EPA Research Partner Support Story: Health Impact Assessment for neighborhood revitalization
Partner: City of Rockford, Illinois Planning and Development Committee
Challenge: Revitalizing and reinvesting de-industrialized, underserved South Main Corridor neighborhood
Resource: Comprehensive Health Impact Assessment (HIA) that incorporates community priorities, analyzes potential health impacts, and provides strategies to maximize benefits and minimize impacts
Project Period: 2020 – Present
Brownfields, a declining infrastructure, and a history of manufacturing have become major physical and mental health concerns to the City of Rockford, Illinois, especially with over one-third of the City's population currently living below the poverty level. Communities like the ones in Rockford, who are recovering from de-industrialization and financial disinvestment, are often beset by a number of factors that could negatively affect their health. The City of Rockford recruited EPA to help assess conditions and inform revitalization plans that could simultaneously address both environmental concerns (contaminated air, water and land) and socioeconomic conditions (employment, education and access to health care).
“Once complete, the Colman Yards development will serve as a focal point for arts, culture, and community gathering for Southwest Rockford and all members of our community. The City has partnered with US EPA for two decades to make this development a reality. In addition to the Framework plan, US EPA Brownfields Assessment, Cleanup, and Revolving Loan Funds were heavily relied upon to address onsite contamination. Colman Yards would not be a reality without the collaboration of US EPA.” – City of Rockford, IL Brownfields Redevelopment Specialist Robert Wilhelmi
EPA ORD, in collaboration with the EPA Region 5, worked with the City of Rockford to conduct a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) that analyzed how to perform neighborhood revitalization in a way that maximizes health benefits for residents. During this partnership, the HIA focused on avoiding gentrification and negative social consequences for community members while seeking to preserve cultural values and improve quality of life and public health. The six determinants of health focused on throughout the HIA included: 1) housing, 2) neighborhood and built environment, 3) parks and greenspace, 4) crime and safety, 5) employment and economy, and 6) social and cultural well-being. The HIA provided more than 80 strategies across social, economic, and environmental sectors to maximize the positive effects of revitalization, resulting in several positive developments.
In July 2023, an exciting agreement was approved by the city's Planning and Development Committee to redevelop the 26-acre Barber Colman Complex, which will result in an accrued population increase of 2,710 people and an accrued employed increase of 2,784 jobs over the next seven years. The complex, which has been sitting abandoned for 22 years, will undergo historical rehabilitation, new construction, hundreds of new multi-family units, commercial space, public green spaces, and an activated riverfront.
As a result of its success, this HIA has demonstrated that collaborative decision-making can increase the vibrancy and overall health of communities across the country.