Website Connects Interested Parties With Vacant Lots
By Tim Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A new website tries to bring people together who want to make something out of the tens of thousands of vacant lots in Philadelphia.
The Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia says there are around 40,000 vacant lots around the city. They're a drain in millions of tax dollars to maintain and take away from the communities, according to the Center. So, they've partnered with a New York firm, 596 Acres, for the website www.groundedinphilly.org
Owen Taylor, a community organizer with the Center says the site is interactive and organizes data about each of the vacant lots.
"Click on the link, go to the lot page and find out who owns it, first of all," Taylor said. "If it's a city agency, a private owner, and you can say, 'I'd like to do something with this land.'"
A way to get the ball rolling, with like-minded people, on what to do with the lot, like turning it into a community garden, which many are doing already.
"They're trying to transform the vacant lots in their communities into productive spaces where people can grow their own food, grow their communities, get to know their neighbors and see something beautiful and productive."
