Brownfields

It's the largest redevelopment project since the great earthquake of 1906: 702 acres, 10,500 residential units, a shipyard brownfield cleanup, and a new stadium (hopefully) for the 49ers. The Environmental Impact Report has just been released.

The Canadian Urban Institute presented its yearly 'Brownie' awards last week, honoring the best brownfield redevelopment projects in the nation.

Tufts urban planning professor Justin Hollander appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to answer questions about his new book, Polluted & Dangerous: America's Worst Abandoned Properties and What Can Be Done About Them.

Pittsburgh's strategy of slow, steady growth has made it the front runner for sustainable building. The city now boasts the most LEED-certified square footage in the country.

Bethlehem Steel left 25 years ago, but a new, mysterious energy company is brining a glimmer of hope to Lackawanna, New York. The proposed plant, to be built on Bethlehem's brownfields, would convert petroleum coke into synthetic gas.

"Honey from the Hood" is one of the home-grown prodcuts from a Kensington neighborhood garden. To avoid soil contamination from this former industrial site, plants are grown in raised beds or hydroponically.

Builders and planners are gathering in Detroit to discuss funding options for brownfield redevelopment and learn from region's experience transforming these community eyesores.

Urban infill developments are slated to transform the vast industrial land between Charleston and North Charleston, South Carolina, known as "the Neck" area, into live-work communities that stitch the two cities together.