Through the Equitable Resilience Program with EPA, SMM is working with 15 communities across the south and southwest. Southwest Escambia County, Florida encompasses the unincorporated communities of Warrington and West Pensacola. Despite their vibrant heritage, these areas have grappled with decades of industrial pollution and economic disinvestment, creating a pressing need for environmental and socioeconomic revitalization.

At the heart of this area lies Jackson Lakes, a 70-acre property once operated as a sand mining operation. Once the sandpits became too deep, they filled with groundwater and became permanent lakes. The state recently invested more than $3 million to clean up a landfill that bordered the lakes and recent testing shows the water and soil around the lakes is not contaminated.

This remediated property is an urban oasis that boasts a freshwater creek, surrounding forest and plentiful wildlife, offering immense potential for ecological restoration and community benefit. However, its inaccessibility and gradual descent into blight underscore the urgent need for thoughtful redevelopment.

To address these challenges the community-based organization, Bluffline, in partnership with Escambia County, has proposed a transformative project: the creation of a vibrant public park at Jackson Lakes, connected to surrounding neighborhoods, schools, military installations, health clinics and other community assets by a 3.5-mile greenway. This initiative aims to convert an underutilized space into a community asset, while simultaneously addressing long-standing environmental and social issues.

The project serves a two-mile "bikeshed" around the planned park and greenway, encompassing nearly 53,000 residents. Only 38.2 percent of area residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Combined with poverty and limited transportation options, this contributes to the area's high rates of heart disease, which rank in the 84th percentile, and low life expectancy, which ranks in the 95th percentile, highlighting the critical need for equitable intervention and investment.