Chicago’s Brownfield Initiative to Reclaim Urban Sprawl and Economic Re

Chicago’s Brownfield Initiative to Reclaim Urban Sprawl and Economic Resources Introduction Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived contamination. In 1993, representatives from the Chicago Departments of Environment, Planning and Development, Buildings, Law, and the Mayor Office came together to develop a strategy for promoting cleanup and redevelopment of the City’s brownfields. The city developed a three- pronged initiative based on this strategy. This paper will focus on Chicago’s efforts to reclaim urban sprawl and return the city’s abandoned or underused properties to productive use. Background information will be provided as well as the issues that concerned the development and an analysis of the procedures, the policies utilized and the outcome. Background Two miles west of the Loop, many of Chicago's communities have devolved into crumbled cement and poverty. Major streets are both populated with teenagers, clusters of children moving with care, fast food joints and liquor stores and abandoned buildings. There is virtually no economic development in these communities. Tucked between these grid points of workaday urban blight are the vestiges of a once vibrant west side. However, this vision has been replaced and now stands factories and buildings that have been long neglected by owners or simply abandoned. These properties have come to be known as "brownfields," their smoked glass windows concealing potential environmental disaster. The new caretakers are homeless squatters, who relentlessly tear the buildings to pieces. Ragged demolition crews, pushing stolen shopping carts, are constantly in t... ...wnfield issues. Sources Cited: Bartsch. Charles. "Financing Brownfield Cleanup and Redevelopment:. 22 March 2001. www.nemw.org/brownfin.htm Sustain The Environmental Information Group. Beyond Sprawl-Chicago Area Land Use Guide. 22 March 2001. www.sustainusa.org/landuseguide/3economics.html United States Environmental Protection Agency. Brownfields Showcase Community. Washington, DC. Nov. 1998. www.epa.gov/brownfields/ United States Environmental Protection Agency. Brownfields Supplemental Assistance. Washington, DC. April 2000. www.epa.gov/brownfields/ United States Environmental Protection Agency. Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot. Washington, DC April 1997. www.epa.gov/brownfields/ Williams, Drew. "Brwonfields: Chicago starts Reclaiming Its Urban Sprawl". 22 March 2001. www.pollutionengineering.com/archives/1996/pol0601.96/06reprot.htm