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The Waller Creek District and Tunnel

 

Context

Austin’s Waller Creek Tunnel, completed in 2017, captures floodwater and releases it into Lady Bird Lake, reducing the size of the floodplain along lower Waller Creek and helping revitalize the eastern part of downtown Austin, called the Waller Creek District. The tunnel is about 5,600 feet long, lies 70 feet below the surface, and ranges in diameter from 22 to 26 feet.

Construction of the tunnel has enabled businesses, governments, and nonprofits to invest in the Waller Creek District. The City of Austin, the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, and the Waller Creek Local Government Corporation created a vision for the district to guide that investment. A mix of private and public projects is in the works for the district, including 35 acres of parks and open space.

The Waller Creek Tunnel was funded through tax increment financing (TIF). The Waller Creek TIF only uses funds generated by the increased property values and property taxes in the Waller Creek District. The TIF not only paid for the tunnel, but also helped fund the redevelopment of Waterloo Park. The Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, the TIF, and the City of Austin are also funding a chain of parks and trails along the creek, called Waterloo Greenway.

Since opening in August 2021, Waterloo Park has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors to explore nature, gather with friends and family, and immerse themselves in musical, cultural, and performing arts experiences. The park includes the new Moody Amphitheater, a 5,000-person outdoor concert venue; an 11-acre green space with a native plant garden; a constructed wetland and terrace next to Waller Creek; walking and biking trails with a skywalk, traditional and nature playscapes; and dedicated space for local food trucks. Waterloo Greenway Conservancy offers free weekly community programs and year-round special events at the park, providing an accessible space where Austinites can relax, have fun, and connect with one another.

Reinvestment along Waterloo Greenway is focused on transforming lower Waller Creek from the site of eroded, polluted, and flood-prone channelized infrastructure into a natural oasis for both humans and habitats. With the addition of the tunnel, the creek conveys less stormwater, allowing it to look and feel more like a natural stream system and take on a new role in downtown Austin. The Waller Creek project invests in public open space, trails, and ecosystem rehabilitation, enhancing access to nature and health in downtown Austin and enabling future resilient development.

Resilience Strategies

  • Stormwater management. The addition of the Waller Creek Tunnel removed more than 28 acres of downtown Austin from the floodplain, providing opportunities for redevelopment in the Waller Creek District. The tunnel also reduces Waller Creek bank erosion during periods of flooding and gently pumps lake water back into the creek to keep it flowing during dry times.
  • Green infrastructure. Investment in green space and ecosystem restoration along the Waterloo Greenway helps manage stormwater and flooding, rebuild ecosystems, and enhance access to nature and health for Austinites. The addition of green infrastructure also helps mitigate the urban heat island effect and improve air and water quality.
  • Native plants. To create an ecologically robust riparian corridor, the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy has focused on saving and adding native plants to the greenway. In Waterloo Park alone, 95 percent of the 90,500 plants and trees are native and 5 percent are adaptive. In the next phase of redevelopment, the conservancy plans to add about 200,000 native plants and 1,500 trees along the greenway from Fourth Street to Lady Bird Lake. The focus on native plants supports local habitats and pollinators, ecological diversity, ecosystem restoration, and resilience to heat, drought, and flooding.
  • Water reuse. Waterloo Park uses Austin’s reclaimed water instead of potable water for subsurface drip irrigation and toilet flushing, allowing water and energy conservation and drought resilience. The park also has a 50,000-gallon cistern to capture rainwater for reuse.

