The Atlanta BeltLine, a 22-mile loop of abandoned land repurposed into a cycling and walking trail linking 45 neighbourhoods in the city, is a project that came to fruition through placing the community at the core of its development.
People are being uprooted, lands repurposed.
"I think it's one more indication of how Costa Mesa is kind of pushing the envelope and leading the edge on innovation in land use, particularly... repurposing land uses that are old and quickly becoming obsolete," said commission Chairman Byron de Arakal.
Like the post-credit-crunch boom in small business entrepreneurs detailed by New Yorker writer George Packer in his 2013 book The Unwinding; folk returning to the land and repurposing it for 21st-century needs, like biodiesel.
The announcement today comes amid increasing land-use conflicts, as agricultural land is repurposed by the state's fast-expanding renewables industry.
Can this surplus land be repurposed in a way that helps give our suburbs a stronger sense of place, that contributes nonsprawling infill development and, at the same time, better-ordered public green space and ecological services?
It repurposes land in a land-scarce neighborhood to create an urban park connection to and across the waterfront.
Co-authored with Sens. Ted Gaines (R-Redding), Mike McGuire (D-Eureka) and Jim Beall (D-San Jose), the bill would give local cities and counties a voice in repurposing the land.
"It should be the responsibility of the state," Huling told me, "to help the community come up with a plan to support an economic development conversation around reusing the prison and repurposing that land for non-correctional purposes".
"The NSW government's commitment regarding the Wentworth Park site is clear – existing greyhound tracks on crown land will be repurposed as open public space, alternative sporting facilities or for other community uses".
This land could be repurposed as green space, parks, housing or new commercial centers.
