#or make a non optimized mess that consists of what if statements

[kjzx]

If you think this is really cool please check this out too!

“Why would you want to make a game for the original Nintendo?? No one is going to buy that”

Jokes on you! I sold 1 copy!!!

[lostlegendaerie]

Slept On Sunday: Defending Bioshock 2 and its Optimism

(Disclaimer: spoiler warnings follow, and I will take to my grave that B1 is a revolutionary and near-peerless video game. this isn’t an anti-Bioshock review, i swear.)

Bioshock is an amazing series of games is a pretty safe blanket statement to make. The first is an absolutely stellar game in nearly every aspect of the word, the second considerably improved the gameplay, and the third could be said to have redefined what it means to have a companion character in a first person shooter. However, a lot of people like to discount Bioshock 2 or completely ignore that Bioshock 2 exists, partially because it doesn’t break the mold like the first and third games do. I’ve heard some people say it isn’t part of the canon because Ken Levine didn’t write it, and it was made by 2k instead of by Irrational, and therefore don’t even want to give it a chance.

I can’t really say I’m surprised. Loyalty to a formula you love works like that. However, Bioshock 2 escapes one of the most insidious flaws of the first and third games, and that is with its compassion, optimism, and considerable improvements in respectful diversity. Not to say that there isn’t some objectively bad treatment of female characters and female sexuality in this one as well, but really there wasn’t much of a place to go other than up when it came to the first game.

Bioshock the first is set in a capitalist's paradise turned hellscape, a world where greed and the advancement of technology and science unchecked by ethics committees or any real overseeing factors has turned its citizens into monsters. The principal characters, and all but two of the named characters you see alive, are white or white passing men. The two Jewish coded characters are especially painted monstrous by the narrative; Sander Cohen is an openly gay psychopath with a penchant for plastering his often still-living victims, and Brigid Tenenbaum was a Holocaust survivor who aided the Nazis in their experiments. And while Cohen at least isn’t explicitly evil because of his homosexuality, Tenenbaum’s character is a mess down to her inconsistent accent. The only person of explicitly non-white descent is Suchong, who is not only a brutally cold scientist but whose dialogue is every audio diary is cringe-worthy stereotypical Engrish. Bioshock Infinite somehow manages to make this even worse, by setting the rebellious Irish and Black Vox Populli as being ‘just as bad’ at the white christian supremacist of Comstock’s faithful; the potential of Daisy Fitzroy as a compelling character is utterly wasted in the hands of these false equivalencies, and even the brilliance of Suchong and his plasmids is usurped by white scientist Fink and his drinkable Vigors. And let’s not even get started on Infinite’s DLC, Burial at Sea, and its treatment of Elizabeth.

Both of these stories, intentionally or not, feature a very colonial mindset; the intelligent white man arriving to the lost paradise filled with ignorant savages and slaughtering them for his own personal quest.  Though the bodies you leave in your wake may be white, and though the former especially allows you to spare the ‘innocents’ and play a more peaceful and kind role, you are still the outsider who knows better than any native.

Bioshock 2, and it’s amazing DLC second story of Minerva’s Den, are different. You are constructs of Rapture, created there, returning home to a world that hates you as you try to reclaim what was taken from you. While the antagonist may be weaker than the first game, the supporting and side characters are considerably stronger; some are even as sane as you are, kindred spirits in a world gone mad, and none are reduced to cartoonish stereotypes of their race or gender. Where Grace Holloway is motherly and deeply loves the child she helped raise, Sophia Lamb is utterly clinical about her daughter despite her socialist compassion. Milton Porter is a soft spoken and extremely respected black scientist in contrast to the slightly more outgoing (and also black) Holloway’s career as a struggling artist.

But perhaps the best and simplest way to contrast the tones and moods of all of the Bioshock games is to compare the ways in which they twist our perceptions of our companion characters; Atlas, Sinclair, and Elizabeth. For the first, this twist comes at the start of the third act, where it is revealed that Atlas was simply a persona and that the protagonist (Jack) had been created and used by con man Frank Fontaine to take out his rival and the founder of Rapture once and for all. It’s a twist that, when followed by the iconic and utterly chilling death of Ryan, manages to make you somehow sympathetic for the cold hearted man who has spent the last seven or eight levels of the game actively trying to kill you, because at least he’s not as big of a cockbite as Fontaine. Bioshock Infinite reverses that tradition by making you the cockbite all along, and informing you that the teenage girl whose tits you’ve totally been staring at half the game is your daughter from the future-past, you sick disgusting bastard, and then drowns you for your sins. Both are extremely solid twists, but Infinite’s twist is a much bigger betrayal of the theme of Choice that defined the two previous games. There is no redemption for Booker other than death.

