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The rise — and fall — of industrialization transformed many communities along the Delaware River, changing the palette of the waterfront from green to gray.
The Riverfront North Partnership, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 to complete and sustain riverfront trails and parks in Philadelphia, is determined to repaint the scene again. With support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Delaware River Conservation Fund, the city, and other financial partners, Riverfront North is combining funds and forces to reclaim nature — 11 miles of it.
FROM GRAY TO GREEN
In the late 1800s, once-quiet neighborhoods along the Delaware were surrounded by factories, garbage dumps and prisons, muting the sounds of nature. Pollution seeped into the soils and drained into east Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront, like water spilled on a fresh watercolor painting, creating a most unnatural rainbow.
When the economy shifted, bustling pesticide factories became empty shells of concrete and unsightly reminders of an industrial past.
One of the many places hit by the national opioid crisis, the Bridesburg neighborhood in Philadelphia has seen a growing sentiment among residents that the safest place is indoors. “They feel like they have to hunker down due to poverty and crime, but they do want a sense of community,” said Stephanie Phillips, executive director of Riverfront North.
For communities facing environmental injustice, it can be hard to find dedicated resources to improve air quality, clean the drinking water and provide equitable access to nature. The City of Philadelphia was eager to bring these resources to communities in need and partnered with Riverfront North to realize that vision.
Riverfront North received $160,000 from the Service’s Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund to restore the Robert A. Borski, Jr. Park and an additional $253,000 for workforce development. Together with the city and other investors, Riverfront North matched the funds with $4.55 million to reclaim not only the health of the environment but hope in the future.
The project team sought to meet the community where they were, geographically and idealistically. They walked the neighborhoods and provided 1,300 fliers to households, letting residents know about the effort to restore the waterfront. To community members, “the waterfront” was a specific location ... a place you could drive to and park.
“One woman I spoke to didn’t realize the river went up as far as her own neighborhood,” Phillips said. “Despite being within walking distance, he was only aware of the larger socially spurring waterfront.”
Bridging the gap between the neighborhoods and their riverfront meant opening new doors, re-introducing people to nature, and inviting them to make it theirs. It also took educating them about the potential value of green infrastructure — the river, trees and trails — that would replace the “gray” factories, dumps and prisons.
For many community members, the chemical plants provided livelihoods, despite their environmental impacts. Philips recalled residents saying, “I’m from Bridesburg, and I glow in the dark.”
Recognizing the loss of economic opportunity in the neighborhood, the project partners sought a way to balance the scales. More nature didn’t have to mean fewer jobs. What if the restored park could help address the generational impacts of environmental injustice by providing a stepping-stone to employment in land stewardship?
Working with PowerCorps PHL, Riverfront North provided unemployed or underemployed community members ages 18-30 with 45-day, living-wage internships focused on environmental stewardship and urban forestry as part of the project. Through their work on plantings, pruning and care, interns developed green-job skills, and left a positive mark on their riverfront.
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS
Today, seven restored parks line an 11-mile stretch of the Delaware, with only two breaks in continuity, for now. An eighth is underway. As the only public access to the river in Philadelphia, the waterfront has also been outfitted with three public boat launches. Many said it couldn’t be done. But before their eyes, the community saw a former landfill turned into a new green space with more than 1,700 trees.
Like complementary colors, each space is different but contributes to the big picture. Riverfront North and their partners offer four volunteer-days a month and 200 free public programs annually, providing a gateway to outdoor adventure almost every day. Conservation and stewardship are at the heart of all their programming. Free fishing equipment and lessons, outdoor archery, nature identification, bird walks, and more invite people to enjoy wildlife-driven recreation.
"Our mission is in service to the American people and not solely to fish and wildlife species,” said Mike Slattery, regional landscape conservation coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“By working where more people live, and by providing access to healthy outdoor spaces for communities who have not historically had it, we are helping to make people and communities healthier and more resilient by connecting them to nature."
CREATING POSITIVE SPACE
Riverfront North’s efforts address urgent needs for nature in the community today, but they are also forward looking.
At the mouth of the river, in Delaware Bay, the Philadelphia waterfront experiences six-foot tides, which can damage infrastructure during increasingly frequent intense storms. Rather than reinforce the waterfront with concrete, Riverfront North chose to temper the impacts of the waves using a nature-based solution called a living shoreline.
They removed the concrete and debris that lined the shore, added layers of rich organic soil, reintroduced native plants, and removed invasive ones.
"Nature-based solutions, like protecting forests or restoring coastal marshes, are fundamental to our ability to adapt to changing climate conditions,” Slattery said. “And the same goes for fish and wildlife species!”
The roots of red dogwood and willow now stabilize the shore, and beavers have returned to the site. The community now has a template for restoration that focuses on sustainable and equitable benefits for future generations.
"Healthy ecological systems are important to sustain healthy fish and wildlife populations,” Slattery said. “Just like people need clean, abundant water for drinking, fish and wildlife need clean, abundant water for every part of their life histories."
PALPABLE AND VIBRANT
Changing mindsets and restoring hope does not happen overnight. A painting begins with one brush stroke and evolves through the addition of color and texture, light and shadow. With time, the picture emerges — palpable and vibrant.
For far too long, communities across our country have faced environmental injustices, barriers and burdens, bearing the brunt of toxic pollution, enduring underinvestment in infrastructure and critical services and suffering disproportionate impacts from climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.
Learn more about climate change .
But partners like Riverfront North are ushering in a new era by meeting communities where they are and committing to their long-term needs.
“It takes so long, and it really is many voices and many hands building a legacy,” Phillips said.
“The things we are putting into place here with our work is just a chain that is going to continue, and the things the community is doing will be there for their kids.”
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