|
Urban Renewal, Garden Style
By Deborah Seeber
Photo by Caessandra Seawell
From the 1950’s to the 1980’s, Buffalo lost approximately half its population. One of the effects of this loss that is perhaps so obvious it isn’t fully comprehended is vacancy. Houses, buildings, and yards that once held people now stand empty, leading to properties that become eyesores and venues for illegal activities, a dilemma the city is trying to solve.
Sometimes the solution is equally so obvious that it also is overlooked. To take a negative like a derelict property and turn it into a space that produces food, teaches children, adds beauty to the neighborhood, and fosters community camaraderie, is a win-win situation. Yet for some, the concept seems too radical.
Like wildflowers in an abandoned field, a number of non-for-profits have sprouted in Buffalo, dedicated to turning vacant properties into things of beauty, egalitarian oases where all are welcome. If believing in fairy tales, one might view the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo (CFGB) as something of a godmother in this scenario. Now celebrating its 90th anniversary, CFGB is a philanthropic powerhouse dedicated to four areas of focus, including environmental enhancement. In pursuing that end, Laura Fulton, Knowledge Management Officer at CFGB, acquainted herself with two non profits – Grass Roots Gardens of Buffalo and Buffalo ReUse – and saw a match made in heaven.
“I was incredibly impressed by the transformation in a short amount of time at the sites these organizations were working on,” says Fulton. “The commitment was there.”
A plan was hatched; twenty additional community gardens would be established on vacant properties throughout the city with two areas of concentration, the West Side, and the East Side. Grass Roots Gardens of Buffalo (GGB) and Buffalo ReUse would become key players and forge a partnership to execute the project.
GGB is the older of the two organizations, founded in 1995. While it has facilitated the development of community gardens throughout the city, it is a key player on the West Side. Buffalo ReUse will celebrate its third anniversary this autumn, and although conceived as a green demolition company - Buffalo’s only - it has expanded into various avenues to revitalize the East Side.
Zoe Lavatelli of GGB, which serves as a protective umbrella for the various community gardens throughout the city, is quick to give credit to the many and diverse participants in these projects. She has been working with students from Buffalo State College and the Good Neighbor Alliance on a garden on East Delevan Street. The International Institute of Buffalo is working with Burmese refugees on a garden on 19th Street. The Valley Community Center in South Buffalo has a children’s garden in the works, as does the Boys & Girls Club’s Beecher Clubhouse on 10th Street. These are but a few of the gardens outlined in the project.
“One of the great things about the Community Foundation [for Greater Buffalo] is that it encourages organizations to work together, it’s an exemplar for that,” says Lavatelli. She disagrees with the too often held notion that groups necessarily need to compete with each other for precious funding dollars. “It’s a matter of perception and attitude,” she adds. “Working together on like projects has the ability to generate more resources.”
Much as GGB serves as a clearinghouse and advocate for the gardens, so does Buffalo ReUse for the East Side. The multifaceted organization was started by Michael Gainer as an environmentally responsible way to deal with the product of demolition. According to Gainer’s colleague, Cassandra Seawell, a typical two-story house generates forty-five tons of rubble destined for landfills. Now, ReUse has become much more, and necessarily so. Seawell notes that in the quadrant from Jefferson to Main and Best to Utica where ReUse calls home, an astounding forty percent of the property is vacant.
While ReUse deals with derelict properties, hoping to rehab those houses that are eligible or recycling the materials from those they do demolish (those materials are then offered for sale in their store on Northampton Street), it has chosen a holistic approach to urban blight. Converting vacant properties into gardens, planting trees along the streets, or merely clearing trash and litter in what is called a “Street Blitz” all figure in. And community involvement is essential; social events such as potluck dinners and seed swaps encourage neighbors to participate.
But what is perhaps most important are the programs designed to include children and young people. Playing fields of wildflowers and ground cover have been established. Vegetable plots, herb container gardens, and whimsical vinery gardens provide a learning experience for children who otherwise have had no correlation between the food they eat and where it comes from. One volunteer, a nutritionist, has placed labels adjacent to the vegetables, describing the vitamins they contain and how they nourish the body. Cooking classes are also being offered. Projects that target the neighborhood schools include an anti dropout gardening program for middle and high school students in concert with SUNY Buffalo, and a garden worked by students from City Honors High School.
“We want to keep the neighborhoods intact,” says Seawell. “Everyone should have a community garden.” To that end, ReUse is providing education for urban people and the means to implement that knowledge. Here, its partnership with GGB is invaluable. ReUse has been able to put its lots on GGB leases and the two groups have joined together to form a tool lending library.
Even as these and other groups pioneer the urban wasteland, they have yet to be embraced by those in public office. Lavatelli gratefully acknowledges the help the Department of Public Works has given in hauling compost, but in general, the city government, owner of much of the property in question, seems reticent to grant long term leases and otherwise facilitate the development of these gardens. It’s a position that, as Seawell puts it, “is confusing to us.”
But that may change. Community gardens, urban farming, and the backyard kitchen garden are entities whose time has come. As Michelle Obama and her daughters work their little plot by the White House, politicians who oppose such positive ventures will find it increasingly difficult to defend their positions.
In this growing movement, Grassroots Gardens and Buffalo ReUse are joined by many others – the Massachusetts Avenue Project, PUSH Buffalo, Urban Roots, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, to name a few. All are dedicated to protecting and enhancing the environment, a noble cause, for sure, but one that can easily transcend to an abstract, rarified and the domain of universities and philanthropies. What is so special about these worthy organizations is that they bring their cause to the streets and directly affect the lives of the people who inhabit these neighborhoods. They grow not only vegetables and flowers, but also smiles, bringing beauty and good health wherever they land their shovels. As Laura Fulton puts it, “Gardens give people hope.”
|