But Bioshock 2���s twist is a surprisingly tender one, and one that plays with the expectations that you carry into it from the previous game. Sinclair is consistently shown to be just as much of a self-serving, profit-maximizing capitalist dog as every other major economic force in Rapture, and spends even less time talking you up and reassuring you than Atlas does. The twist, however, is that Sinclair has been your friend this entire time, and when the protagonist (Subject Delta) is in danger risks and spends his own life trying to help him escape and reunite with his daughter. In a game series where every character you meet has their own agenda and use for you, Sinclair stands out as shockingly selfless in his dedication to his word.

All three games have their own version of hope in (one of) their endings. Bioshock the first gives Jack the potential to spare lives he could easily take; Infinite offers Elizabeth a chance at her own life not ruled by the agendas of Booker and Comstock (which the DLCs then completely, utterly ruin) but Bioshock 2’s ending(s) are about being compassionate by example, and of kindness breeding kindness. Eleanor is shaped by Delta’s positive influence on her life, contrasting to how Atlas and Booker influence their respective wards Jack and Elizabeth, and has a more bittersweet feeling to it than the others.

Bioshock 2 (and Minerva’s Den) doesn’t hit you over the head with a nihilistic plot twist baseball bat, but it doesn’t need to. It is it’s own particular brand of sequel that doesn’t need to completely change the formula or teach everything to the protagonist anew. It is a return to a familiar setting that plays with your expectations of it; and while Lamb cannot reach Ryan’s particular level of cunning nor can her Rapture hivemind strike the same idyllic horror of Columbia, it is a worthy game that deserves considerably more praise than it is given.

[monahandalrymple4-blog]

