About the Brownfields Research Consortium
Milwaukee, like most older industrial cities, is home to many acres of abandoned or underutilized properties that are either known or suspected to be environmentally contaminated. Such properties, commonly referred to as brownfields, represent potential opportunities for community redevelopment and urban renewal.
Examples of such opportunities include the Menomonee Valley which contains the highest concentration of brownfields in Wisconsin and lies between two low-to- moderate income city neighborhoods. The remediation and redevelopment of these properties in the Valley is providing new employment opportunities in close proximity to neighborhoods where jobs are badly needed and is helping to restore the Valley's natural environment. A similar opportunity exists in the 30th Street Corridor, which spans five miles and includes eleven city neighborhoods that have been plagued with underutilized manufacturing properties. With the help of Governor Doyle's Urban Reinvestment Initiative and the 30th Street Industrial Corridor Corporation, these properties are being cleaned up and returned to the community for productive uses.The BRC brings together an interdisciplinary team of scholars and other stakeholders to develop and carry out research projects and other activities that will reduce barriers to brownfields redevelopment. The BRC's primary activities include:
- Publishing scholarly research papers on brownfields policy issues that will be relevant to policymakers and other stakeholders interested in the issue;
- Hosting speakers on brownfields issues in Wisconsin;
- Facilitating research and instructional exchanges between UWM and other universities for faculty and students.
BRC faculty focus their research efforts in several major policy areas:
- Brownfields Policy in the United States and Canada;
- Brownfields Redevelopment Trends and Outcomes;
- Brownfields to Green Space, Green Buildings, and Sustainable Development.
- Environmental equity issues associated with brownfield redevelopment;
- Urban Economic Development;