Revitalizing Downtown While Perserving Historic Buildings

3/18/2013 (Updated 10:43:36 PM)

How do you keep updating and revitalizing downtown Binghamton while preserving it's historic buildings?

The City of Binghamton's Director of Planning Tarik Abdelazim says that developers face a maze of local and state laws to get the project running -- and then need approval from several different boards.  He's trying to streamline that process to save developers time.

"For developers, time means money," Abdelazim said.  "So how do we navigate within that maze and do what we can to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles, red tape, and make this a very efficient, predictable, and transparent review process.  I think we put together a process to really advance those goals."

Abdelazim's goal is to promote walk-a-bility -- bike riding -- and green infrastructure -- while maintaining the historical buildings downtown.

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