Value Proposition

  • Added amenities. The addition of the Waller Creek Tunnel and redevelopment of the 1.5-mile Waterloo Greenway, including Waterloo Park, have added significant value to downtown Austin. Waterloo Park’s new amenities—Moody Amphitheater, an 11-acre green space, walking and biking trails, playscapes, and programming—provide an accessible space for Austinites to relax and have fun.
  • Avoided losses. The Waller Creek Tunnel significantly reduces flood risk between 12th Street and Lady Bird Lake. Previously, flooding and erosion along Waller Creek were regular occurrences.
  • Reduced insurance premiums and improved insurance ratings. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain map of the area was updated in 2022 to reflect the improvements. With reduced flood risk, properties in the Waller Creek District are expected to see reduced insurance premiums and improved insurance ratings. Lenders may still require flood insurance, however, and businesses and residents may also choose to keep their flood insurance for financial protection.
  • Increased developable land. The Waller Creek Tunnel removed more than 28 acres of downtown Austin from the floodplain, providing opportunities for redevelopment in the Waller Creek District.
  • Capital attraction. Because of the tunnel, businesses, governments, and nonprofits are now able to invest in the Waller Creek District. A mix of private and public projects is in the works for the district, including billions of dollars in private development.
  • Enhanced property value. Reduced flood risk and high-quality amenities will lead to enhanced property values in and around the Waller Creek District. The investments in the area are expected to increase downtown tax revenue.
  • Water savings. Waterloo Park’s use of reclaimed water and rainwater instead of potable water for subsurface drip irrigation of the 11-acre green space will result in significant water, energy, and cost savings.
  • Awards and recognition. Waterloo Park received the ULI Austin Impact Award for Best Public Place in 2022 and the Waterloo Greenway received the ULI Austin Impact Award for Next Big Idea in 2019. Moody Amphitheater achieved four stars in the Austin Energy Green Building rating system in 2021.

Lessons Learned

Vision and planning

The City of Austin and Waterloo Greenway Conservancy staff note that having an exciting and engaging vision upfront was vital to get people on board with the long-term project. “You really have to think about the full life cycle upfront when you’re starting a project like this,” said Kristin Pipkin, project management supervisor for the Waller Creek District Program in Austin’s Watershed Protection department.

This project started with a framework plan that served as a proof of concept for the Austin City Council. Once that plan was approved, the city held a national design competition in 2012, which led to the selection of a design plan that was amended in 2018 and is now referenced in the city’s comprehensive plan.

Within the partnership, planning was essential to figure out the phases of construction, budget timelines, scopes of work, and how to work together across organizations and departments.

Public/private partnership

“It takes a village to make a project of this size and complexity happen,” Pipkin said. While the city was responsible for the tunnel project, partnering with a separate organization responsible for the Waterloo Greenway over time as well as fundraising for capital improvements proved important for the success of the multi-tiered project.

Waterloo Greenway Conservancy was created for this purpose in 2010 to respond to citizens advocating for park and trail redevelopment along Waller Creek. In 2014, the partnership was formalized by a joint development agreement. The convervancy and city recommend engaging in a partnership agreement upfront so that each organization knows what it is responsible for and how best to work together. They also recommend allowing for adaptability, flexibility, and contingencies.

In the case of this partnership, the city is responsible for the Waller Creek Tunnel and owns the land, watershed, and public improvements. The Waterloo Greenway Conservancy is an independent nonprofit responsible for fundraising, design, construction, programming, operations, and maintenance for the Waterloo Greenway. The Waller Creek Local Government Corporation is the approval body for contracts, budgets, financing, design, construction, operations, and maintenance, and is given authority for oversight of the district by the city council.

Political and financial champions

It was clear from the beginning that to develop a project of this scale, it was necessary to have champions with standing and respect in the community who could pull political weight. Leadership from the city was important for the cross-department collaborations, but champions from the community were needed to justify the time and costs of the project. Having a grand vision and plan was helpful for getting community buy-in and sustained interest.

The redevelopment intersected with various interrelated issues, such as infrastructure, private development, utilities, building codes, transportation, affordability, growth, resilience, history, accessibility, and safety. These issues attracted more interested parties and required upfront, transparent communication about what was happening with the project. As an example, the city is working with developers on voluntary design guidelines within Waller Creek District that support Waller Creek. Ongoing communication efforts include public relations, partnerships, signage, programming, and public art.

Sustainable funding sources

With a project of this magnitude, significant and sustained funding mechanisms are required. The Waller Creek Tunnel was a $163 million TIF investment. Redevelopment of the 1.5-mile Waterloo Greenway, including Waterloo Park, is estimated to cost around $265 million over three phases and will be covered by TIF, funds from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, park bonds, drainage utility fees, development fees, city budgets, and private partner fundraising. Once the greenway is redeveloped, Waterloo Greenway Conservancy will be responsible for operations and maintenance, which will be covered by programming and concert revenue, philanthropy, and a partnership with the Austin Downtown Alliance business improvement district.