Guidelines For A Far better Seo Marketing campaign

The planet extensive world wide web can be a nonsensical, unorganized, heap of a mess if one particular does not know how to optimize their efficiency when making use of the a variety of research engines available. This write-up will go over the various efficient ways to improve your look for benefits so you cease wasting time attempting to locate what you are truly looking for. To support site crawlers far better understand your site, you need to use search phrases as your anchor text for inside backlinks. Non-descript backlinks this kind of as, "click on below," do not aid your web site as they offer no data to the search engines. This will also help your web site to look far more cohesive to human guests. You need to have to have a list of all of your web site articles if you want the most out of research engine optimization. Spiders can more very easily access all of your website by way of a site map. A big internet site may well require far more than a single internet site map. To support spiders crawl your web site, you ought to attempt to guarantee that each and every map has less than one hundred back links. For the greatest outcomes in search motor optimization, be confident to use only the maximum quality of content. BACKLINKS ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΕΣ isn't going to make a difference how many fantastic key phrases you have in an report if the post is uninteresting, trite, or basically badly written. Search engine bots are not going to purchase your product or support, individuals are. If your article are unable to impress people your search engine rankings will not likely issue. If you are striving to search engine optimize a site, consider enabling feedback. Some individuals switch off feedback for concern of spam, but by making it possible for website visitors to remark on articles in your blog, you can get free of charge, distinctive content for your weblog. Search engines enjoy special material, so remarks can assist your blog rank greater in look for engine results web pages. Decide on an easy to bear in mind domain title relating to your merchandise line. For BACKLINKS ΕΚΣΤΡΑΤΕΙΑ , "widgetsrus.com" operates nicely for a internet site selling widgets. Not only will it be less difficult for customers to locate your website, but lookup engines will decide up on the related words and phrases to direct a lot a lot more traffic your way. Create interior back links above which you have management by making many modest URLs with pertinent content to boost Seo. Offsite back links are usually far better for bettering your lookup rankings. When you generate small URLs the place you manage the material, you can make certain that the articles has the proper keywords and phrases to push additional site visitors to your site. If you are making webpages in languages other than English, consist of the language meta tag in your page. The tag allows look for engines to know what language your website is composed in and which includes it can support increase your rankings for queries for your key phrase that are in your selected language. When picking key phrases to emphasize for look for motor optimization, the singular sort of a key word is normally much more common than the plural. (e.g. "Boat" receives far more hits than "Boats.") The opposite is true for a particular minority of keywords. Website owners should research the most widespread terms in their fields to uncover out which situation holds accurate for their key phrases. Check where you stand with the look for engines. It is not possible to notify if your lookup motor optimization (Search engine marketing) endeavours are operating except if you monitor your lookup standing. There are tools obtainable that will allow you know how your website page ranks with the significant lookup engines. Monitoring your standing will inform if you require to revamp your page, or maintain it like it is. One good way to get good backlinks is to publish feedback in forums and on blogs exactly where you are permitted to submit links. You could sign up for forums that go over your area of interest or a associated matter. If you check out regularly and post fascinating and pertinent feedback - along with your hyperlinks - you will make qualified visitors. When considering a professional or business to support you with your Search engine marketing attempts, be skeptical of statements that look as well excellent to be correct. No one particular will be capable to guarantee you the best slot on a major lookup engine, as this slot changes usually. Until you submit a paid ad, there is no way to get your website outlined any higher than the rank given by the lookup motor spiders. When crafting your website's key phrase phrases, attempt to focus on these made up of two or 3 phrases. Analysis has proven that the vast majority of keyword queries are comprised of two or three phrase phrases, so the a lot more of these keyword snippets you can incorporate, the far more research engine targeted traffic to your internet site you are likely to see. Don't overlook lengthy-tail keywords and phrases. when optimizing your content material, long-tail keywords and phrases could get you visitors more quickly than your major keywords simply because they have considerably considerably less competitiveness. Do your analysis and locate key phrase mixtures that are relevant to your major key phrases in any of a amount of approaches. BACKLINK why people would be typing your keywords and analysis relevant problems, troubles and concepts to discover new lengthy-tail keywords to use. If you happen to be likely to get a text link, Never position it at your website! Rather, position it at your video clip on YouTube or any other internet 2. internet site that you have in that particular niche and then have individuals link to your internet site from there. With the url pointing at a domain other than your very own, you will not likely be penalized by Google's algorithms. Considering that the entire world vast world wide web is total of ineffective data these times, it is crucial to just take these ideas offered in the article with importance and not with a grain of salt. Or else, you will stop up investing much more time searching than necessary to locate what you are hunting for.

[nickbray-portfolio]

Environmental Mess, Economic Opportunity: Berwick, Maine

April 2015

A term paper for GEO 231, Environmental Issues, a course at the University of Maine at Farmington

Part One: Berwick, Maine as a Case Study

Eleven acres. That is 479,160 square feet, well over 8 football fields. To put it simply, that’s a lot of space. The town of Berwick, Maine has exactly that much space vacant in its downtown. Prior to 2008, this space was occupied by the Prime Tanning Co., Inc., the largest employer in town. At its peak, they employed over 300 workers. They produced tanned leather for use primarily in footwear for almost seventy-five years at their sprawling facility. After closing and laying off 150 workers, the space is vacant, the buildings dilapidated.

The Prime Tanning site is referred to as a Brownfield, a previous site of industrial use. The company owes the town of Berwick well over $200,000 in back taxes. Most concerning, are the environmental hazards contained within the former facility. It is clear that the tanning process requires many chemicals that can be dangerous to our health. Scorecard.org reported that Prime Tanning was the largest Air Polluter in York County in 2002, generating 42,020 pounds of pollution into the air. That is more than 27,000 more pounds than the second largest polluter in the county. These pollutants are known carcinogens.  Previous environmental impact assessments of the site note that the facility has soil and groundwater contamination from products used in the tanning process. With over thirty additions to the main facility since 1935, unknowns still exist about further contamination underneath these structures.

The town of Berwick now sits in an interesting position. With practically a non-existent downtown, consisting of a few locally owned shops, a chain restaurant, gas stations and a bank, the Prime site is basically a blank slate in terms of the opportunity for economic growth and downtown revitalization. Currently, residents of Berwick leave the town for work, play and shopping. A redeveloped Prime site could attract business to town, and allow residents to save travel time and expense by working in the downtown district. Berwick is advantageously located in southern York County, along the New Hampshire border. Just 90 minutes from Boston, Berwick could easily be transformed into a place that attracts people for work, play, and investment. Additionally, remediation of this Brownfield site would make our community a safer, healthier place to live.

