Buffalo Rising Online

Jul 7th 2008, 8:01am By Steve Pastrick

A new socially and environmentally conscious movement is sweeping the nation. The movement is not made up of 'eco-geeks' who practice hypermiling or promote alternative energy sources. Instead, it's a group of citizens who are taking city matters into their own hands. Regional chapters of 'guerilla gardeners' are picking up where city funds run out and creating their own nature preserves and gardens. A recent story in the LA Times details the growing movement and determination of city residents to beautify their concrete-laden and visually unappealing blocks with environmentally appropriate plants and trees.

Though elements of this movement are taking shape with the creation of pocket parks, most notably on Main Street near the Tri-Main Center, guerilla gardening can be seen in better context with the Buffalo News article yesterday morning detailing the growing list of vacancies owned by the city. Type a street address on Harmonia Street into Google and you will find numerous linked vacant lots in addition to the vacant houses. This space provides a perfect canvas for guerilla gardeners to exhibit their work.

Questions of legality still remain. The city holds the deeds to these properties and could technically cite people attempting to replenish these fallow fields. On the other hand, the city is looking to pawn these vacant lots onto interested residents and it seems certain that a deal could be struck to allow residents and interested gardeners to make the land their own. Such an agreement would allow an improvement over the current conditions and help to reduce the burden on the city to maintain these properties.

In some cases, Grassroots has cultivated lots with the city's help of water and insurance, only to have a the lot sold out from under them. Many of the city demolitions leave the foundation of the house necessitating a raised bed at the cost of about $3,500 per, according to Grassroot's Kirk Laubenstein.

A program allowing guerilla gardening could be used to foster better community relations between city residents and the City of Buffalo. All the city needs to do is outline a list of vacant lots or street corners that would be acceptable for 'redevelopment' by private citizens. Since the city is collecting no tax on these vacant lots, it is feasible that private citizens could negotiate to buy the land from the city for a minimal fee (ideally $1). Washington D.C. was successful in selling vacant houses in depressed areas to city residents in return for promises to inhabit the property or make it viable. The same idea could be used for these vacant lots.

Above photo: Rosa Gibson of Community Action Information Center in her Community Garden.

While starting a guerilla gardening movement on streets like Harmonia Street is a demanding task, sprucing up the median or corner on your street is not. For years, residents in places such as Minnesota Avenue have planted flowers and laid mulch on the divider in an effort to make the street more friendly and inviting, and Grassroots Gardens has cultivated many lots on the West Side. Small projects such as these help to make the city a more visually appealing place, while also allowing residents to make a personal investment in the city.

See this story from last summer about community gardner Patrick Cain.