The project partners recommend determining upfront the financial mechanisms—such as TIF, improvement districts, taxes, fees, and/or community partnerships—and building them into the project from the beginning. So far, the selected financial tools are working for the Waterloo Greenway.

 

ULI is grateful for the support of The JPB Foundation.

Cook Park

Context

In its heyday, Vine City was a center for activism and leadership during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. However, the neighborhood declined after decades of disinvestment, poverty, crime, and racist land use policies. By the early 2000s, the neighborhood was one of Atlanta’s most distressed communities. Topography also is a major challenge for Vine City, which lies on low ground within the Proctor Creek watershed and is therefore prone to flooding during heavy rains. In September 2002, flash flooding from Tropical Storm Hanna overwhelmed the neighborhood’s sewer system, inundating dozens of homes, and displacing hundreds of residents. With most houses damaged beyond repair, city leaders decided that both the cost to rebuild and the risk of future flooding were too great. The city of Atlanta purchased 60 properties and relocated residents, but the land was undeveloped for more than a decade.  

In the years following the flood, a coordinated partnership among Vine City residents, the city of Atlanta, and Trust for Public Land created a vision for the site that would address flood risk and provide much-needed green space and community amenities. In 2010, the city of Atlanta developed a park master plan for the Vine City and English Avenue neighborhood. The resulting community engagement process included dozens of meetings, events, and in-depth conversations with residents to identify the neighborhood’s needs and priorities over the course of the multiyear planning process. The final design of the park integrated innovative stormwater retention facilities alongside a playground, splash pad, sport courts, and walking paths.  

The park pays homage to the neighborhood’s important history with statues of notable peacemakers including the late United States Representative John Lewis, D-Atlanta, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who was a resident of Vine City in the 1960s. In 2018, a dedicated effort to engage neighborhood youth in the park’s redevelopment resulted in two custom climbing boulder installations, made possible by a partnership with The North Face outdoor apparel and gear company. Also, the VF Foundation funded two murals designed by local public artists in concert with the neighborhood to honor the rich musical roots and neighborhood leaders that made Vine City what it is today. Trust for Public Land and city officials worked hard to center residents’ voices in the planning process to ensure that the park met community needs and honored its history. 

After more than eleven years in the making, Rodney Cook Sr. Peace Park opened to the public in July 2021 and has quickly become an essential piece of the community. 

“Rodney Cook Park is located at the low point of Vine City, so all water flows to where the park is,” said George Dusenbury, Georgia state director for the Trust for Public Land. “We have worked with the city to repurpose this land into a park that floods so that the surrounding communities do not.” 

 Climate Resilience Strategies 

The centerpiece detention pond and water features can capture and store up to 10 million gallons of stormwater during intense rainstorms. Surrounding the pond are constructed wetlands, native stormwater plantings, and rain gardens that further absorb and filter water to minimize flood risk to Vine City residents and improve water quality.  

The engineering team also created a stormwater strategy that extends beyond the park to the full 150-acre Proctor Creek / North Avenue watershed, representing thousands of westside residents who benefit from a better stormwater management system. Now the park’s green infrastructure captures water from the broader drainage area to reduce peak loads that would normally strain the sewer system.  

In addition to mitigating the negative impacts of stormwater, the park provides relief from the urban heat island effect with green space, native plants, and shady trees. Cook Park’s stormwater infrastructure and recreational amenities combine to create a unique place that contributes to a healthier and more resilient community. 