As a child growing up in downtown Berwick, Maine in the early and mid 2000’s, I lived under the shadow of a giant roaring leather tannery, Prime Tanning Co., Inc. “Through these gates, pass the best leathermakers in the world”, pronounced the large metal sign affixed to the main gate of the tannery. “Welcome to Berwick, Home of Prime Tanning”, announced a noticeable green sign which welcomed visitors to town, as they crossed over the bridge between Somersworth, New Hampshire, and Berwick, spanning the Salmon Falls River. Most noticeable of all was the giant thirty five foot smokestack on top of the building, with the name “Prime” painted on every side. 

The tannery has a storied past in our town. For almost three-quarters of a century, Prime played an integral role in Berwick history. Prime can trace its roots way back to 1910, when it was started by Morris Kaplan, a russian immigrant. By 1921, he had purchased a facility in Woburn, Massachusetts, producing shoe leather. The need for expansion caused Kaplan to purchase a facility in Berwick in 1935. Originally one building and 125,000 square feet, the operation flourished over time and through multiple additions, the size of the building expanded to well over 200,000 square feet and took up just over 11 acres of land in downtown Berwick (Maine Biz). At its prime (no pun intended), the tannery provided hundreds of jobs in Berwick.

Walking past the chain link fence around the sprawling facility, one could see many sights and sounds: workers smoking outside the gate on break, forklifts driving back and forth, miscellaneous sounds, and most noticeable of all, the smell! I only had the vaguest idea about what they did within the confines of the tannery when I was younger, but I thought there was something smelly (no pun intended) going on. I wondered if the facilities were absolutely safe. There haven’t been many issues with the facility, but one that sticks out is a fire in 1974 that claimed the life of a newly married firefighter (Lewiston Daily Sun). Things were good for Prime, and for Berwick, for a very long time.  

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Competition was tight in the tanning industry in the 1990’s, especially with a ballooning global market. Worsened by increased prices for materials, and government regulations, it was hard for a tannery to be economically viable. In November 2001, the Prime Tanning company closed its doors at the Berwick facility, laying off 250 employees, down from its peak force of over 300 in the 70’s. This was a devastating loss to the town. Prime was the only major employer in town. Berwick was for the most part a bedroom community for other larger towns in the area, sending most of our population out of town for work in the neighboring cities of Dover, Somersworth, and Rochester, New Hampshire. This closure occurred shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

With the Afghanistan War that began in October of that year, this provided an interesting opportunity for Prime. The increase in troops going to the Middle East, caused a demand for leather for combat boots, which were required to be made with American Leather. With the leather market shifting overseas, there were fewer tanneries in the United States producing the leather needed for the boots. So Prime Tanning reopened in early 2002, with a scaled back operation to provide the materials needed for the production of the boots (Belluck). Hiring back many of the employees they had just laid off, Prime was able to operate without issue for a few more years. During this time, Prime acquired other tanning companies in the United States and abroad. Prime faced many issues during this time, especially international competition. To remain viable,  Prime announced it would be consolidating its facilities by closing the Berwick, Maine tannery, and moving operations to its Hartland, Maine facility. This resulted in a loss of 150 jobs total (Haberman). This time, Prime would not reopen in Berwick. Prime Tanning’s reign as one of the largest leather producing companies in the world would end later in 2010, when it filed for bankruptcy, and was purchased by another company (Cousins).

Since its closure, the Prime Tanning site has deteriorated quickly. Rust appearing on the once shiny chain link fence that lines the perimeter, cracking of pavement, chipping paint, and vandalism all have made the property an eyesore. The sign I mentioned before that welcomed visitors to Berwick, “Home of Prime Tanning”, now has “Home Of Prime Tanning” painted over. The site quickly has become a town embarrassment. Instead of sitting around waiting for a change to happen on its own, a group of motivated Berwick residents began to form a “Downtown Vision Committee”, which wanted to explore the options for dealing with the eleven acres of vacant property left by Prime Tanning. Their first meeting, held in September 2012 began a two year process that helped Berwick begin to understand what it wanted to see in their optimal downtown.

