Steven Azar, 2012 Brownfield Person of the Year, and Senior Project/Program Manager and Director of the city of Somerville, Mass. entire brownfield redevelopment program, looks at his time spent in the private sector as a teachable moment.

The experience taught him swift decision-making. He’s learned to collaborate with consultants, environmentalists, and other project stakeholders. And importantly, his engineering background has taught him to create linear implementation plans, which saves the city both time and taxpayer dollars.

In an excerpt from a feature Cover story to appear in Brownfield Renewal later this month, Azar talks about social justice and transportation-oriented strategies that have been executed, or are still a work in progress, in Somerville, Mass. relating to these two big-ticket initiatives:

Q: Can you provide an example where your team has demonstrated social justice advocacy?:

A: One example would be the Maxwell Green site, a former industrial property. It was left vacant for several decades and served as a physical blockade disconnecting several neighborhoods. Since its heyday, it declined to become an area known for drug-use, loitering and other less-desirable activity. Residents were interested in having the site raised completely especially because neighborhood children were breaking into the site and climbing on a roof that was structurally unsound.

The financing climate for developing this site was limited and the developer was at a standstill. The City, noting the valid community concerns, wanted to assist. The City partnered with the Developer to see if we could provide assistance to keep the project moving. At first we thought to contribute funding for the environmental remediation that was necessary within the structure and the soils, but after a thorough evaluation, we determined that it would be more cost effective to raze the building rather than to remove the contaminants individually. The City utilized its EPA Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) to do this work.

Once the building was razed and the rest of the site was cleaned, the site attracted other funding from the Commonwealth in the form of a TOD grant, which provided funding for the construction of ramps that reconnected the community. Combined, these funds changed the cap rate enough on the project to be eligible for financing. Now, Maxwell Green is a thriving community with 199 residential units and a large urban park that is publically accessible located on a Community Pathway.

Q: The accent has been on transportation tied to reuse and redevelopment. A lot of what Somerville strives to accomplish is to create redevelopments “based around transit.” What fostered this mindset?

A: Somerville’s history is rooted in light-rail transit systems that were removed as the car began to take center stage. Today, as costs are rising on fuel and people are making their way out of the suburbs and back into urban cities, Somerville  and the Commonwealth have partnered to meet the growing demands on our transit systems by extending one of the MBTA’s largest lines – the Green Line –through the heart of Somerville between now and 2020.

Decades in the making, we’ve recently broken ground on the first phase of the project. When all is said and done, an unprecedented 85% of the city will be accessible by train within a half mile. We decided to capitalize on this investment by undergoing area planning initiatives to fully maximize the economic benefits of the reintroduction of light-rail. As a whole, we’re transitioning away from automobiles populating our streets. Our goal is to be a truly multi-modal city with exceptional bus, train, bicycle and pedestrian access. This brings Somerville back to its transit-oriented roots and contributes to the culture of people buying and shopping locally.

Time and again we heard from our partner in Assembly Square that the Assembly Row project in its current smart growth density would not be possible if the State was not committed to constructing the new MBTA Orange Line heavy-rail station. Connectivity is everything in urban fabrics.

Further, the Mayor called on staffers to make Somerville the most walkable community in the U.S.—and we’re close. We’re already ranked the 10th most walkable city in the nation. To support this effort, we’re building bike lanes and designing new streetscapes. We’ve partnered with Boston and Cambridge to bring Hubway to our city, which allows individuals to simply swipe a credit card and borrow a bicycle.