The Vision
Red Fields to Green Fields seeks to convert vacant and financially distressed commercial property into urban parks. The initiative recognizes that the glut of commercial space in U.S. cities threatens to pull down cash-strapped banks and stall the nation’s economic recovery. At the same time, the effort acknowledges the catalytic effect that urban parks can have in improving the economy, environment and health of a city. The initiative hopes to capitalize on a historic opportunity to revitalize America’s urban core and create livable, walkable communities.

The Strategy
Public-private partnerships would buy distressed properties and, in many cases, demolish buildings. Part of the land would be turned into an urban park, while the remainder could be densely redeveloped later to help pay off the project’s debt and create jobs. We are exploring the feasibility of using federal funding, matched by local public and philanthropic investment, to support the park projects. 

City Parks Alliance is working with Georgia Tech Research Institute to assess an initiative in six cities: Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver, Miami, Philadelphia and Wilmington, DE. That analysis will be released in late spring 2010. A second round of studies in 4 – 5 other cities will be released in late fall 2010.

The Imperative
It’s Good for the Economy:
•    Banks and developers could remove toxic assets from their books, preventing bank failures as some $2 trillion in commercial real estate mortgages mature.
•    Creating the parks—and in many cases demolishing buildings—would produce jobs in planning, design and construction. Deconstruction jobs take an estimated 18 months,  and as much as 80 percent of the material can be salvaged or resold.
•    The finished parks could become economic drivers, increasing property values in revitalized urban cores. Consider the price a Central Park view commands.

It’s Good for the Community:
•    The initiative would replace concrete and glass with trees and green space, promising cleaner air and reducing the community’s carbon footprint.
•    The demolition projects could remove eyesores that attract crime and vagrancy.

For more information, see www.redfieldstogreenfields.org

CPA is grateful to the Speedwell Foundation and JM Kaplan Fund for program support.