 The group was poised to generate lots of public input for the plan, which they accomplished by creating a survey that was mailed to all homes in Berwick, and distributed across the community (Vision Report). Also accessible via the internet, the survey asked residents about their opinions on the current downtown, and what they would like to see in the downtown heading into the future. This survey was responded to by eight percent of registered voters in town, about 500 residents in total. A series of charettes (public design planning workshops) were held to further refine the plan for an optimal downtown. Residents participated  in a tour of the downtown followed by workshops where they “sketched” their wishes for the downtown. Maps of the eleven acre lot were created, blanking out the space Prime Tanning occupied, and residents drew in what they would like to see. 

This process coincided with the celebration of Berwick’s 300th anniversary, which allowed the Downtown Vision Committee to engage with a great portion of the community. Around this time, the Downtown Vision Committee became a recognized town committee, officially appointed by the town selectmen. Their goal was to produce a report to serve as the appendix of the original 1991 Town Comprehensive Plan, which outlined the recommendations for the Prime Tanning and other downtown revitalization improvements. To further educate the public about the ongoing process, a series of “101” sessions brought in guest speakers to discuss the related aspects of the vision plan, including sessions on Brownfields, the River, and Transportation.

 After months of input from the residents, the Downtown Vision Committee now needed to analyze all the data, and prepare the vision report and implementation plans. The Vision Report began with a statement which encompassed the goals of the the vision report and the desires of the residents. First was the promote and protect small business within the downtown district (Vision Report). Second, to nurture our natural environment, to protect our relationship with the land and the river by providing sustainable development within the downtown, and to access to greenspace and recreation. Lastly is to make Berwick’s downtown a safer, and healthier and friendlier place for all residents, especially families and the youth.  

The vision plan outlines goals to create a “Main Street” downtown in Berwick, with the hopes of having a walkable, aesthetically pleasing downtown (Vision Report). For this to be possible, infrastructure improvements must occur, including pedestrian improvements, addition of bike lanes, and a plan to reduce traffic congestion in the downtown. Further plans for trails to connect recreational opportunities were deemed a top priority in the report. Signage throughout the downtown would give the town a succinct brand, attracting people to town, making it a destination community, something that is currently impossible with the current state of Berwick’s downtown. 

The implementation plan identifies all the parties involved that will make actualization of this vision possible. The implementation plan also lists a series of recommendations to achieve a revitalized downtown that matches the town-wide vision. This involves many steps including applying for a grant to cleanup the Prime Site. The completed Vision Report, which was over thirty pages long, was adopted by voters as an appendix to the Comprehensive Plan during the town meeting in June 2014, the first update since 1991.

It is incredible what a small group of people can achieve in the process of two years. Some say that community spirit is dead in the digital age, but Berwick is the counterexample. A community can rally around the chance to redefine themselves as a whole. The economic advantages to this proposal are appealing to the taxpayers in this town. More business in the downtown would result in an increase in tax revenue, and likely a reduction in property taxes in the long run. The town’s EPA Brownfields cleanup application estimates roughly a $15 to $25 million dollar investment to the downtown from private development of the site. This would hopefully bring in between $65,000 and $90,000 worth of property taxes, the amount Prime Tanning was contributing to the tax base (EPA Brownfields Report).

To sum things up, as Berwick has just celebrated 300 years of history, it is now a perfect time to discuss the future of Berwick, to prepare for the next 300 years. The town has a chance to redefine themselves as a place to go in Southern York County, while providing community and economic benefits to the residents of Berwick. The benefits of remediating the Prime Tanning Brownfields site are numerous. From the prospect of more jobs and business in town, to making Berwick a cleaner, greener place to live, this project will transform the way Berwick looks, and operates. Using history as an indicator to inform the decisions of the future, Berwick is looking proudly into the future. After the Vision Report was approved, Berwick began to work on the goals established in the report.

In November 2014, the town applied for an EPA Federal Brownfield Cleanup Grant for the Prime Site. At present time, the town of Berwick has acquired Prime from the Prime Tanning bankruptcy estate so they can apply for the EPA Brownfield Cleanup grant (Venne FAQ’s). In order to apply for Brownfield Grants, the town needs to own the property. The $200,000 grant requires a twenty percent funding match from the town, which can be in payment or in-kind services. So for this project, the town would pay $40,000 per lot for the cleanup cost. They also subdivided the lot in order to apply for multiple grants. In November of 2014, voters approved acquiring the Prime Property, and they approved subdividing the property into seven lots. 

