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American communities face serious challenges when military bases close. But affected municipalities and metro regions are not doomed. Taking a long-term, flexible, and incremental approach, Michael Touchton and Amanda J. Ashley make strong recommendations for collaborative models of governance that can improve defense conversion dramatically and ensure benefits, even for low-resource municipalities. Communities can't control their economic situation or geographic location, but, as Salvaging Community shows, communities can control how they govern conversion processes geared toward redevelopment and reinvention. In Salvaging Community, Touchton and Ashley undertake a comprehensive evaluation of how such communities redevelop former bases following the Department of Defense's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. To do so, they developed the first national database on military redevelopment and combine quantitative national analyses with three, in-depth case studies in California. Salvaging Community thus fills the void in knowledge surrounding redevelopment of bases and the disparate outcomes that affect communities after BRAC. The data presented in Salvaging Community points toward effective strategies for collaborative governance that address the present-day needs of municipal officials, economic development agencies, and non-profit organizations working in post-BRAC communities. Defense conversion is not just about jobs or economic rebound, Touchton and Ashley argue. Emphasizing inclusion and sustainability in redevelopment promotes rejuvenated communities and creates places where people want to live. As localities and regions deal with the legacy of the post-Cold War base closings and anticipate new closures in the future, Salvaging Community presents a timely and constructive approach to both economic and community development at the close of the military-industrial era.
While expected environmental cleanup costs for unneeded property arising from the 2005 BRAC round are not yet fully known, Department of Defense (DOD) data indicate that about $950 million will be needed to clean up these bases, adding to the estimated $13.2 billion total cleanup cost for the prior rounds. Although DOD's cleanup program has matured compared to prior BRAC rounds, there are still many unknowns and the cleanup estimate for the 2005 round should be considered preliminary. In fact, environmental cleanup costs are likely to increase as more intensive environmental investigations are undertaken, additional hazardous conditions are discovered, and future reuse plans are finalized. Furthermore, Congress does not have full visibility over the total cost of DOD's BRAC cleanup efforts because none of the four reports DOD prepares on various aspects of environmental cleanup present all types of costs past and future to complete cleanup at each base. Compiling a complete picture of all costs requires extracting information from multiple reports, as GAO has done to estimate the total cleanup cost for the four prior BRAC rounds. More complete and transparent cost information would assist Congress in conducting its oversight responsibilities for this multibillion dollar effort.
Since 1988 the United States federal government has been closing military installations in the United States through the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. Some communities are able to quickly redevelop their former bases into thriving new neighborhoods within their borders while others are unsuccessful. This thesis is a case study of why redevelopment of the former Naval Air Station, Alameda (Alameda Point) has failed for over 10 years. After a historical overview of Alameda Point, I generally describe the base closure process before exploring themes from several case studies of both successful and unsuccessful base redevelopment. The successful base reuse projects had community support, employed creative and adaptive financial strategies, and were seen as public benefits by the communities. Along with lack of leadership, unsuccessful base reuse efforts had elements of divisiveness within the community or among the involved stakeholders. I then used the above themes to analyze the Alameda Point case. There is now arguably little community support for the most current Alameda Point redevelopment plans. The City's policy of fiscal neutrality complicates the employment of creative and adaptive financial strategies. Finally, public benefits are not apparent in the current planning for Alameda Point. Lack of City leadership and competing interests amongst stakeholders has led to divisiveness in Alameda furthering stalled redevelopment. Alameda Point has additional issues making redevelopment stagnate including environmental cleanup uncertainty, property conveyance procedures, land use economics and property restrictions. I concluded this thesis with recommendations for public-private partnerships and for further research to include a case study comparing Hunter's Point, Treasure Island, and Alameda Point. Finally, I offer a learned approach to base reuse that requires City leaders and developers to create a financially feasible reuse plan with community supported public benefits. Once approved, this plan must be expeditiously built out to ensure market survivability and delivery of public benefits for a community that puts a very high value on public land.