- Creates and maintains a series of walkable neighborhoods
- Keeps neighborhood centers compact and rural land open
- Gives public spaces a sense of enclosure, creating "outdoor rooms"
- Designs for primacy of pedestrian and bicycle-oriented transportation over automobiles, where appropriate
- Encourages a mix of land uses on a single parcel (residential, office and retail) in neighborhood centers and urban cores
- Repairs the destructive, sprawl-producing patterns of separated use-based zoning
- Width of lots
- Size of blocks
- Building setbacks and build-to lines
- Building heights
- Location of buildings on the lot
- Location of parking on lots
- Location and size of signage
June 25th, 2010 - 12:00pm eastern
John Podgurski, USEPA Region I and Jim Rocco, Vita Nuova LLC
View slides from this webinar.
Worksheet 1, Worksheet 2, Worksheet 3, Worksheet 4, Worksheet 5, Worksheet 6, Worksheet 7
Description:
The June Sustainability Series webinar will be a presentation of the PREPARED workbook, developed in USEPA Region I. This revolutionary workbook is designed to help government entities facilitate the cleanup and revitalization of contaminated properties. Built around a risk management framework, the workbook utilizes worksheets to help municipalities identify potential obstacles to redevelopment and evaluate appropriate actions to address potential risks and liabilities to move properties forward toward redevelopment. This workbook will be important for individuals associated with government entities and project managers, environmental consultants, and other working with government entities to facilitate the redevelopment process.
The webinar will be led by John Podgurski, Land Revitalization Coordinator for USEPA Region I and Jim Rocco, primary author for Vita Nuova.
- Stop calling it "downsizing."
- Never try to forcibly relocate residents.
- Stop selling vacant land to speculators.
- Merge the Detroit and Wayne County land bank authorities.
- Prohibit any redevelopment in neighborhoods marked for mothballing.
- Don't expect urban farming to solve all the problems.
- Check Cleveland.
- Use data to understand Detroit's neighborhoods.
- Target code enforcement to achieve specific aims.
- Use greening strategies to reinvent Detroit.
- Energy: Philadelphia reduces its vulnerability to rising energy prices
- Environment: Philadelphia reduces its environmental footprint
- Equity: Philadelphia delivers more equitable access to healthy neighborhoods
- Economy: Philadelphia creates competitive advantage from sustainability
May 21, 2010 - 12:00pm eastern
Leslie Creane - Town Planner, Hamden, CT
A new approach to zoning encourages the protection of open space, the strategic location of denser mixed-use development and equitable infrastructure investment. Believe it or not, opportunity abounds when a municipality is "built-out!" It is possible to make land more profitable for a property owner and a municipality.
Sustainable development starts with creating the "big vision". What criteria should be used to develop that plan? How can structures positively contribute to the formation of the public realm? How do you determine where to actively preserve open space? What tools are available to encourage development that can adjust to changes in market demand? How can you increase your tax base? Where can you provide housing options for your children and your aging parents? Is it possible to integrate infrastructure improvements, quality design, mass transit, community gardens and economic start-ups in one development?
April 30, 2010 - 12:00pm eastern
Paul R. Michaud, Murtha Cullina LLP
Find out the story on renewable energy in New England. Paul is the former lead attorney for the CT Clean Energy Fund where he had an important role in bringing renewable energy to CT. Paul will discuss current incentives, current net metering policies and the status of offshore wind in New England. Hear from an expert.
Click here to download the presentation slides from this webinar.
- fine-tuning an ongoing planning process for brownfield properties;
- developing area-wide plans for brownfield-related projects; and
- helping determine next steps and resource identification for plan implementation.
March 26, 2010 - 12:00pm eastern
Ann Carroll, USEPA Office of Brownfields & Land Revitalization
With growing interest in urban and rural agriculture and communities thinking about food systems more holistically, join us for a look at how brownfields and land revitalization can improve urban agriculture practice and contribute to more local and sustainable local food systems. We'll hear from brownfields contacts at EPA as well as get a different community organization perspective on how brownfields revitalization can contribute to local food solutions and sustain communities.
Click here to view the presentation slides.
Related Resources
- An Introduction to Urban Gardening
- How Does Your Garden Grow?
- Gardening on Brownfields Sites - Is it Safe?
- USDA ERS Household food insecurity 2008 Map
- USDA ERS - 1 mile to store and Household food insecurity 2008 Map
- USDA ERS Women, Infants and Children redemptions map
Earlier Brownfields garden/farm/greenhouse program examples:
- Hartford Creates Community Greenspace in a Blighted Neighborhood
- R1BF Farm success story Urban Oaks Organic Farm.doc
- Lynchburg Grows Edible Blue Ridge
- Kansas State University K6 fact sheet
- Oregon OSALT Food in the City brochure example
Philadelphia example - turning existing buildings and structure into food uses:
EPA Region 1 Releases Clean and Green Policy
EPA's Region 1 Office of Site Remediation and Restoration released a set of goals and policies that outline their approach to all EPA-related cleanups. The approach emphasizes reducing environmental footprints and follows green remediation goals, where possible.
FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System
The Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, released a comprehensive report on New York City's food production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. The report is the result of the December 2009 NYC Food & Climate Summit at NYU and focuses on increasing access to healthy food in underserved neighborhoods and expanding the food economy.
In the past decade there has been a shift in the backyards of America. The once lush lawns have been replaced, or at least reduced, to accommodate vegetable gardens. Increasingly, families see the benefit of cultivating their own food sources; a practice that isn't new, but hasn't been popular since the victory gardens of World War II.
In the 1940s and 1950s Americans embraced (some more wholeheartedly than others) the idea of home gardens. These gardens represented a shift in the way Americans thought about food and consumption in general. Lessing Rosenwald, then the chief of the Bureau of Industrial Conservation, asked all Americans to "change from an economy of waste--and this country has been notorious for waste--to an economy of conservation." At the height of the victory garden movement, approximately 30-40% of the country's vegetables were harvested from victory gardens.
Now, over 60 years later, the idea of the backyard garden is gaining recognition again as an important and tangible step towards fostering a more sustainable food supply. Increased awareness of the cost, both monetarily and environmentally, of food transport, distribution, cultivation, and even security has led a growing number of people to ditch the typical turf grass and plant a few rows of squash and carrots.
Approximately 25% of fossil fuel use and air pollution come from food-related processes (e.g., production, processing, transport) and 20% of all car trips are food-related, according to an article published in the Spring 2008 issue of Planning magazine. Sustainable food production can have a huge and lasting impact on our environmental quality, particularly for dense urban areas that have disproportionate air pollution impacts.
While backyard gardens may not be feasible for every household, especially in urban areas, community or neighborhood gardens are often a viable alternative. These gardens provide local food production options for apartment dwellers who would otherwise have no ability to grow their own food. In many cities, community gardens have replaced vacant or underutilized lots, improving neighborhood value and increasing usable greenspace. The Bountiful Cities Project (BCP) has taken this idea to heart. Located in Asheville, NC, they work to promote community gardens that produce organic food, but also enhance and engage the larger neighborhood and city. Organizations like BCP are beginning to spring up throughout the country, providing sustainably produced food and enhancing the public realm.
For more information see:
From Turfgrass to Tomatillos (Planning, August/September 2009)
The Planner's Role in the Urban Food System (Planning, Spring 2008)
Home-Front Ecology (Sierra, July/August 2007)
Bountiful Cities Project