Currently, Berwick is applying for funding to clean up lots four, five, and six. The town is also in agreement with Fund of Jupiter, Inc (FOJ), a company created to lend money to the bankrupt Prime Tanning. Fund of Jupiter would like to purchase the Prime property from the town for the cost of the back taxes owed on the property. The town entered into an agreement to acquire the property, instead of demanding the back taxes owed and foreclosing on the property, a process which would have been both expensive and lengthy. They are paying down the back taxes owed in advance by paying for the town’s share of the cleanup grant ($40,000 per lot). The Fund of Jupiter would then begin on development of the property after they acquire the property from the town after all back taxes have been paid. This is a very good example of a successful public/private partnership that benefits all parties involved. The grant was due in December of 2014, and the town will be informed of the decision on the grant application in May of this year.

Part 2: The Benefits of Brownfields Remediation

The town of Berwick, Maine serves as a good case to examine the benefits of Brownfields remediation. Although the project is far from being finished, one can see the projected benefits to the town. The federal EPA Brownfields Grant program provides a much needed source of funding for this project to be possible. In fact, many projects wouldn’t be successful unless the government provided assistance in the cleanup. Since its inception in 1993, the program has provided over $800 million in grants and loans to be used for the assessment and cleanup of Brownfield sites across the county (Dull 121). There are over 450,000 Brownfields sites in the United States, which could all potentially benefit from the EPA grant program (Mashayekh 206). Dull points out that the EPA grant process is quite competitive (with thousands of applications received requesting funding each year); a municipality has to think outside the box and provide the EPA with a creative proposal. This requires a community driven effort to involve public and private entities sharing interest in the site. As was the case in Berwick, a comprehensive effort to engage parties in order to get all the ideas on the table was required to help formulate the most attractive proposal possible.

So in a sense, the EPA project grant proposal can transform the community in ways more than just remediating the site, which can be seen as a huge benefit to towns where community spirit is low. The project has certainly brought together all the community members of Berwick in a way that didn’t exist before. In all my life living in Berwick, I haven’t seen a more excited and hopeful mindset in the residents. Hundreds of communities across this nation could stand to benefit from the change in spirit amongst its residents.

Next comes the environmental benefits of the project. The Brownfields Grant makes it possible for communities to clean up hazardous and unhealthy sites, thus improving the health of the land, and the people who live around the site. As was previously mentioned, the Prime Tanning Company was a significant polluter to the Berwick community and surrounding areas. Though a minimal assessment has been made to outline the contamination of the land that Prime sat on, the full extent of the contamination will only be realized after the remediation process has begun. Regardless, the cleanup process will remove significant contaminants from the air, land, and the water. With the close proximity to the Salmon Falls River (and its watershed), the Prime project will greatly reduce the amount of leaching of chemicals into the watershed. The cleanup of similar sites will help to eliminate the health disparities between those who live in close proximity to a Brownfield site, and those who don’t.

Communities can also see significant environmental impacts by redeveloping Brownfield sites, when comparing the impacts of development on greenfield spaces. It is often the case that Brownfield sites are located in populated urban areas. When businesses look for land to develop on, they seek out spaces that are most economically advantageous for them to build on. In crowded areas, this often means looking to the outer edges of cities and towns where greenfield space is cheap and plentiful. This contributes to the ever-increasing sprawl that most communities see. Habitats are disrupted, farmland is lost, and biodiversity decreases as greenfields turn into concrete and asphalt jungles. Swickard reports that between 1982 and 1992, almost 14 million acres of greenspace were converted to urban use. Instead of using the space on the outer-edges of town, remediation of Brownfield sites would make it easier for businesses to move closer to the urban compact.

 It has been found that there are numerous advantages to using Brownfield sites as development than greenfield sites. First, it is estimated that for every one acre of Brownfield site, about 4.5 acres of greenfield site are conserved (Northeast-Midwest Institute). An EPA study found that the utilization of space is more efficient on Brownfield sites than greenfield sites (EPA Report). They found that both Brownfield and greenfield developments had nearly the same amount of commercial and residential square footage.

