Douglas R. Porter Managing Growth in America's Communities (1997)

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.InManchester, New Hampshire the South Willow Shopping Center was run-208 7.ACHIEVING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL GOALSdown and poorly managed; a developer saw an opportunity to capitalizeon an inexpensive property to generate a profitable project.Although thebasic structures needed no upgrading, a new facade was added to providea more inviting appearance.An unused parcel was developed as parkingfor an adjoining retailer.A major tenant paying low rents was replacedby a high-traffic retailer paying much higher rents.More ambitious efforts may need help from public agencies.An agingregional shopping center in Boca Raton, Florida was purchased, cleared,and new infrastructure constructed by the city s redevelopment agency,which then leased 12 acres to a developer who built a new town center,complete with a traditional design and community park.All of these efforts require thoughtful collaboration between businessand property owners, nearby residents, and city agencies.As in theGaslamp district in San Diego, a great deal of attention to needs and ca-pacities of individual owners and tenants may be necessary to generateimprovements.Industrial UpgradesLike efforts to revitalize other types of areas, improving industrial dis-tricts usually requires long-term approaches and substantial public sup-port to overcome decades of decay and the blight of unsuitable facilitiesbuilt on contaminated sites.Pittsburgh s experience in rejuvenating itseconomic base through perseverance and a long-term redevelopmentstrategy is one that many communities might profitably emulate.Its ef-forts were spearheaded by the Allegheny Conference on Community De-velopment, a 50-year-old community action organization formed bycivic and business leaders.The Conference framed and pursued the fun-damental regional development strategy for attracting a broad range ofnew industries to replace declining steel and manufacturing plants.Re-gional leaders then formed the nonprofit Regional Industrial Develop-ment Corporation to actively promote and financially assist industrialdevelopment.The city s urban redevelopment authority armed withpowers to plan, acquire land and buildings, and improve sites for devel-opment pursued successful projects that transformed downtown, manyneighborhoods, and a number of industrial sites.The Pittsburgh Technology Center rising on the banks of the Monon-gahela River just two miles from downtown reflects the dedicated workof all these agencies as well as state agencies.(See Figure 7.3.) The aban-doned plant of the Jones & Laughlin Hot Strip Mill was purchased by theredevelopment authority in 1983 with the proviso that its owner clearthe 49-acre site.The authority viewed the location as ideal for advancedtechnology firms, given its highly visible site near downtown and twoREDEVELOPMENT AND REVITALIZATION PROGRAMS 209Figure 7.3to be inserted here338%Figure 7.3Pittsburgh Technology Center.The Carnegie Mellon Research Institute wasone of the first buildings constructed in the Pittsburgh Technology Center on aformer steel mill site near downtown.(Photo courtesy of the Urban Redevelop-ment Authority of Pittsburgh.)major universities, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University ofPittsburgh.The authority spent several years in preparing the site, includingdraining and filling subsurface pits and tunnels, raising the level by 8 feetto prevent future flooding, constructing roads and utilities, and provid-ing entry landscaping, signage, pedestrian amenities along the river, andparking.Perhaps the most daunting challenge was the discovery ofcyanide contamination in the 15 to 60 feet of industrial fill under thethick concrete slab that covered two-thirds of the site.After much study,the toxic materials were determined to be in a nonreactive form thatwould not require treatment or evacuation, particularly given the futureindustrial use of the property.That decision, however, held up develop-ment for a lengthy period.The site is being developed through a cooperative agreement betweenthe two universities, the redevelopment authority, the Regional Indus-trial Development Corporation (RIDC), and a local community develop-ment corporation.Construction of the University of Pittsburgh s Centerfor Biotechnology and Bioengineering was completed in 1992 and the210 7.ACHIEVING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL GOALSCarnegie-Mellon Research Institute building was opened in 1994, alongwith a building housing the research and technical facilities of the UnionSwitch and Signal Corporation.The $25 million in redevelopment fund-ing came from the state departments of commerce and community af-fairs, the city and the city s redevelopment and water and sewer author-ities, and private foundations.The state invested another $31 million foruniversity research facilities.The Technology Center s success rests on combined actions of state,regional, and city agencies, universities, and business-supported organi-zations, and on funding from all those sources.38Neighborhood RejuvenationThe wholesale clearance of buildings and displacement of residents gen-erated by urban redevelopment programs of the 1960s and 1970s are arelic of the past, doomed by the political turmoil they created and theconsequent demise of federal funding for such efforts.Yet, in most com-munities, some neighborhoods continue to need attention to preventtheir slide into slums [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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