Brownfields Revitalization
By Arthine Cossey van Duyne and Emma Crow-Willard
Environmentally contaminated properties, or “brownfields,” disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities. Without the resources to clean up brownfields, communities become trapped in a cycle of blight: businesses avoid the community due to visible disrepair, so the community lacks the financial capacity to clean up the brownfields to attract more businesses. This policy brief recommends ways that cities can better leverage federal and state resources and partner with local organizations for brownfield revitalization, using the City of Richmond, California as a case study.
This brief was completed as part of a project for the 2022 Climate Cohort, a program to teach environmental experts how to impact policy.
