Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

12,000 brownﬁelds are available for redevelopment.6 Why? Because it is easier and less expensive to develop farmland than to redevelop older industrial sites. Environmental cleanup, assembly, and demolition all add to the cost of development. However, improved liability protection and increased funding availability have helped developers to recognize the potential value of brownﬁelds. These sites offer acres of available land near to a town or city center with intact infrastructure such as roads and utility lines, telephone, electricity, and water and sewer.7 Where the transaction costs of environmental remediation, land assembly and development approval are not too high, these sites offer Pennsylvania’s developers a tremendous opportunity to offer new housing, retail and business products in urban areas with pent-up demand. They also offer landlocked cities and boroughs an opportunity to modernize their housing and retail stock and to offer new amenities such as recreation and entertainment attractions. Municipalities that Redevelop Abandoned Properties Increase Tax Base, Population and Jobs. In 2005, the United States Conference of Mayors surveyed the nation’s cities to determine the level of beneﬁt the cities received from redeveloping abandoned properties. Cities reported that redevelopment of brownﬁelds attracted thousands of jobs and residents and millions of dollars in tax revenue growth. Tax Revenue, Job and Population Gains As a Direct Result of Redevelopment of Abandoned Properties in Small and Mid-size Cities. 8 Cities Benefit from Abandoned Property Reuse Tax Revenue Gains City Population Emeryville CA Glen Cove NY Wheeling WV Bangor ME Michigan City IN Harrisburg PA Springﬁeld OH Lynn MA Dearborn MI Livonia MI Gary IN Richmond VA Akron OH Rochester NY Pittsburgh, PA Columbus OH 6,882 26,622 31,419 31,473 32,900 48,950 65,358 89,050 99,573 100,545 102,746 197,790 217,074 219,773 334,563 730,000 (actual unless noted that it is an estimate) $2,000,000 $13,900,000 est * $1,586,212 $1,000,000 $1,357,000 est $1,300,000 $400,000 $1,700,000 $250,000 $20,000,000 $1,000,000 $3,931,000 $4,000,000 $10,000,000 $500,000 15 10 300 * * 150 300 40 5,000 500 Permanent Jobs Created 500 * 511 * * Sites Redeveloped to Achieve Gains 50 5 5 7 1 * 3 8 3 4 20 2 6 1 10 12 15,000 70,000 50,000 6,000 75,000 200,000 40,000 30,000 26,585 2,500 25,000 25,000 25,000 Number of Brownﬁeld Population Gain (estimated) 5,000 Entertainment and arts/culture destinations: Many people seek out cities for arts and cultural activities that are important to the quality of their lives. In fact, Richard Florida, a professor of regional economic development and an economist formerly from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon, has proposed in his book “The Rise of the Creative Class” that communities must invest in the arts, culture, education, and recreation to provide a quality of life that will attract talented, educated people to live and work there. The presence of these knowledge workers will in turn attract growing, high-paying businesses that seek locations with knowledge workers, such as information technology, professional and technical services, health care, and environmental technologies. It is a challenge for smaller towns to develop the critical mass of entertainment offerings Florida discusses, but even a small college can provide a critical base of arts faculty, students, performances, exhibitions, lectures and events. Investment in a major downtown destination with surrounding related facilities can make the city more attractive and help support the growth of related businesses such as bookstores, art galleries, crafts stores, antiques shops, specialty clothing stores, coffee houses, pubs and restaurants. SEE CASE STUDY THREE Proximity to Major Job Center: Employees are often willing to consider living in a variety of communities within a reasonable commute from their workplace. Whenever a municipality offers convenient access to a major job center there is the prospect of attracting workers. For 11 GOAL ONE: CHOOSE ONE ASSET-RICH REDEVELOPMENT AREA step one: identify key economic and physical assets

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

PA Community Revitalization Desktop Guide Table of Contents How To Attract High Impact Investment to Core Communities Goal One: Choose One Asset-Rich Redevelopment Area Interviews with Pennsylvania Mayors Goal Two: Prepare Redevelopment Area for Market Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Three: Welcome Investment Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Four: Apply Strategies That Work Conclusion

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