Who Gets Hurt When Redevelopment Gets Abandoned?

Affordable housing, public-private partnerships, public parks, fire stations, brownfield redevelopment -- this is just a sample of the types of projects that will be compromised by the dissolution of the state's redevelopment agencies.

According to Nyren, cities have few alternatives to redevelopment. Infrastructure financing districts (IFDs) are mentioned as one possibility. Unfortunately, the same conditions that put redevelopment agencies into the sights of public agencies starved for funding will diminish the likelihood of finding ample revenue streams for bond sales.

"There are mechanisms by which public improvements can occur," says [Kim] Kilkenny, [chairman of Centre City Development Corp.]. "The trick is identifying funding sources. It is exceedingly difficult to generate new revenues when we are in a recession."