Value Proposition

  • Added amenity: The dual-purpose park has helped the city of Atlanta achieve key goals for stormwater management and new green space development. Within days of the park’s opening, neighborhood residents were taking full advantage of the new walking paths, splash pad, amphitheater, basketball court, and great lawn. No longer a vacant parcel, the park today hums with activity and offers a scenic destination to be enjoyed by all.  
  • Avoided losses: Although at the time of this writing there have not been any significant flooding events to test the park’s green infrastructure to its full capacity, the neighborhood is well prepared for future heavy rainstorms. Rainstorms have been increasing in their number and severity due to climate change, with trends expected to continue over the coming decades. The last time the city saw significant flooding was in 2009 and resulted in $500 million in property damage with more than 20,000 homes, businesses and other buildings significantly impacted. The city’s sizable investment in Cook Park and the neighborhood’s stormwater infrastructure will easily pay for itself in avoided property damage after only a few intense storms.  
  • Enhanced property value: The park is also contributing to the revival of Vine City, which has for many years experienced higher rates of unemployment and crime compared with other Atlanta neighborhoods. The average price for a single-family home in Vine City rose from around $14,000 in 2011 to $255,000 in 2021. In comparison, the average price of a home in other Atlanta neighborhoods increased from $307,000 to $580,000. Given the sizable public investment in the park, the city and neighborhood groups acknowledge that displacement and gentrification could occur in Vine City. Nonprofits and affordable housing developers are acquiring property as quickly as possible to mitigate displacement and preserve the affordability of the area. Other organizations, like the Westside Future Fund, are helping homeowners pay their property tax increases through mortgage assistance programs so that longtime residents can stay in the neighborhood. 

Lessons Learned

  • An innovative partnership between the city of Atlanta and Trust for Public Land allowed the project to meet multiple community needs. Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management provided funding for Cook Park’s network of green infrastructure designed to reduce flooding in the historic neighborhood. Trust for Public Land provided philanthropic support that funded the project’s community engagement, design, and construction of multiuse sports courts, a splash pad, a playground, walking trails, and a collection of other park amenities. The combined effort resulted in a destination that delivers a host of environmental and community benefits to the neighborhood. 
  • Stormwater management inspired local community engagement and conservation. During the planning phase, the number-one desire from the community was to have a park that reduced the risk of future flooding. The design team developed educational signage about the park’s stormwater management functions, helping the community better understand the purpose of each of the design elements and the role they play in mitigating flood risk.  
  • The most important aspect of Cook Park’s realization was community involvement throughout all stages of planning, design, and construction. The community engagement process began with participatory design at the outset of the project when residents shared and shaped what they wanted to see in the new community open space. Feedback provided by neighborhood residents in surveys and at dozens of public meetings informed the design team about the park amenities most desired by residents. Even after construction started, unexpected opportunities like climbing boulders and murals allowed for community stakeholders to further refine unique elements of the park. In addition, the project contractor employed neighborhood residents trained in basic construction skills to build Cook Park, further creating a sense of pride and ownership by the community long after construction was complete. Intentional community engagement throughout planning and construction generated anticipation toward the park’s eventual ribbon cutting and created a groundswell of support, ownership, and stewardship of the dynamic public green space. By building relationships early on, community members became invested in the park’s success and excited to protect the park for future generations. 

ULI is grateful for the support of The JPB Foundation.

Cool Surfaces: Roofs and Roads

 

“The lived experience of Los Angeles is that the place is getting hotter,” explains Greg Spotts, assistant director of the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services (StreetsLA). “When we got started, I thought that the main potential of cool surfaces was reduced indoor temperatures, reduced air conditioning use, and reduced carbon emissions.”

An epidemiologist showed us the trends in heat-related illnesses and deaths and how those trends are supposed to go through the roof as cities get hotter. That created a very powerful drive. — Greg Spotts, Assistant Director, Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services

Extreme Heat Resilience Strategies 
The Los Angeles Green Building Code’s cool roof requirement was implemented in 2014 for residential buildings. Managed by the city’s Department of Buildings and Safety, residential buildings must meet minimum values for 30-year aged solar reflectance and thermal emittance, a combination of two numbers measuring both how much light energy a material bounces back, or solar reflectance, and how well a material rejects heat, or thermal emittance.

The original SRI standard at the county level about doubled the reflectance of a traditional asphalt shingle and set different rates for flat and steep roofs. In 2018, the city of Los Angeles independently increased the SRI requirements to 0.25 for steep slope and 0.8 for flat roofs.

