Geting a Piece of the Brownfield Pie
A Virtual Roundtable Discussion with Mayors of Cities Across America

Our Panel
David Cartmell is mayor of Maysville, Kentucky. Maysville is an 1800s-era river town nestled along the banks of the Ohio River in northeastern Kentucky. It was once the primary export center of tobacco, and terminus of the Underground Railroad. Today, it has a population of 9,000.

Glen D. Gilmore is mayor of Hamilton, New Jersey. New Jersey’s eighth-largest municipality, Hamilton is less than an hour’s ride from New York, Philadelphia and the Jersey shore. With more than 90,000 residents and 40 square miles of land, it has a rich mix of neighborhoods.

Nick Inzunza is mayor of National City, California. Incorporated in 1887, National City is the second oldest city in San Diego County. It was originally part of the El Rancho de la Nacion. It now has a population of 54,260 and covers 9.2 square miles.

Timothy Murray is mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts. Worcester was established as a town in 1722 and as a city in 1848. Located in central Massachusetts, approximately 45 miles west of Boston, it has a population of 176,000 and is the third largest city in New England.

Tom Weisner is mayor of Aurora, Illinois. Settled in 1834, Aurora lies west of Chicago on the Fox River. With a population of 157,267, the city is now second largest in Illinois and continues to grow quickly. When the city was the first in the United States to use electric lights for publicly lighting its streets, it achieved the nickname of “City of Lights.”

How does brownfield development fit in with your economic development plan?

Inzunza: In cities like ours, that have a great deal of brownfields in some of the most valuable areas of our city, it wouldn’t make sense for brownfields not to be part of our economic development plan. A lot of our sites are on our ports and parcels connected to heavy rail. They are the most valuable pieces of property we have. There is a political will to develop the land. Brownfield redevelopment is our economic development plan.

Murray: Brownfield redevelopment is a critical component of the city’s economic development plan. We are an older industrial city that is looking to transform our economy from one based on manufacturing to life sciences and biotech. We also build on our strength as an academic center, as we are home to 30,000 college students. Having these properties cleaned up and put back to use is key to that mission.

Weisner: I think that since we’re a rather mature city, in terms of much of our greenfield space having been developed, brownfield development is really a key element in our economic development strategy. We are looking at these sites to continue the growth of the city.
Gilmore: Brownfield redevelopment is a central component of my economic development plan. I realize that one of the smartest ways to guide the growth of our community is by revitalizing abandoned sites, environmentally challenged sites, while working to preserve our scarce open space. What are the eyesores of today will most assuredly become some of the most valuable parcels of land within a very short period of time.

Cartmell: Our emphasis has been on revitalizing our old downtown where industrial and residential neighborhoods, as well as retail, share common space. The nature of our downtown is that there are no greenfield sites available for future development. We had to look to redevelopment of abandoned factory and warehouse space to accommodate any industrial client. We have been fortunate in that major industries that ceased to operate in the downtown have been willing to work with the city by donating property that has been successfully mitigated. Consequently, we have had success in recruiting small or niche industries that fit nicely in existing structures.