8 Distillation Guidebook Co-Lab • 9.18–9.19 2025 Reclamation In some communities, however, this trajectory has shifted. The long arc from industrial use to decline has been met with new waves of investment, raising questions about how to balance economic activity with ecological and public goals. As one participant asked, how can cities “preserve or conserve ecological function of landscapes while still attracting and retaining capital / business?” In Newark, New Jersey, the Palsaic River is still “mostly used for trade” and continues to play an economic role. This comes with tradeoffs for residents, who noted the absence of “riverfront parks” and that the “water is not clear enough for recreation.” Despite these tensions, participants more often emphasized reclaiming waterfronts for recreation and public access than preserving industrial or maritime uses. In St. Paul, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River, waterfront redevelopment has focused on both “recreational and economic generation.” In Easton, Pennsylvania, along the Bushkill Creek, efforts center on “ecological restoration and a planned greenway project.” Providence offers another example of this transition, where participants described a “revitalized waterfront” featuring “water recreation and parks.” They also noted that this transformation followed “a long time to clean up the canal,” underscoring that reclaiming industrial waterfronts requires Prior Use Decline
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