In addition, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), a city-owned utility, offers cool roof rebates between $0.20 and $0.30 per square foot to eligible single- and multifamily residential customers.

Partnering with a California-based manufacturer of a gray, highly reflective coating, StreetsLA began a three-part test to confirm that the reflective topcoat would adhere to road safety standards. Following rigorous testing in the StreetsLA Materials Testing Lab and a pilot on a parking lot, StreetsLA secured $150,000 in funding in early 2017 to coat one residential city block in each of the 15 city districts.

Outcome
The cool roof requirements have resulted in a minimum of 20,000 new cool roofs in Los Angeles. “The feedback we’re getting is universally positive,” says Jonathan Parfrey, executive director of Climate Resolve, a nonprofit organization that helped define the new benchmarks. “No one is saying they have to pay more for a cool roof because the properties are getting an immediate payback and paying less on utility bills.” Los Angeles’s building code has also changed the materials market regionally; manufacturers have virtually stopped supplying roofing materials that do not meet the city’s SRI standards.

The properties are getting an immediate payback and paying
less on utility bills. –Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director, Climate Resolve

At the street level, the cool paving has decreased surface temperatures by about 10°F although the tests have revealed other challenges. Half the city block pilot projects, for example, were recoated by the topcoat manufacturer with a slightly altered reflective formula in 2018 to address observed sealant flaking and decreased reflectance in some of the test sites. The StreetsLA Materials Testing Lab continues to visit each site once a month to take temperature measurements.

StreetsLA has enjoyed significant press and social media attention around the world. The first installation of cool paint on a city block coincided with the hottest weekend of that year to date; StreetsLA did five impromptu interviews with local TV stations that day. Since then, the pavement testing has been featured in the national and international press as well as in a short ATTN video that drew over 20 million views on Facebook (compared to StreetsLA’s typical 5,000 to 10,000 views).

The next two phases of testing began in early summer 2019. In May, StreetsLA began testing cool streets at neighborhood level, coating about nine adjacent city blocks in three different residential areas.

StreetsLA is also planning to evaluate reflective paving as one solution in a community-driven one-mile cooling initiative around a bus rapid transit station in California’s San Fernando Valley. The initiative is funded by a $354,000 Adaptation Planning Grant from the California Department of Transportation and a minimum in-kind $46,000 match from the city. The transit station serves a population that may be at risk from extreme heat; the neighborhood is a local “hot spot,” and residents are predominantly cost-burdened renters, highly dependent on public transit and active transportation, Hispanic, and have a median income of about 60 percent of California’s median household income. The results of this “last mile” cooling project will inform Los Angeles’s planned future work to update the climate adaptation and land use components of 35 community plans.

Urban Canopy Policy

According to Larry Falkin, the director of Cincinnati’s Office of Environment and Sustainability, tree canopy is “the most straightforward strategy” for reducing the urban heat island effect.” Cincinnati’s 2018 Green Cincinnati Plan states that urban canopy cover “will help minimize the effects of urban heat islands,” “reduce the cost of cooling for residents,” and “reduce the concentrations of air pollutants,” as well as help mitigate flood, stormwater, and landslide risks.

In addition to mitigating climate and environmental hazards, Cincinnati prioritizes maintaining a healthy urban tree canopy as a public safety and social equity strategy. “It’s very important to make sure that the stormwater, heat island effect mitigation, simple habitat and air quality benefits of trees are shared equally among the population,” says Crystal Courtney, Cincinnati’s urban forestry supervisor in the Parks Department.

Extreme Heat Resilience Strategies 
Cincinnati uses an assessment that allows it to collect an annual levy for the control, planting, care, and maintenance of shade trees. This regulation is unique to Ohio and is guided at the state level by Revised Code 727. The Urban Forestry Assessment began with the inception of the Urban Forestry Division in 1981, requiring property owners to pay $0.05 per linear foot of frontage along a public right-of-way. The assessment follows the same process today and applies equally to every sector, including private, public, nonprofit, and government-owned land.

