|
The Effects of Neighborhood Greening
Urban Impact, January 2001
While the devastating effects of urban blight
have made the headlines of local papers in recent years—and
indeed the new City administration's agenda is to address these
problems head on—residents in Philadelphia's low-income neighborhoods
have struggled with its draining effects for years and have often
sought out solutions on their own. Since the mid-1970s, The Pennsylvania
Horticultural Society's Philadelphia Green has introduced the concept
of greening as one tool for community revitalization.
In Philadelphia and other cities, residents are
reclaiming parks, planting trees along streets, and transforming
vacant land into community gardens and gathering places—vital
"grassroots" actions to rebuild neighborhoods. Often overlooked
by "big picture" plans for urban redevelopment, these
greening initiatives represent the determination of residents to
improve their overall quality of life in the face of often overwhelming
obstacles, like crumbling abandoned buildings, trashed vacant lots,
criminal elements, disinterested or defeated neighbors, and urban
flight to the suburbs.
Philadelphia, for decades drained by a declining
population and the loss of an industrial base that was once its
lifeblood, now has the opportunity to reinvent itself in visionary
ways. With its huge inventory of vacant buildings and lots—along
with factors such as a lack of resources and changing housing preferences—the
City will not be redeveloping all of this unused land at the same
density, nor in the same time frame. Greening, then, can serve as
a valuable approach—a way to blend reclaimed open space with
new and reconfigured housing patterns and new commercial development.
And, it can serve as both an interim and long-term strategy in re-establishing
neighborhoods.
The September issue of Philadelphia Green's Urban
Impact periodic series looked at the physical, social, and economic
value of high-profile urban landscapes—such as gateways, downtown
squares, and waterfronts. This issue looks at the same values of
greening in city neighborhoods.
Greening and the Physical Environment
Though gardens, parks, and other forms of managed
open space cannot on their own solve the problems associated with
urban blight, they are an effective way of creating momentum and
change. Perhaps the most obvious and tangible benefit of well-kept
open space is how it physically and rapidly improves a neighborhood's
appearance. Parks and gardens—along with streets lined with
trees and barrel plantings ("garden blocks")—help
soften the hard angles of a city's built environment. They bring
color and vitality to even the most troubled communities and can
help contribute to a sense of hope.
In Philadelphia's New Kensington neighborhood,
for instance, Philadelphia Green has worked with the New Kensington
Community Development Corporation for the past five years on a pilot
vacant land management program. This initiative employs a number
of treatment options for vacant lots, including regular cleaning
and mowing, tree plantings, and the transfer of adjacent land to
homeowners. Thus far, 50% of the neighborhood's 1,100 unmanaged
lots have been affected. The program aims to improve the overall
"curb appeal," which can then be used as a tool to attract
investment opportunities and new residents to the community.
"This effort has helped contribute to a general
good feeling about our neighborhood," said Sandy Salzman, Executive
Director of the New Kensington CDC. "It's obvious that the
program has made a tremendous physical impact," she added.
"With the increasing amount of clean and green spaces—replacing
what were once trashed vacant lots—people no longer feel threatened
by their surroundings."
Social Benefits to Communities
Gardens and other communal spaces—ranging
in size from a single rowhouse lot to an entire block—can act
as havens for social interaction, bringing people out of their homes
and into a shared space. And, a garden can provide an effective
bridge for crossing racial, generational, and economic boundaries.
For instance, with its 60 family and individual garden plots, Warrington
Community Garden in West Philadelphia brings together African-American,
Asian, and white residents, ranging from teenagers to grandparents.
"The garden has led to a much richer and diverse community,"
says Warrington's Joanne Jackson. "It provides a wonderful
opportunity to get to know folks that you wouldn't ordinarily meet
in your everyday life."
Greening activities can also symbolize a community's
drive to regain a sense of purpose, empowering residents to engage
municipal agencies in local concerns. City governments are much
more likely to respond to the interests of well-organized groups
than to isolated requests from individuals. Marti Ross Bjornson
of Northwestern University noted in her research that "the
simple act of starting a garden can teach previously powerless people
how to get access to city hall, and it can change the perception
of the people with power who are looking into the community for
the first time."
For instance, Philadelphia Green's Parks Revitalization
Project—with the City's Department of Recreation as a key partner—has
helped transform neighborhood parks and build the capacity of resident
groups to bring about change in their communities. On their own,
park groups have raised approximately $350,000, which has been earmarked
for improvements and programs. Their ability to raise monies and
advocate for their parks caught the attention of City government,
and the Department has been able to lobby successfully for increased
funding from City Council for capital work and additional maintenance
staff. Philadelphia Green was able to use these developments and
trends as leverage in securing more support from outside funders
(The William Penn Foundation and Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds).
The Parks Revitalization Project, which included three parks at
its inception in 1993, now works with "friends" organizations
at 24 sites.
Gardening and Cultural Heritage
Philadelphia's rich cultural heritage is reflected
in its gardeners—African-Americans who moved here from the
South, Puerto Ricans from the island, and those from as far away
as Cambodia, China, and Laos—who have brought their ways of
life and gardening traditions to their adopted city. The garden
can become an interactive, hands-on teaching tool for a neighborhood,
providing a forum for community elders to share their history and
preserve their cultural traditions.
