BAD To The Bone

There are bad strategies in dealing with urban tear-downs for the intention of eventually redeveloping them. And then there are BAD strategies for doing it.

The upper case pathway—BAD—is the one to select, and here’s why. A BAD building model is an acronym for Blighted, Abandoned and Dilapidated (BAD) structures. It’s actually a systematic approach of how to create a vision for site redevelopment.

The reason it’s necessary is that too often structures are razed and sit idle for years. It’s something that Patrick Kirby, director of the Northern West Virginia Brownfield Assistance Center, is keenly aware of. And a plight that motivated a panel discussion on this topic in September at the 2015 Brownfields national conference in Chicago.

We all know that vacant contaminated land is a devastating problem in U.S. cities because it results in lost opportunities for new businesses, permanent jobs, housing and healthy open space. It occurs disproportionately in low income neighborhoods.

A BAD building model is a solution, and has been put to good use for sites in West Va., ones that have met the wrecking ball, and are now in that in-between time. Kirby talked about establishing a “reuse plan—don’t tear down structures and let them sit idle.”

Read the full article on the ARI website.