But for urban planners and those interested in the environment, it's not the pillars and porches and Victorian touches that make Monroe's Mason Run a popular destination. Instead, it is the very ground below that makes the new neighborhood something worth seeing.

"It gets a lot of attention from urban planning colleges and others," explained Benjamin Tallerico, Monroe's current director of development. "I have to hand it to my predecessor [former city development chief Jim Tischler]. Mason Run is truly an innovative and creative concept."

Mason Run is also being noticed higher up the development food chain. The project was one of several in the Midwest honored this winter in Denver for outstanding brownfield redeveticed higher up the development food chain.

The project was one of several in the Midwest honored this winter in Denver for outstanding brownfield redevelopment work by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Brownfields are abandoned or contaminated industrial sites that are cleaned up or environmentally secured in ways that allow the land to be reused.

Urban planners view brownfields as key to efforts to redevelop urbanized areas across the country.

Built on the site of the former Consolidated Paper Plant, Mason Run will ultimately be a 45-acre neighborhood of approximately 700 to 800 single family homes.

The neighborhood is made up of a handful of different basic housing styles that are constructed on narrow lots close to the street in a style reminiscent of the post-war housing boom of the 1950s.

Each home can be customized to a certain degree to set it apart from its neighbors, and prices - ranging from about $130,000 to about $200,000, depending on size and amenities - have attracted attention from those seeking an alternative to living in Detroit or Toledo.

"Today I haven't had a breather," said a Mason Run sales agent who identified herself only as Mary.

"The interest is definitely strong, with the price point and the community."

She said any concerns that potential residents may express about the site's former environmentally contaminated condition dissipate pretty quickly when she explains the exhaustive cleanup effort that preceded construction.

"They know that the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] comes in and cleans it up, and we're definitely not going to build homes on land that isn't cleaned up," Mary said.

Mr. Tallerico said Mason Run and Monroe's 16 other brownfield restoration projects represent demonstrable progress in efforts to bring growth and vitality to the city.