Something is happening… something we never thought we’d see: the revival of older, industrial American cities. For those of us who sat and watched these spaces slip away from our country piece by piece over the decades, this warms the heart. And we can’t help but note the ironies of the situation, as it’s the need to go green that’s breathing new life into these once-upon-a-time jaws of fossil fuel’s bite.
The most helpful touchpoint we can think to reference here is Flint… everyone knows it, it’s the poster child for this conversation. Now think of a bunch of places like Flint dotting the country, lives and communities in tatters, willing, capable labor going underutilized, abundant resources left to rot for no reason. That’s over… these guys will be foundational to the next chapter of our mighty nation.
These are often referred to as “legacy cities” and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has defined them for us. The term is used to describe small and midsized cities that experienced rapid growth due to manufacturing, food production, and resource extraction in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But, as we all know, that didn’t last… and here we sit, in those ruins, figuring out how to build back.
However, the story isn’t as bleak as it sounds. As it does, time has given us the fresh perspective needed to see these places for the treasures they are. Firstly, we are a country experiencing a shift in our farming climate, and a need for new, sustainable growing methods… these cities are rich with vacant or underutilized land ripe for the picking. Green roofs, urban gardens, parks would all go nicely in these spaces.
As for the underutilized workforce in legacy cities, we think this one is extremely important. Let’s be frank, folks in these cities tended to get left behind and told to “reskill” at one point. Now, they may hold the upper hand. Collectively, the labor forces in these spaces may be closer to par on the skills needed for sustainability projects to succeed. Also, we could write an entire book about the empty buildings and houses in these cities…
Places already seeing investments are in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Energy company FirstEnergy, for instance, is dipping into all three states… in Ohio, they are developing a 700-megawatt solar farm, installing energy-efficient LED streetlights, offering financial incentives to customers making energy-efficient upgrades, reducing water usage, and investing in research and development of new, sustainable tech.
In Pennsylvania, jobs include transmission projects to increase the reliability of the high voltage transmission grid. Among them are the $1.1 billion Beaver Valley–New Castle 345 kV Transmission Project and 200 million Susquehanna–West Branch 345 kV Transmission Project. In West Virginia, solar energy sites are being connected to the electric grid and the company is accepting solar energy customers, among other efforts.
If you haven’t heard of a “climate receiver” city, now you have. Climate receiver cities are cities likely to see lots of new folks moving there because of climate change. They aren’t exactly legacy cities in the rust belt, but they play into the conversation. They are well positioned for revival due to location (the US interior, away from coasts), milder climates (comparatively), economies (dynamic), and infrastructure (the bones exist, already built is as green as it gets).
Some examples of these cities are Salt Lake City, Utah, and Denver, Colorado. As these cities change and experience healthy growth once again, they’re doing things differently. The steps they are taking this time mean they can be reborn as hubs of innovation and sustainability, applying lessons learned in order to shed the problems of cities based around dead energies… as in, fossil fuels, old systems, and antiquated designs.
Back in the rust belt, where new life is being born, an influx of new businesses and families are discovering the joys of lower costs of living, greener pastures, and a quieter, more sustainable life. Companies are moving with the tide, seeing the opportunity in these once-neglected American gems… and thank goodness for it. As big fans of America, we can’t get enough of this. Come back next week for more from the green tech space.