The National Brownfields Conference is the largest event in the country that focuses on environmental revitalization and economic redevelopment of contaminated land. This year’s conference will be held May 15-17, 2013 in Atlanta, GA, and Smart Growth America is hosting two events for conference participants.
Image: Matthew Millman
Tassafaronga Village has brought affordable and accessible housing to east Oakland, California, and created bright public space and environmentally innovative design on land that was once contaminated.
In 1945 the U.S. government developed the land and built temporary housing for wartime workers in Oakland’s shipyards. In 1964, the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) acquired the property and replaced the original structures with 87 public housing units: grim low-rise concrete buildings in a barren hardscape.
Want to learn about new, innovative strategies for creating great places? Several upcoming webinars provide ideas and inspiration for local leaders.
Food Access & Health Impacts: Trends and New Research
Thursday, April 4, 2013 – 2:00-3:00 PM EDT
Click here to register
Limited retail access to healthy foods affects the dietary patterns and health outcomes of many Americans. Join this webinar, hosted by PolicyLink, to learn how new research and evaluation practices are helping to generate fresh solutions that stimulate change in local communities.
Image courtesy Groundwork Providence
In Providence, Rhode Island, on the site of a former factory, an urban nursery is helping make the whole city more green.
Hope Tree Nursery is the first financially self-sustaining nursery constructed on a brownfield in the United States. The site was once home the Rau Fastener Company on Sprague Street, southwest of Downtown Providence.Years of producing metal fasteners left the site contaminated with heavy metals and today, Sprague Street is part of an economically distressed community lacking green space. Known as a “legacy city,” the area is characterized by the vestiges of a past, productive era.
Federal decisions about development, infrastructure and transportation impact communities across the country, and no one has a better understanding of how those decisions play out than the members of Smart Growth America’s national coalition.
Coalition members from across the country came together last week in Washington, DC to ask members of Congress to support the federal programs that are helping communities across the country achieve their economic development goals.
Harrison Commons in Harrison, NJ.
The redevelopment of Harrison, NJ’s waterfront from abandoned industrial buildings into a viable mixed-use development seemed inconceivable only a few years ago.
Strategically located along several rail lines, on the Passaic River and only a few miles from New York City, Harrison once boomed with factories and manufacturing in the first half of the 20th century. In 1912, President William Howard Taft nicknamed Harrison the “Beehive of Industry.”
The town still keeps Taft’s catchphrase as it’s motto, but much of the manufacturers that once called Harrison home have long since closed their doors, leaving behind abandoned factories and large swaths of vacant – and in some places contaminated, land.
Every day is a good day to clean up a brownfield.
Cleaning up brownfields benefits everyone – parents, professionals, business owners, local leaders and more.
Land that was once contaminated and abandoned can be transformed into parks, community centers, concert venues or any number of other ideas. There’s never a bad day to start these projects.
Today in particular is special, though.
Smart Growth America is on Capitol Hill today, along with our national coalition of allied non-profits. We’re there in person to ask Congress to support the BUILD Act.
Add your voice to our call for action: tell your senators to support the BUILD Act.
In our meetings today, we’ll be talking about places like Harrison, NJ, which is turning an abandoned industrial area into a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood served by transit.
The Mayo Hotel. Via.
Once the jewel of the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Mayo Hotel fell into neglect and disrepair in the late 20th century. With the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfield program, the Mayo Hotel has now reclaimed its title as the “Grand Lady of Tulsa.”
In 1925, John and Cass Mayo completed construction of what would become a destination for many notable guests throughout the hotel’s first life, including President John F. Kennedy, Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley. The 18-story, 600 room hotel exemplified modern luxury during Oklahoma’s oil renaissance; ceiling fans were outfitted in every room and the hotel boasted Tulsa’s first running ice water.
In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Railyards project turned an abandoned rail depot into a shopping, dining and event space destination.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Mayo Hotel turned a deteriorating building into luxury accommodations and loft apartments in the heart of downtown.
These are just some of the ways cities have redeveloped brownfield sites — contaminated land which takes up an estimated 4,570 square miles in the United States.
Earlier this month four senators introduced a bill that would give communities crucial tools to clean up and reuse this land. Now we need your help to see this bill through.
Voice your support for the BUILD Act: send a message to your senators now.
The Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013 would help towns and cities across the country clean up brownfield sites and put them back into productive use.
Brownfields redevelopment creates great places on land that was once unusable, and the BUILD Act would give communities a crucial tool to reinvest in their neighborhoods.
Railyard Park in Santa Fe, a former brownfield site. Image by Sacker Foto via Flickr.
The Santa Fe Railyard in Santa Fe, NM has played an important role in the city’s history. With the help of the EPA’s brownfield program, the Railyard will be part of life in Santa Fe for years to come.
Built in 1880, the railroad connected New Mexico’s rugged desertscapes to the country’s westward expansion. The Railyard, a 50-acre depot located in the southwest corner of today’s downtown, became a hub of activity and a cultural center. But as interstate highway and air travel became popular, the once-proud Railyard began to fall into obsolescence and disrepair. By 1987, the Railyard was a blighted site in need of redevelopment, and contaminated from years of industrial use.