In 2018, the City Council voted to increase the requirement to $0.21 per foot. In total, the assessment amount has gradually increased 32 percent over almost 40 years. The increase covers the inflation costs of maintenance, additional tree plantings to address canopy loss caused by the tree-killing Emerald Ash Borer beetle, and achieving Cincinnati’s increased urban canopy cover goals. In its 2018 sustainability plan, Cincinnati established a goal to increase the citywide tree canopy coverage to at least 40 percent and to ensure that canopy cover is at least 30 percent in all residential neighborhoods.

The assessment process is governed by three city ordinances, which are renewed annually. The Board of Park Commissioners and the City Council approve the annual assessment level.

Cincinnati has a big advantage because in our Parks Department, we have an Urban Forestry Division and we have a dedicated funding stream for our urban forest. –Larry Falkin, Director, Cincinnati’s Office of Environment and Sustainability

Owners see the charge as an individual item on their property assessment. “The typical situation is a 50-foot property frontage times 21 cents plus a county admin fee,” says Urban Forestry Specialist Robin Hunt. “There are some cases where property owners have up to three sides with the right-of-way; however, the average homeowner pays $15 each year.” Property owners are notified if they owe $250 or more, but there is no maximum payment amount.

Outcome
The outcome of the well-funded program is a higher than national average urban canopy cover; with 38 percent tree cover as of 2010, Cincinnati is close to meeting its goal of 40 percent citywide tree cover.

The assessment levy funds the Urban Forestry section of Cincinnati’s Parks Department (including all staff) and makes possible regular tree maintenance and analysis of progress. The funds give “the opportunity to focus on what we want our urban forests to look like,” elaborates Courtney. “It allows us to work as experts in urban forestry and manage contracts as they relate to tree maintenance and the continuation of the next generation of forest.”

The Urban Forestry Division inspects and maintains about 12,000 trees each year. Even with preventive maintenance, Urban Forestry uses funds from the property assessment to respond to about 800 emergency calls each year following extreme rainfall or other storm events to, for example, clear tree-blocked roadways.  “Preparedness for emergency tree maintenance is something that needs to be continually done for public safety,” says Hunt.

The assessment also enables the completion of an Urban Tree Canopy Assessment every 10 years that combines GIS canopy distribution data with census data. Cincinnati uses the results to guide management decisions and to allocate new trees in the neighborhoods with lower canopy cover. Beginning in 2020, the Urban Forestry Program will partner with the Ohio Division of Natural Resources to include fine particulate matter (a known cause of increased asthma rates) and urban heat island measurements in its mapping and decision-making.

Cool Neighborhoods

Although in a temperate climate zone, New York City’s average temperature is expected to increase by almost 6°F by 2050, and there are already 450 heat-related emergency department visits, 150 heat-related hospital admissions, and 13 heatstroke deaths in the city on average each year. On top of this background temperature increase from climate change, the urban heat island effect makes New York City about 3°F warmer than its less urban surroundings.

Rising temperatures continue to threaten the health of all New Yorkers, but particularly older adults, those without access to air conditioning, and those with a variety of health conditions. — Bill De Blasio, Mayor, New York City Cool Neighborhoods NYC

The additional degrees are a significant concern for the 10 percent of New Yorkers without home air conditioning and for residents in public housing where only half of households self-report having AC. However, this number may be artificially low because, per HUD regulations, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) charges a monthly fee for each voluntarily reported AC unit. NYCHA’s development-specific AC counts have historically found an average of 1.5 AC units per apartment. Because 95 percent of NYCHA households do not pay their own electric bills, cost of electricity is likely not a determining factor in AC adoption.

Despite the complexities of quantifying AC use in public housing, the strategies established by Cool Neighborhoods NYC target the city’s communities that are most vulnerable to heat. The NYC Mayor’s Office of Resiliency uses the results of an intensive heat vulnerability mapping collaboration between the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Columbia University to direct cool design interventions and tailor heat resilience social programs.

