Manny Guzman’s family has lived in Superior, Ariz., for seven generations. 

Located high above Phoenix’s urban sprawl, the small mining town markets itself as “Adventure Elevated,” with bouldering, mountain biking, an arboretum, art galleries and wine tastings at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet next to mountains named for Apache Indian warriors. 

“Superior is so unique,” Guzman said. 

The community’s ongoing revitalization comes thanks to the hard work of local residents, who have seen the town through its share of hard times over the past century caused by the boom-and-bust cycles of regional copper mining.

Guzman recently returned to work in the community with the nonprofit Rebuild Superior Inc. after 26 years in Tucson.

“I always kept a pulse on what’s going on at home, always stayed involved,” he said. “It was always my desire to come home.”

The next step to positioning the town for the future is a project funded with $250,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Program. The money will support a “clean and lien” program that will clean up abandoned properties to open up new opportunities for tourism, job creation and growth. The grant was made possible through the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress and signed by the president in 2021.

“It might not be the flashiest thing on earth to address, but it’s important,” said Guzman, executive director of Rebuild Superior. “It’s a quality of life issue.” 

By cleaning up blighted properties, the town not only addresses safety hazards but also lays the groundwork for economic revitalization. 

The effort aligns with Superior’s broader vision of leveraging its unique natural attractions and cultural heritage to attract tourism and diversify its economy beyond mining. Through these measures, Superior anticipates a brighter future, attracting new residents and benefiting current ones with more jobs and affordable housing.

Time stopped in 1982’

For more than 100 years, Superior thrived on copper mining, but when Guzman was a toddler, the Magma copper mine closed. 

“Time stopped in 1982,” Guzman said. 

Although the mine reopened for a few years when Guzman was an adolescent, the town’s economy had lost its backbone. 

“It was devastating to our community, to the region,” Guzman said. “It was unexpected. So as I was growing up, the community shrank by, like, 50%.”

The economic fallout left Superior (currently pop. 2,492) with 224 blighted properties, about one for every 11 residents. 

In some cases, investors bought up properties on the cheap and let them sit. In others, owners passed away and families couldn’t afford the upkeep. The buildings became risks to public safety.

“They’re still hazards,” Guzman said. “So this grant is meant to address these dilapidated properties that are blighting our community.”

Reinvesting back into the community

Properties selected for cleanup range from aging houses that could be rehabbed into starter homes for young families to vacant, potentially valuable commercial spaces for local businesses to structures that need to be razed and built anew.

“Clean and lien” starts with the town, which has the authority for abatement. Property owners typically have 30 days to address safety issues on their property, after which the town uses its contract with Rebuild Superior to fix hazards on the property, from weeds to trash to demolition if necessary.

Rebuild Superior purchases any existing tax liens and places a lien on the property for the cost of clean-up until the property changes hands or is foreclosed upon. “A good chunk of this money will be for tax abatement, to be able to clear the lien,” Guzman said.

Rebuild Superior will help the town assess which buildings can be salvaged and any hazards that need to be addressed. Once rehabilitated, the properties can be put up for sale, with proceeds reinvested back into the effort

“If we’re able to salvage the property, and flip it and sell it, that money would go into a revolving fund to then be able to keep this program going long-term,” Guzman said. 

The project will support Superior’s ongoing shift to tourism and away from its historical dependence on copper.

A beautified town will draw visitors seeking outdoor adventures — injecting new revenue streams into the local economy. As the town continues to repurpose once-empty properties, it sets the stage for sustainable growth that embraces both its past and future, with or without future mining opportunities.

In Guzman’s words, “one of the guiding principles of Rebuild Superior has been to develop the town’s economy in such a way that our future is less dependent on the volatility of mining politics.”

A model for other rural communities

Guzman believes Superior’s work could become a model for other rural communities too.

By using federal funding to clean up blighted properties, towns across the U.S. can both address safety hazards and lay the groundwork for economic revitalization, he said.

A second $1 million EPA grant to Pinal and Gila counties will replicate Superior’s “clean and lien” program throughout Arizona’s Copper Corridor, as well as remove mining pollutants such as lead and arsenic from areas. 

Guzman also wants to address the needs of unhoused people who used the vacant buildings for shelter by connecting them to wraparound resources. Rebuild Superior runs a food bank and partners on job training efforts. 

About a dozen properties have already been cleaned up in Superior. “We’re going to start with the lowest hanging fruit,” Guzman said. “So that way, it provides some forward momentum to then be able to hopefully attract additional investors.”

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by the 117th Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, is a piece of federal legislation that aims to reduce inflation by lowering the cost of prescription medications, investing in domestic energy production and promoting clean energy, among other objectives.