Foreclosed houses are being demolished, leaving open spaces that some neighborhoods are turning into gardens. (Photo by Julie Grant)
It might be hard to think about a “silver lining” when so many people are facing foreclosure on their homes. But in some cities people are using foreclosures and the demolition of those homes to turn neighborhoods greener. Julie Grant reports that all the open space is encouraging some people to start gardening:
Transcript
It might be hard to think about a “silver lining” when so many people are facing foreclosure on their homes. But in some cities people are using foreclosures and the demolition of those homes to turn neighborhoods greener. Julie Grant reports that all the open space is encouraging some people to start gardening:
We’re watching the huge arm of a backhoe smash into the front of a house. The air is thick with dust. So many houses in this Cleveland neighborhood have wood nailed to where the windows and doors should be – it’s hard to tell which one is next for the wrecking ball.
25 year old George Hannett is NOT happy about what’s happening on his street:
“It’s not good. It’s bad for the neighborhood.”
The City of Clevelend does not want these abandoned homes left to rot or attract crime – so it plans to demolish 1,200 homes this year.
Morgan Taggart works with the Ohio State University extension office. It’s her job to help people create urban gardens.
She says tearing down so many houses is starting to leave a mark on neighborhoods in lots of cities – Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland.
“These spaces become very difficult for neighborhoods to manage because they are an attractive nuisance to all sorts of illicit and illegal activities that aren’t really great for the community.”
Taggart says lots of people want to start growing their own food. The economy is luring them back to gardening. Especially in neighborhoods that don’t have big supermarkets with fresh produce. These vacant lots
are giving them new places to plant. But they’re not sure how to go about planting a garden.
Vel Scott has lived in Cleveland 30 years, in a neighborhood with lots of unused land. She sees people on the bus struggling with shopping carts, carrying babies – doing whatever they have to do to get groceries home. But last year Scott realized – there’s another way to feed people. And she started her first garden since she was a kid.
“And I thought about, well, we have this land so why not go over and clear it and use it?”
It was a great idea. But, Vel Scott pretty quickly realized it was easier said than done.
“And after I got over there and it’s such a huge piece of land and I thought ‘My, God, where do I start?’ You know, I don’t know what to do. So we did a V– V for victory, V for Vel,whatever you wanted it to be.”
Scott says wants her land to be a place where they grow vegetables – and cook them right there. She teaches a cooking class so it made sense to her to show people in the neighborhood how to use the vegetables from the garden.
There are some concerns about gardening on vacant land. After all, the land usually belongs to the city. People don’t want to put lots of time and resources into cultivating the soil – if the city is going to turn around and sell to a developer at the first opportunity.
That’s why Cleveland has created a new zoning category to protect its urban gardens. Morgan Taggart with the extension service says this is a post-industrial vision for cities:
It’s an opportunity for us to reimagine our neighborhoods, our city, our county and how we can integrate more sustainable principles into the planning of our neighborhoods.”
Back at the house demolition, people watching the workers tear down the structure say it’s hard to imagine a vegetable garden where this house used to be. But Vel Scott says that in just one season of gardening, her neighbors and local children have seen what she’s done. They’ve started clearing more land and this spring they’re planting their own gardens.
For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.