smarter. And who knows, maybe one day those Facebook threads will have fewer people threatening to never return, and more people talking about how the island found a way to grow while still holding onto what made it special in the first place.
