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Community LandCare
 From a financial standpoint, it would be impossible for Philadelphia Green to amend each of the city’s 35,000 vacant parcels with topsoil, trees, and fencing. As an alternative, Philadelphia Green created the Community-Based Vacant Land Management Program in 2003. Later renamed Community LandCare, this NTI-contracted program employs community service organizations to clean and mow hundreds of lots in 16 Philadelphia neighborhoods on a monthly basis.
Although these lots don’t receive the same degree of care as the stabilized lot, the change is still quite dramatic. Neighborhoods look far more appealing when unused parcels are well-kept. Currently 3,000 parcels, roughly 4 million square feet, are maintained from March through October as part of this program.
The work crews are made up of neighborhood residents who are gainfully employed in making their communities healthier and safer places to live. Community LandCare provides training opportunities with the aim of developing marketable landscaping skills for the 100 individuals involved.
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