Ayres Knowledge Center INDentrification Via Placemaking | Page 4

and can trigger investment. Yet without exceptional urban design and accommodation of bike,
pedestrian, and transit amenities, these connections will fail to fully cater to the lifestyle that makes
walkable redevelopment districts attractive. Shade trees, bicycle boulevards, and adaptations to
blank industrial facades help to reclaim spaces initially geared to work-a-day manufacturers whose
labor forces escaped pollution to streetcar suburbs.
Communities looking to advance transformation can rely on creative placemaking to leverage
public investment into private sector horsepower. Such changes are taking place with the
assistance of programs like the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Brownfield grant
program. These grants are used to assess and remediate these sleeping giants to unlock
development potential. In many fringe communities, these grants may be the only way to broach
the discussion of a new life for underutilized districts. Understanding the implications of
environmental contamination can take tens of thousands of dollars in up-front analysis before
properties transactions take place, increasing the likelihood that a stigma can suppress
revitalization, even if the impacts from historic industrial uses are minimal. By providing grant
funds, the EPA has helped to jumpstart projects across the country, reducing the upfront financial
burden of prospective buyers and recalcitrant sellers. Gaining a clear picture based on scientific
evidence can help to greenlight projects where the specter of contamination stalled investment.
For sites that do have bona fide environmental issues, the program also identifies a remediation
process to characterize the extent of contamination while outlining a cleanup process. Often,
knowing the process and cost of cleanup can help in facilitating discussions about how a project
can move forward because the unknowns have been removed.
Figure 4 - This revitalized streetscape illustrates how pedestrian amenities can transform a space once unwelcoming to people
into a thriving node of activity. (Courtesy DHM Design)
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