Within the confines of cemented alley ways, sidewalks, driveways, fence posts and chicken wire, live the abandoned remains of homes and businesses of a time when the United States’ economy thrived. The longer the biological mass within is left unkempt, the more intricate and populated they become (Tortorello, 2011). According to an article in the August 3rd, 2011 edition of New York Time’s Home & Garden section, vacant lots are a collective ecosystem developing in major cities, namely along the Great Lakes.
The author, Tortorello, lists a few shocking statistics regarding government owned and maintained property that currently hold no merit for the communities that they inhabit. 5.8% of New York City is vacant (Tortorello, 2011). There are over forty thousand vacancies in Philadelphia and over twenty thousand in Cleveland Ohio (Tortorello, 2011). The abandonment listed is stifling, but what is more stifling is the cost of routine maintenance (Tortorello, 2011). A relaxed regimen, such as the 8-inch grass cutting in Cleveland, costs our government millions of dollars (Tortorello, 2011).
But the name of this article is “Finding the Potential in Vacant Lots,” and for good reason, because despite the ruins of our past economic dominance, we are left with many options to redistribute funds, housing and the exploration of modern science (Tortorello, 2011).
The National Scientific Fund rewarded researchers over a quarter of a million dollars for exploration of “Urban Long-Term Reseach Area,” or ULTRA, the coined ecosystems developing in the collection of vacant lots in Cleveland (Tortorello, 2011). The research team has taken the name “ULTRA Ex.,” to honor the ecosystem as well as the “exploratory (‘Ex.’)” fund (Tortorello, 2011).
The researchers interviewed outline an interesting process spawning from urban decline that “ends” with reforestation of the abandoned land. Undisturbed land is more likely to yield biodiversity (Tortorello, 2011). Rodents and insects will be drawn by any remaining scraps, gardens will over-grown with weeds interspersed, birds and other wild life will fertilize and bring seeds from indigenous plants, attracting more wild life, springing more biodiversity (Tortorello, 2011). One researcher made mention that quickly-growing tree species will begin to sprout promptly in the life of a vacant lot (Tortorello, 2011).
While the research is, of course, beneficial, is it really of value to the economy of Cleveland?
Well, the specific areas that the ULTRA Ex. Team is exploring, involve not just bird and insect species or plant life, but also the multiple-benefit practice of urban farming (Tortorello, 2011). Cleveland OH is home to 6 learning farms via their Green Corps program at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens (Tortorello, 2011). The Green Corps program cultivates 3 acres of previously vacant land, employing at least 60 teens throughout the planting, growing and harvest of the farms, and yield near 15,000 pounds of produce for donation and sales (Tortorello, 2011).
^This video takes you inside the learning farms and introduces you to some of the teens. You’ll notice that, in addition to farming, the Green Corps also bottles and sells some of their own products made from produce raised in the farms.
Here is a video from 2009 that goes a bit more into detail about the start of the garden and how it came to be:
The article covers the most recent efforts of the Ultra Ex. Team, an urban garden in the Buckeye neighborhood that grows kiwi against vegetative fencing, maintains a strawberry patch, raised beds and an herb spiral, and is hosted by the CBG.
Cleveland Botanical Gardens are not the only ecologically focused groups to make light of urban decline. Philadelphia Green maintains over five thousand vacancies in Philadelphia and is responsible for debris removal and all that goes into lawn maintenance for their vacant properties (Tortorello, 2011). Philadelphia Green is a non-profit organization that has been around more than 40 years and began their work organizing thousands of community gardens in the 1970’s. The work they do costs the government just $800,000 per year, which is less than a quarter of the cost of Cleveland’s passive maintenance regimen (Tortorello, 2011).
My goal, possibly this year, is to get funding to start an urban learning farm in my current location in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. All research leading up to taking the plunge will take place here. So please follow and spread the word to help inspire others.
Resources:
(2008). Brief applause: Cleveland botanical garden's green corps. (2008). [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8jSMpx9qDM
Tortorello, M. (2011, August 03). Finding the potential in vacant lots. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/garden/finding-the-potential-in-vacant-lots-in-the-garden.html?pagewanted=all (Tortorello, 2011)
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