Sacramento is in the process of cleaning up a rail yard in thier downtown. They have gone through a community visioning process for the site and are now working with Union Pacific and the developer to clean it up.

Sacramento 2025
Walk into the new downtown of the future (as we see it), where cars and commuting will give way to pedestrians and green space. Officially, it’s called the Richards Boulevard Redevelopment Area, and it includes the heavily contaminated Union Pacific Railyards along with another 1,000 acres of industrial and commercial buildings. Bound by the American River to the north, Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 80 to the east, the north end (as we will call it for brevity’s sake) covers a swath of land as large as downtown.

Now, Sacramento finally seems poised to reclaim and reconnect to its north end. One developer is close to buying the old rail yards and has envisioned a whole new neighborhood where none exists now. On the same property, the city struggles with the question of whether to build a lavish “sports and entertainment district” anchored by a new arena.
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Welcome to the Railyards Visioning Website. The City of Sacramento is very excited to gather community input for the downtown Union Pacific Railyards. The City of Sacramento and the Millennia Associates are working cooperatively to plan for these 240 acres. It is the intent of Millennia to submit a development application and a master plan for the site. In anticipation of this application, the City is inviting input from stakeholders in the Central City as well as the larger Sacramento community. The venue for input is the Railyards Visioning Exercise. The Exercise is designed to be a simple and user friendly way for one to describe what the Railyards should look and feel like from various points of view.
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IN DEPTH: THE DOWNTOWN RAILYARD
When the property sale closes, Millennia and UP would purchase insurance to cover the costs of cleaning up the site, including any future toxics discoveries, Totah said. He would not say how much Millennia expects to spend for cleanup or insurance, or how it expects to divide the cost with UP. Totah said an insurance carrier will be selected in a couple of months.
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Millennia Sacramento Files Development Application for Union Pacific Railyards Site
SACRAMENTO, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Millennia Sacramento, III, LLC, an entity controlled by Thomas Enterprises, Inc., today announced that it has filed a Development Application requesting approval of a multi-billion dollar project that will transform the 240-acre downtown Sacramento Railyards -- one of the largest urban infill opportunities in the nation. The filing of the application signifies a major breakthrough in negotiations between Millennia Sacramento and Union Pacific to purchase this historic site that was the birthplace of the transcontinental railroad.
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U.P. names developer for downtown railyard
Union Pacific Railroad has selected Venice, Ca.-based Millennia Associates to develop the first phase of Union Pacific's railyard in downtown Sacramento.
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Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City was losing commerce and housing to the suburbs. That's when Jerde came up with the idea to convert Union Pacific's historic depot and abandoned rail yard into a 24-hour district in the heart of the city. Designed to bring activity back to the downtown core, The Gateway is an urban street lined with two levels of retail, entertainment and cultural facilities with upper-level housing and office space. The street connects to existing circulation patterns, anticipating infill development that will result in a vibrant, two-mile loop. The success of The Gateway's approach is clear. The project attracted a different caliber tenant, many of whom were new to the city or state. In their first month, many of the retailers broke sales records. Today they are still exceeding projections.
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Evanston, Wyoming
Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
EPA has selected the City of Evanston for a Brownfields Pilot. The City was originally a railroad hub, and in 1912–1913 the Union Pacific Railroad built a large yard with a 63,000- square-foot roundhouse and 11 adjacent buildings. Since 1972, Union Pacific has donated more than 290 acres to the City, including a 265-acre parcel known as Union Center and the Evanston Rail Facility, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although some environmental investigation has been initiated at the Union Center property, more testing is needed to determine the extent of contamination and potential reuse options; otherwise, the fear of widespread contamination will continue to hinder redevelopment issues. Like many small towns, however, the City (population 12,458) does not have the resources, expertise, and experience to address its brownfields challenges.
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