Make those locations attractive to private developers, and their potential begins to return. They attract business. They deliver jobs. They bolster the tax base and invite an improved quality of life. Revitalization, as Akron knows well, can be painstaking.
Progress comes slowly, block by block, or brownfield by brownfield.
Critics argue that Issue 1 would let polluters off the hook. Those who contaminated sites wouldn't be held accountable, they insist, because the public would pick up the tab for the cleanup. The attorney general would still have authority to make polluters pay. At the same time, the reality is, it is often difficult to lay precise blame. What's more, the pursuit of accountability frequently leads to court, where resolution can take years, even decades.