MEDIA RELEASE July 5, 2011 MEDIA CONTACT: Candace Brasseur USCB Public Information Director 843-208-8030 brasse@uscb.edu
From Red Fields to Green Fields on Hilton Head Island Washington, DC- Dr. John Salazar, USCB Hospitality Management Professor, and Jayme Lopko, Senior Planner for the Town of Hilton Head, recently returned from presenting research at the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center Auditorium as part of Red Fields to Green Fields, a National Research Program, sponsored by The Speedwell Foundation, and led by the Georgia Tech Research Institute in partnership with the City Parks Alliance. The project’s current mission is, “evaluating the potential impacts of converting financially and/or physically distressed commercial real estate to green space and parks, including the benefit of creating jobs to rebuild our cities’ infrastructure systems.” This project was born as a result of the numerous low interest loans doled out to commercial developers from 2001-2007. And unfortunately, when the economy took a downturn, trillions of dollars were backstopped. As many believe the Federal Government was responsible for this situation, it was agreed upon that perhaps they should also establish solutions for banks to free up money which would help cities, who were especially burned by the real estate crisis, obtain low interest loans to partially develop dilapidated properties into green space. With the support of 14 universities and numerous non-profit, municipal, state, and federal agencies, studies are being conducted in 11 U.S. cities including Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Wilmington, and Hilton Head Island. Attendees at this national meeting were surprised to learn that even small coastal towns, like Hilton Head Island, are not immune to the ebb and flow of urban areas impacted by the economy.