Extreme Heat Resilience Strategies 
Cool Neighborhoods NYC establishes temperature mitigation and adaptation strategies in three areas: the built environment; public education and outreach; and data collection and monitoring. Beyond the 2007 Million TreesNYC initiative, NYC is dedicating over $100 million through Cool Neighborhoods NYC for targeted tree planting along streets, in parks, and in forests through 2021. Many of the trees will be planted in the South Bronx, Northern Manhattan, and Central Brooklyn neighborhoods, which have comparatively little vegetation coverage and the highest levels of heat vulnerability.

NYC is also targeting its cool roof programs to heat-vulnerable neighborhoods, leveraging its green infrastructure programs, improving cooling center signage, enacting policy to require green roofs in buildings, and monitoring summer temperatures in several communities with high heat vulnerability to understand variability at the neighborhood level.

We are bringing health and climate data into urban planning and policymaking to achieve environmental equity goals. –Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Deputy Director, Mayor’s Office of Resiliency

In an effort to reach homebound residents, those with preexisting medical conditions, and seniors who are typically at higher risk during extreme heat events, NYC is partnering with home care agencies and community health organizations to train attendants on how to recognize and treat heat stress. NYC has also formed partnerships with three community organizations, funding them to implement a pilot Be a Buddy initiative in which participants are trained to assist at-risk adults, to identify potentially isolated New Yorkers, and to proactively communicate heat-related health messages and warnings.

Outcome
As of April 2019, NYC has installed more than 10 million square feet of reflective, cool roofs. The city estimates that cool roofs can lower building AC costs by 10 to 30 percent and reduce indoor air temperatures by up to 30 percent during the summer. In addition, NYC hires 70 local job seekers per year to install the reflective rooftop coatings and provides the employees with training and the opportunity to obtain industry-relevant certifications. The new Be a Buddy pilot to assist at-risk adults also launched in 2018 and street tree plantings in many heat-vulnerable NYC neighborhoods are ongoing.

Interagency coordination is key to the establishment and implementation of Cool Neighborhoods NYC. “What’s innovative about our work,” says Mayor’s Office of Resiliency deputy director Kizzy Charles-Guzman, “is that we took data that already existed in various agencies and brought it together in a way that hadn’t been done before in our sustainability planning.

Charles-Guzman’s recommendation to other cities that want to address temperature risks: mayoral offices must gather and analyze agency data and commit to developing and implementing an integrative, community-specific approach.

 

Stormwater Retention Credit Trading Program

 

Almost 31,000 square feet of this 39,413-square-foot lot is composed of impervious surfaces, and the foundational work required for a green roof or bioswale would increase the initial costs of green infrastructure to over $100,000. The Shaed Elementary School bought credits from the Westchester, a co-op apartment complex located in northwest Washington. A person involved in the trade says the initial cost of installing rain gardens on the property, including engineering plans, was close to $75,000. Thus far, the Westchester has generated more than $70,000 in income by selling SRCs. “Revenue from this trade will help cover the costs of designing, installing, and maintaining the rain gardens that generated the SRCs,” the seller of the credits says. “Now we’re looking at other ways to install practices on our property to generate additional SRCs.” In addition, the Westchester is entitled to receive a discount for the stormwater portion of its monthly water bill, which is quite a significant savings for a property of 11 acres.

Ecologically, the trade fits nicely into the city’s plan to encourage more green infrastructure where it is most needed. The Westchester is located in an area served by a municipal separate storm sewer system, or MS4, where stormwater runs directly into the city’s waterways without any filtration or treatment. Green infrastructure is especially important for water quality in these areas. The Shaed Elementary School, by contrast, is served by a combined sewer system that brings both sewage and rainwater to the city’s Blue Plains Advanced Water Treatment Plant. The SRC trade between the Shaed Elementary School and the Westchester, therefore, is a successful example of the main purpose of the SRC program: to shift investment in green infrastructure to MS4 areas of the District.

Green City, Clean Waters

 

Green City, Clean Waters represents a holistic approach to incorporating green infrastructure across the city at a cost affordable to taxpayers. Mami Hara, former deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Water Department, who initially pioneered the project with design firm WRT, explains that the plan did not emerge “with a wide-eyed perspective that we should use this stuff to make things pretty. It’s really from a perspective of trying to make the very best use of all of our investments. In certain places, green infrastructure is the best value, and I think that holds true for developers as well.”

