This decline is largely evidenced by the hundreds of thousands of vacant or underutilized commercial and industrial buildings that continue to undermine the aesthetic and economic value of city streetscapes and neighborhoods. In many cases these properties carry with them the complications of environmental contamination. Connecticut, as a result of its industrial past, has been particularly hard hit with the problem of redeveloping these contaminated sites, termed brownfields . Brownfields are defined as abandoned, idled, or underutilized industrial or commercial properties where redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. When left unattended, brownfields may pose a serious threat to the environment.
Contaminants can spread throughout the soil and eventually enter the groundwater.
This poses a serious threat to human health and safety. When brownfields are redeveloped and jobs are created on a formerly abandoned property, tax revenue is generated to the municipality and the state in the form of property taxes and income taxes. This tax revenue can be passed on to citizens of urban areas in the form of desperately needed public services such as education and crime prevention. Brownfields redevelopment also promotes smart growth, which aims to better the quality of life for all Americans through improvements to the built environment. In particular, brownfields redevelopment attracts investment to existing urban areas, reducing urban blight and the pressures of sprawl at the urban fringe.