Community Garden Rot

Many people that I talk to about what should be done with all the vacant lots in Buffalo have the same answer: Community Gardens. While this is a fine answer for some lots, this is not a solution for the entire city. There are over 7000 city owned vacant lots. They cannot all be gardens. Further more who would take care of all these gardens? They take a lot of constant work, and with fewer residents in these neighborhoods could they really be up kept? Many times over the summer I photographed several community gardens which had been abandoned. I do not know the stories behind each garden's failure, but I assume some of the hardship mentioned above. The one story I did hear involved college students coming in to create a garden, but they did not invite residences to participate in its creation. Since they did not engage the community it had no ownership of the garden.

Not all community Gardens are failures, many thrive. So what makes for a successful garden? 

1. Get the community involved from day one. This may seem like a no brainer, but sometimes outside groups pick a vacant lot and decide that there should be a community garden there without asking anyone living around it. 

2. Read Grassroots Gardens 10 Steps to Starting a Community Garden Here.

3. Have long term support available to care for the garden when the community members cannot. PUSH has some of the best gardens in the city because they find volunteers to take care of them, they are always finding new ways to keep the community engaged. 

4. Partner with a school. Pelion Garden (pictured below) is a fantastic garden because City Honors has made tending this plot a part of their curriculum. Also this garden is close to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, and they are invested in making this neighborhood better through donations of money and time. 

Still want to start a community garden on a vacant lot in your neighborhood? Check out these non-profits for help :

Groundwork Buffalo

Grassroots Gardens

Massachusetts Avenue Project

PUSH (People United for Sustainable Housing)

On Foot

I am working on a book as a part of my thesis project, it is about the experience of walking through the East Side of Buffalo. These are some of the images I am considering. 

Data Collection Finished

It has been a long hot summer.

I set out at the beginning of summer to catalog each city-owned residential vacant lot here in Buffalo, NY. Almost 20,000 images later I have to concede that this task will be impossible to accomplish. I still have not been able to get an accurate list form the city of their property, and even if I had it, the city is still tearing down houses. I saw several demolitions in progress over the last two weeks. In spite of the hurdles by my last count I have photographed approximately 3200 vacant lots.  Until the city stabilizes this project would be unending but I had to pick a stoping point and August 31st was it. 

I have walked the East side with and assistant or alone. I was not shot, (although my car was shot by a paint ball) robbed or raped; I was however offered drugs.  I meet many interesting residents who still take pride in their neighborhoods but have lost faith in city government. What I witnessed there has shaped my project in ways I did not foresee.

Over the next couple months I will be using the data I have collected to create a photo book, a slide show with sound, an exhibition of photographs, and a learning lab.

More Images

Waving the White Flag

Print for Infringement Festival

Tuesday I headed to the studio to make my print for the Buffalo Infringement Festival. The Print is almost 12' long and is a composite of 110 vacant lot photographs. You can get a better look at it during the festival at Wasteland Studios (700 Main St. 2nd Floor). 7/27 7-10pm, 8/3 and 8/4 7-9pm

Outtakes

These photos that I take in addition to the vacant lots are about the experience of walking through the neighborhoods.