Story-killer: The word “brownfield” June 26, 2008
Posted by majorpoints in Uncategorized.add a comment
My duties here at the Gazette include covering environmental issues of all sorts — and believe me I could spend all my time writing about the environment in Niagara Falls.
But, alas, I wonder if our readers feel the same way. For instance, you could make a strong argument that the city’s most significant issue is its myriad brownfields, which can be found in every corner of every neighborhood. These former industrial sites clog up potential taxable land and prevent reuse but they also include local, state and federal incentives for development.
But every time I write about the issue, it’s met with a collective yawn. Why is that? Is it simply too boring? Is there insufficient understanding of what a brownfield is?
I assume the answer is a little of both. It doesn’t have the immediacy of a story involving City Hall politics or downtown developers nor the shock value of crime and courts stories (we have a few of those, don’t we?).
But it would be nice if people got the point. The city needs new jobs, and therefore new businesses, and the only new commercial development in the city is going to have to take place on old factory sites with spotty histories.