Both reports found that the use of Brownfield sites for development, as opposed to greenfield sites, were better for the air and water quality of the community. Having a development closer to the downtown core means less driving someone has to do to get where they are going, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. Studies of two cases in Baltimore and Dallas projected that the use of Brownfield sites for development reduced the number of vehicle miles travelled between twenty five and fifty percent, compared to the use of greenfield sites (NE-MW Institute). More land use also means a greater possibility of runoff into watersheds. A more compact, efficient use of land reduces this. It’s important to note that these are large cities, with very dense urban cores; smaller communities might see these benefits reduced by a factor.

A more centralized downtown core is much easier to access than a sprawling community. The “walkability” of a community is a metric that town and urban planners work to improve on a daily basis. Sites like walkscore.com meausre the walkability of communities across the nation. They take into account a particular neighborhood’s access to goods and services, and how easy it is to get to places via public transportation, and by walking. The walkability score for Berwick

varies quite a lot, considering the proximity of Somersworth, New Hampshire, a city with a population of over 10,000. Berwick’s current downtown has only the most basic shops and services available. With the development of the Brownfields site in town, Berwick can improve its walkability by having more shops, offices, and other points of interest in its downtown, reducing the need to travel across the state border. A more walkable downtown also provides a place for community members to exercise, yet another benefit to Brownfields remediation. This “clean slate” opportunity to reshape a portion of a Brownfield site is a rare opportunity for a community. Careful planning that considers the wants, needs, and desires of a community are incredibly important factors to consider when drafting a Brownfields Grant proposal.

Finally, come the economic benefits of remediating Brownfield sites. Towns and cities across the country are losing out on potential tax revenue generated at Brownfield sites. A survey of 33 cities which have Brownfield sites found that each city loses between $100 million and $400 million in tax revenue each year, due to the lack of redevelopment of these sites (Swickward 125). The jobs lost as the businesses that once were located on the Brownfield site also contribute to the economic depression of an area. Furthermore, as Brownfield sites sit deteriorating, the blight they cause decreases the property value of surrounding properties, as well as a reduction in sales at businesses that are located nearby. All three of these problems are issues in Berwick, and the remediation of the former Prime site is expected to give the town a significant economic boost. 

New businesses would replace the tax revenue that the former tannery brought in. Along with new business comes new jobs. Redevelopment and new construction on the site will make the downtown more aesthetically pleasing, attracting business and increasing property values. Eighty cities with Brownfield sites in 2007 reported the creation of over 116,000 permanent jobs as a result of the remediation of the sites (Northeast-Midwest Institute). Imagine the number of possible jobs created if more and more Brownfield sites are redeveloped across the country. As we begin to exit an economic recession, there is still a high need for good paying jobs. New business creation on former Brownfield sites would make significant impacts to communities both big and small.

As we begin to see the great opportunities that exist in Brownfield sites, we must also consider what’s the best possible use and look of the redeveloped property. As Berwick looks forward to the next stages of the Prime process, it is beginning to make changes to its land use ordinances to bring in elements of form-based code, which directs the planning of buildings in town (particularly in the downtown village district) to meet a desired outcome (such as what sorts of business or aesthetics will be present in a space) (Currie). This is opposed to traditional land use code, which regulates the usage of particular regions in towns. All towns should consider implementing form based code in order to achieve the best possible use of their former Brownfield sites. Cleaning up these sites provide many benefits to cities and towns that are in desperate need of revitalization, as Berwick is. The EPA Brownfield Grant program provides towns with a way to knock down the financial burden of doing a cleanup of contaminated properties. This will pave the way to a healthier, happier tomorrow.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Serena Galleshaw for revising this essay, and for helping to clarify the points of the Vision Report, and the history of the Berwick Downtown Vision Committee (since renamed Envision Berwick), which she is Co-Chair of.

Works Cited

Air and Water Quality Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment. Rep. Washington, DC: US Environmental Protection Agency, 2011. Print.

Belluck, Pam. "Troops Need Boots, So Closed Mill Will Reopen." The New York Times. N.p.,  �� 08 Dec. 2001. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

Berwick Downtown Vision Committee. Berwick Downtown Vision Report and Implementation Plan. Rep. Berwick, ME: n.p., 2014. Print.

"Berwick-based Prime Tanning Merges with a Major Chinese Leather Company." Mainebiz. N.p., 21 Apr. 2008. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

Cousins, Christoper. "Prime Tanning Files for Bankruptcy." Bangor Daily News. N.p., 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

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