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Strategies for Older Suburbs

The region's long-range plan, Destination 2030, provides a vision and overall framework for the region's growth and development. The plan supports revitalizing urban centers, while stabilizing and restoring 1st Generation Suburbs - the older, dense, development boroughs, townships and cities adjacent to the Core Cities or along the passenger and freight rail network. The region's 1st Generation Suburbs are blessed with assets that most growing suburbs would love to have - existing infrastructure systems, character, and quality of life. The Strategies for Older Suburbs program includes work on abandoned areas of land such as brownfields and greyfields and provides communities with planning grant programs and funding resources.

Brownfields

In 2007, DVRPC launched a new brownfields initiative as part of its Strategies for Older Communities program. This project will build on DVRPC's ongoing efforts to promote community revitalization, infill development, smart growth, and environmentally-sensitive planning practices throughout the Delaware Valley. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines brownfields as "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." Brownfield sites can take many forms, ranging from abandoned factories and rail yards, to gas stations, parking lots, and even residential properties.

The Delaware Valley region is home to hundreds of previously developed, underutilized properties that may be classified as brownfields. It is estimates that more than 450,000 brownfields located across the country - many of these sites which are situated near rail lines, established commercial areas, and major highways and are ideal settings for many forms of new development. Local governments, property owners, and developers can recapture the often substantial value of these properties by utilizing the resources and tools available to return them to productive use.

As part of this new initiative, DVRPC has completed the following:

Greyfields

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) introduced the term greyfield in a jointly published report in 2001, Greyfields into Goldfields. This report recognized that many of the nation's major shopping centers and regional malls are obsolete and offer tremendous value for communities in their redevelopment potential. Vacant or underutilized community and neighborhood level shopping centers largely contribute to the visual blight of a community, as well as to the depletion of the quality of life. In many communities, these abandoned shopping centers often lead to a declining tax base for communities as well as losses in employment.

Derelict shopping centers, otherwise known as greyfields or "dead malls," are recognized by empty storefronts and vast areas of unused asphalt parking lots. They are older, economically depressed retail or commercial areas that are characterized by outdated buildings, are in a state of disrepair, lack sufficient physical space to meet market demand, and fail to generate the revenue that would justify their continued use as retail centers.

In 2005, DVRPC initiated a redesign study and inventory of abandoned shopping centers to develop land use, economic development, and transportation policy recommendations - including design guidelines - to help communities find new and innovative ways to recreate these abandoned sites into viable parts of their communities.

Community Programs

The TCDI program is an opportunity for the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) to support local development and redevelopment efforts in the individual municipalities of the Delaware Valley that implement municipal, county, state, and regional planning objectives. The TCDI program is intended to reverse the trends of disinvestment and decline in many of the region's core cities and developed communities. For a list of previously awarded projects, click on the year. The next TCDI funding round will be in FY 2009. For a list of previously awarded TCDI projects, please click the corresponding Fiscal Year: 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 [.pdf]

DVRPC has completed two Program Evaluations of the TCDI Program. These reports provide an overview of the TCDI program and evaluate the administration, project selection, and funding investment throughout the region.

Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia

The Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia initiative is committed to the growth, revitalization, and support of the region's older communities. At its core, Classic Towns is a marketing program that aims to promote the region's developed municipalities and neighborhoods as great places to live, work, and play. Classic communities are often at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting new businesses and residents. While Greater Philadelphia as a whole is promoted as a tourist destination and center of commerce, many suburban municipalities and urban neighborhoods lack the resources necessary to launch sophisticated and effective marketing programs that target specific segments of the public. At present, only a very small number of the region's classic communities have undertaken comprehensive promotional campaigns.

The cornerstone of the Classic Towns program is a regional marketing strategy to benefit the Greater Philadelphia region's older communities and neighborhoods. The program provides individual municipalities with the tools they need to launch their own campaigns. By identifying needs, developing effective messages, and creating strategies for targeted distribution, the Classic Towns initiative will help communities to brand themselves as attractive places to live, work, shop and play. It will pinpoint sources of public and private support that may be leveraged to sustain regional and municipal marketing efforts into the future.

DVRPC has identified the following guiding principles as the framework to improve and promote older communities and neighborhoods throughout the Greater Philadelphia region.

Identify niche markets. The core cities and older communities of the region are home to a wide range of amenities that are appealing to many homebuyers and business owners. Amenities that could be highlighted as part of the Classic Towns program include access to transit, pedestrian friendliness, housing options, and well established neighborhoods.

Invest in and build on quality of place. DVRPC is rich with communities that are unique, attractive, exciting, and welcoming to residents and visitors. Building upon these amenities will make individual communities and the region more attractive places to live, work and play.

Create new partnerships. New partnerships should be pursued that will benefit the future of our communities. These new partnerships should bring together residents, businesses, and local governments, and provide the synergy and momentum necessary to bring new ideas to fruition.

Think regionally, act locally. The Greater Philadelphia region is stronger and more competitive when communities work together. It is difficult for any single community to measure the enormous opportunities and amenities that a region can provide. Regional cooperation strengthens local initiatives.

The Classic Towns program works toward:

  • Determining communities' marketing and community development needs;
  • Promoting social, economic, institutional, and aesthetic amenities;
  • Defining the preferred target markets for residential and commercial investment;
  • Creating a marketing strategy that promotes positive images of the region's classic communities and neighborhoods;
  • Educating the finance industry, community development professionals and the general public about the amenities and investment opportunities found in these areas; and
  • Encouraging municipal participation in county-wide, regional and state-level initiatives that promote economic development and revitalization in older communities.

To learn how your community can be a Classic Town, visit www.classictowns.org.

Funding Resources

This guide is intended to assist local and county governments, community groups and nonprofit organizations in the Delaware Valley Region to identify federal, state, county, and private sources of funding for locally initiated planning and development projects. The programs are listed in alphabetical order and cover topical areas of housing, water and sewer facilities, transportation, environmental, recreation, open space, and multi-municipal planning, to name a few.

To help you locate a program of interest, this guide is listed alphabetical and cross referenced to the state in which it applies or county. Each program has information such as the organization administering the program, the terms, deadline, eligibility and contact information. Also cross referenced is the availability of the program to be used as a match to DVRPC's Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI) Grant Program.

If you are interested in a particular program, please contact the organization listed, as some of the eligibility information may have been revised. If you have questions about this guide, please contact the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

DVRPC Efforts Relating to Older Suburbs

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's Strategies for Older Suburbs program focuses on applying a revitalization and redevelopment techniques to the region's older suburbs and core cities. Below are some of the DVRPC's recent studies relating to Older Suburbs.