In the Norris Square neighborhood, Puerto Rican
residents celebrate their blended Native, African, and European
heritage, illustrated by a colorful mural in the garden named Raices
("roots"). Other garden murals reveal images of the island's
flag, its indigenous Taino Indians, and island folklore. Through
classroom and youth activities, children work in the community gardens
and in Norris Square Park; they learn from their elders about history
and the importance of working in service to the community. As community
leader Iris Brown noted, "We want our youth to be proud of
what they are and of where they come from."
Greening's Impact on Crime
Urban abandoned land is one of the most visible
signs of neighborhood distress. It can lead to the perception of
a community's deterioration, where it is assumed that residents
have either grown apathetic to the problem or are unable to combat
it. The presence of vacant land is one example of the "broken
windows" theory advanced by criminologists James Q. Wilson
and George L. Kelling—namely, if a window in a building is
broken and left unrepaired, all the rest will soon be broken.
Wilson and Kelling argue that "vandalism
can occur anywhere once communal barrier—the sense of mutual
regard and the obligations of civility—are lowered by actions
that seem to signal that no one cares." The preponderance of
vacant land casts the impression of a defeated, disinterested, and
scared populace, and it is widely agreed that in areas where residents
have become intimidated by their surroundings, criminal activity
thrives. Yet, by working together to improve even a small parcel
of land, residents convey the message that they care about creating
a better community.
For example, Carroll Park in West Philadelphia
has undergone a dramatic turnabout in recent years with the help
of Philadelphia Green’s Parks Revitalization Project. Park
leader Doris Gwaltney reminisced, "I lived around the corner
from the park but wouldn’t walk through there. It was a frightening
place and no one wanted to be there except 'the element,' which
had taken over." But the park, on the decline for the past
three decades, has rebounded. Philadelphia Green is helping the
resident "friends" to become productive, long-term stewards
of the park, and the Department of Recreation installed new playground
equipment and has committed additional seasonal maintenance staff.
With its increased recreational use, Carroll Park has become a safer
place. One child who helps out in the park said, "Since we’ve
been cleaning up Carroll Park, the drug dealers don't want to be
there." Speaking about the future of urban parks, Gwaltney
noted, "We have to remember always that a park at any time
can revert (to its deteriorated state). It is vital that we keep
these parks for the next generation."
Tales from Two Cities
Los Angeles
- In Los Angeles' Pico-Union neighborhood,
during the 1992 riots—all along the streets surrounding the
Tenth Street Mother's Club Garden, windows were shattered and
businesses torched and looted. Remarkably, the garden remained
untouched.
- In the days following the unrest in Los
Angeles, gang members issued a manifesto listing among their complaints
the lack of parks and green spaces in their neighborhoods.
- A 1993 survey conducted for Rebuild Los
Angeles revealed that 77% of those interviewed listed improved
parks and recreation facilities as "absolutely critical" or "important"
to the restoration of communities, ranking as a higher priority
than the need for the creation of more businesses
San Francisco
- In San Francisco's Mission District,
the heightened activity of the Dearborn Street garden project
spurned the neighbors to form a community watch group; residents
documented that crime is now down by 78%.
Economic Benefits
Though there is ample evidence to support
the financial benefits reaped from high-profile landscapes in city
centers—such as waterfronts, large-scale parks, and downtown
squares—researchers have struggled with ways to assess the
economic effects of parks, gardens, and other open spaces in urban
neighborhoods. Indeed, the effects are long-term, as economic prosperity
comes last to poor areas. Still, examples can be found that illustrate
this particular impact of open space.
In North Philadelphia, Sister Carol Keck
of the Norris Square Neighborhood Project noted that with the revitalization
of Norris Square Park in recent years and the rehabilitation of
surrounding houses, property values have increased dramatically
in this low-income community. In one example, a real estate office
looked at the last three home sales in the area around the park
to help determine market value for a new sale. The prices ranged
from $20,000, which occurred six months prior, upwards to the remarkable
amount of $80,000 for a more recent acquisition. "People now
want to live around the park," Sister Carol said. "And,
those already living in the community have invested in improving
their homes—another sign of Norris Square's encouraging developments."
And, in another look at New Kensington,
there is evidence that the real estate market is now stronger due
to the positive effects generated by the neighborhood's open space
program. "Three years ago, the CDC found it very difficult
to sell homes it was rehabbing," noted Salzman. "But today,
we're currently renovating ten properties, and seven of them have
already been sold. It's subjective," she admits, "but
these encouraging developments are at least in part due to the success
of the open space program." Salzman also noted that properties
are not only being bought by those already in the neighborhood,
but by those who at one time moved away—indications that people
want to be a part of an attractive, livable New Kensington.
Why Greening?
Although community gardens, parks, and
other green spaces cannot alone stem the tide of urban blight, they
represent an important first step in aiding distressed neighborhoods.
Most tangibly, they physically enhance a neighborhood's appearance,
signaling that residents proactively care about improving their
quality of life. Gardens also provide opportunities for people from
a range of backgrounds to come together, helping to strengthen communities.
Most importantly, greening can help foster positive change, acting
as a vital building block for other neighborhood improvement efforts.
As the city seeks to rebuild its neighborhoods and attract reinvestment
opportunities, greening should be considered as an essential component
of future redevelopment plans and the livability of the urban environment.
Source Material
What Good is Community Greening? American Community Gardening Association Monograph, June 1995
Broken Windows, The Atlantic Monthly,
March 1982
Healing America's Cities, Trust for
Public Land, January 1994 |
