New Plans For Barren Lands

Michigan's brownfield redevelopment program is responsible for 14,000 new jobs since the mid-1990s and $3.8 billion in private investment since 2000, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. It is the most efficient and successful state urban redevelopment program of the past generation. All across Michigan, new homes and offices stand on what were once empty lots. In fact, two of Michigan's great cities, Grand Rapids and Traverse City, owe much of their revival in this century to state help in cleaning up the industrial detritus left from the last.

Inspired by those successes, the Michigan Land Use Institute published New Plans For Barren Lands: A brownfield redevelopment guide for Michigan’s communities. The 16-page report summarizes the many achievements that modernized state toxic cleanup laws have facilitated, explains why investing millions of taxpayer dollars to transform ugly parcels into centers of commerce is an excellent redevelopment strategy, and offers a step-by-step guide for communities that are interested in using the program to boost their own local economy.