In the 1990s, the evaporation of the federal Construction Grants Program and the threat of lawsuits over contaminated stormwater runoff spurred the Philadelphia Water Department to completely overhaul the city’s aging network of underground pipes, pumps, and treatment facilities. In 2012, Philadelphia reached a consent agreement with the U.S. EPA to finalize a series of decentralized investments over a period of 25 years. These investments and the related policies are outlined in Green City, Clean Waters.

Green City, Clean Waters is estimated to cost $1.6 billion over the lifetime of the project. An independent economic analysis of this plan estimates that, without the Green City, Clean Waters program, the city of Philadelphia would have needed $8 billion to $10 billion and several decades to upgrade and expand its conventional combined sewer overflow system.

Today, the Philadelphia Water Department displays the progress of its stormwater management strategies, spanning 45 percent of city land, on an online interactive map, which includes 409 privately constructed and 474 publicly constructed features to date.

Currently, the following projects are under design or construction:
• 742 stormwater tree trenches;
• 195 stormwater planters;
• 49 stormwater bump outs;
• 179 rain gardens;
• 6 stormwater basins;
• 268 infiltration/storage trenches;
• 63 porous paving projects;
• 48 bioswales;
• 2 stormwater wetlands;
• 33 downspout planters; and
• 25 other projects.

Environmental Benefits

The Philadelphia Water Department is tracking environmental outcomes of its stormwater management services, particularly as they relate to air quality, soil erosion, the cost avoidance of sick days, and health care costs associated with asthma and heart attacks.vi
A 2011 report estimated Philadelphia waterways will have up to 85 percent fewer pollutants and 1.5 billion pounds of avoided or sequestered greenhouse gases through the plants and trees distributed throughout the city. The program has also catalyzed up to $8.5 million in investments over the next 40 years to restore habitats and support biodiversity in targeted locations, including the preservation of 45 acres of existing wetlands, the creation of 148 acres of new wetlands, and the restoration of 7.7 miles of streams in the Cobbs Creek watershed and 3.4 miles of streams in the Tookany/Tacony Frankford watershed.

Economic Benefits

Conservatively, Philadelphia’s sustainable stormwater practices are estimated to have a nearly $60 million economic impact, sustaining 430 local jobs and generating $1 million in local tax revenue. Local firms in the fields of architecture, engineering, and landscaping have been able to export their innovative stormwater management technologies and services to other cities, such as Washington, D.C., and New York City, which seek to emulate Philadelphia’s model policies. From 2013 to 2014, public and private firms related to stormwater management grew 14 percent, with revenues totaling more than $146 million.

Social Equity Benefits

Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters program has concentrated the majority of public and private stormwater management amenities and services in low-income communities to improve environmental and physical health. The stormwater management programs completed in the first five years of the program alone are estimated to have resulted in a total of $9.9 million invested in local schools and $8.1 million invested in city services through property tax revenue.

 

Sources:

Philadelphia Water Department, Green City, Clean Waters: The City of Philadelphia’s Program for Combined Sewer Overflow Control, Program Summary, Amended (Philadelphia, 2011), www.phillywatersheds.org/doc/GCCW_ AmendedJune2011_LOWRES-web.pdf.
Sarah Madden, “Choosing Green over Gray: Philadelphia’s Innovative Stormwater Infrastructure Plan” (master’s thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010), 24, http://web.mit.edu/cron/Backup/project/urban-sustainability/Stormwater_Sarah%20Madden/sarahmadden_thesis_MIT.pdf.
Philadelphia Water, Green City, Clean Waters.
Econsult Solutions, The Economic Impact of Green City, Clean Waters: The First Five Years (Philadelphia: Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, 2016), www.sbnphiladelphia.org/images/uploads/Green%20City,%20Clean%20 Waters-The%20First%20Five%20Years(1).pdf.
Philadelphia Water, Green Stormwater Infrastructure Project Map, www.phillywatersheds.org/BigGreenMap.