Why Use It?

Returning brownfields to productive use has benefits above and beyond economic development. It is an important tool for building stronger, healthier, more livable communities. Revitalizing brownfields:

Improves a community's health. Cleaning up potentially toxic sites benefits the health of a community. Low-income, urban communities are disproportionately affected by asthma, cancer, and other illnesses related to environmental degradation. Contaminated industrial sites contribute to health problems by leaching toxins into the water supply, releasing hazardous dust into the air, and, if the site is not secured, bringing children who play there in direct contact with toxins. As long as a complete, satisfactory clean-up is the first step , brownfields redevelopment can remove such dangers from a neighborhood.

Promotes smart growth. Encouraging the redevelopment of brownfields is an important way of "recycling" parcels of land rather than building on previously undeveloped "greenfields." Greenfields development requires new roads, new sewer lines, and other infrastructure, and contributes to sprawling development patterns. When brownfields are redeveloped, further infrastructure is unnecessary, which lessens the burden on the environment and taxpayers.

Promotes economic growth. Abandoned sites do not contribute to an area's tax base. Redevelopment of brownfields leads to an increase in a city's tax base by providing jobs, revenue, and growth.

Creates new jobs. Revitalizing brownfields creates many jobs during clean-up and construction, as well as when the site is put to a new use. Instituting local hiring agreements and providing job training can direct these jobs to the surrounding residents. In 1997, the St. Paul Ecumenical Alliance of Congregations (SPEAC) and Interfaith Action in Minneapolis won a seven-year, $68 million commitment to brownfields cleanup. Local development authorities estimated that the new funds would produce close to 2000 livable wage jobs. Job creation had been a key goal of the campaign from the beginning, and once the funding was obtained, organizers were able to connect to workforce development programs.

Empowers the community. Done properly, brownfields redevelopment relies upon the active participation of the affected community, from identifying priority sites to confirming that clean-up has been carried out satisfactorily. Redeveloping a long-standing problem site can be a focal point for organizing community residents, increasing awareness of a shared physical space, and building ties among residents, business owners, and others with a stake in revitalization. It is empowering for communities to address a problem that directly affects them.

Benefits businesses. Brownfields sites can give competitive advantage to companies that can make use of the proximity of these sites to labor pools; markets, including suppliers and customers; and transportation systems such as highways, rail lines, and buses.

Addresses community needs. Brownfields redevelopment can be an opportunity for a community planning process that identifies key community needs, such as affordable housing, shopping, health clinics, transportation, or open space. An organized community can then work with the city and developers to use cleaned-up brownfields sites to build these things. Because they are near existing infrastructure, brownfields sites are often ideal locations for new institutions.

Removes blight. Sites that are abandoned, toxic, odorous, and ugly can have a distressing effect on those who live near them and must daily see and experience them, especially when they are part of a larger pattern of neglect. Getting rid of such blighted sites can be a significant psychological improvement for surrounding residents.