Reclaiming Vacant Lots

In the past 50 years, Philadelphia has suffered a significant loss of population, due largely to a declining industrial base and shifting population patterns. One of the results has been a huge and growing inventory of abandoned land. At last count, there are over 31,000 vacant lots in neighborhoods throughout the city, representing a blight that diminishes property values and discourages reinvestment opportunities.

In the last several years, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's (PHS) Philadelphia Green program developed a “clean and green” approach to stabilize vacant land, which includes clearing debris and planting trees and grass. This approach requires only minimal investment and basic upkeep, yet it can yield tremendous quality of life benefits for struggling neighborhoods.

Philadelphia Green helped the New Kensington Community Development Corporation to establish a vacant land management system for their neighborhood in 1995. This effort has employed a number of treatment options for abandoned land, including regular cleaning and mowing, tree plantings and the transfer of vacant parcels (i.e. single-residence lots) to adjacent homeowners as private “sideyards.” The New Kensington CDC acts as the central facilitator of the system, with the city's Office of Housing and Community Development as a key supporter and partner. To date, the program has addressed over 50% of New Kensington's vacant land.

And in North Philadelphia's American Street Empowerment Zone, a federally-funded revitalization project, Philadelphia Green has since 2000 overseen the large-scale clean and green treatment of 55 large sites totaling 450 lots, fighting blight by introducing managed open space to these neighborhoods. This has dramatically increased the “curb appeal” of the area, and brought a new sense of safety, as these once-trashed sites were often havens for illegal activity. Using grant dollars, four neighborhood-based organizations manage the maintenance of these sites, and a few local businesses have supported the upkeep of neighboring lots.

Moreover, the city has taken an active interest in this approach to land management, adopting Philadelphia Green’s “Green City Strategy." Viewing vacant land as an opportunity instead of a liability, the Strategy calls for using greening and open space—reclaimed “clean and green” lots, gardens, parks, and other public spaces—as a foundation and tool for urban revitalization.