THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY GARDENS ON NEIGHBORHOODS AND THEIR RESIDENTS

The inner-city areas of this country are confronting a number of issues which require innovative problem-solving techniques. One approach which has been effective in involving people in the renovation of their neighborhoods is the development of community garden programs. Although much anecdotal information exists regarding the benefits such programs provide, there could be found no quantitative data measuring the impacts to a neighborhood and its residents. This study is an attempt to discover if such data can be found. The Southside Community Land Trust, located in Providence, Rhode Island since 1981, has established eleven gardens in low-income sections of the city. In order to determine the impacts such a program might have on the surrounding neighborhood four streets, each the site of a Land Trust garden, were evaluated using several indicators of change. These included construction and demolition permits, crime rates and the installation of street trees. Results of this study showed no direct, measurable impacts to the individual neighborhoods. This may be due to the relatively short time frame the study encompassed. Data was not available for a sufficient length of time to detect changing conditions and emerging trends. It is possible that quantitative results could still be shown utilizing a longer time span


INTRODUCTION
In the 1920's, Clarence Perry introduced to this country a new method in the planning of residential areas.
His neighborhood model provided residential, commercial and educational facilities to a resident population of 5000 to 10,000 people. The model sought to create small communities which elicited a sense of pride and ownership in residents and where supportive relationships could develop between neighbors.
The idea took hold and today most residential areas are arranged, either formally or informally, into neighborhoods.
The last thirty years, however, have seen a deterioration in the urbanized areas of this country. The Central Business Districts of many cities no longer enjoy the economic vitality and prosperity they once did. Infrastructure systems and buildings are crumbling. Crime and violence has increased to the point where many people no longer feel safe in their own neighborhoods. Although the physical frameworks of neighborhoods may still exist, they often no longer stimulate the sense of community among residents they once did.
In an attempt to reverse this trend, many inner-city Many of the cities and towns of this country are divided, either formally or informally, into smaller uni ts called neighborhoods. They may be socially or spatially defined. A general definition favored by many professionals is that of Albert Hunter (1979: 5) who described a neighborhood as "a social/spatial unit of social organization ... larger than a household and smaller than a city." They provide a strong sense of familiarity and ownership to residents within their boundaries (Hester 1975: 20) . Neighborhoods also help to connect people to a particular place and with each other through frequent personal contacts in local shops, churches, schools and organizations (Rivlin 1987: 3).
Physical characteristics of an area are used in a spatial definition. Burgess and Park (Hester 1975 In general, a neighborhood is defined as an area where a resident feels comfortable and familiar with his surroundings and with the other people who live there. It offers an identity and sense of place to residents which extends beyond their own property.

Origins of the Neighborhood Concept
The existence of neighborhoods in populated areas has been traced back to ancient civilizations. China, Egypt, and Greece all utilized the concept in the spatial organization of their cities. Later, the Romans divided their territories into vicis, or vicinities, for administrative purposes (Banderjee and Baer 1984: 17-18).
In the early settlement of this country, immigrants often grouped together according to common languages, religions and ethnic backgrounds (Beyer 1965: 313-314) • As some groups became more affluent, they moved away from the urban center and established exclusive neighborhoods for people of similar means (Beyer 1965: 314). 4 A modern-day proponent of the neighborhood concept was Clarence Perry who, in the 1920's, conducted studies for the New York Regional Plan Association. His work led to the development of six principles which he believed should be used in the planning of communities, 11 • • • in which the fundamental needs of family life will be met more completely •.. " (Beyer 1965: 315). These principles were: 1.
Size -based on the population size necessary to support one elementary school 2.
Boundaries -arterial streets on all four sides which would make it unnecessary for traffic to pass through 3.
Open spaces -small parks and recreation spaces to meet the needs of the residents 4. Institution sites -schools and other institutions grouped around a central point

5.
Local shops -one or more shopping districts placed in the circumference of the neighborhood, preferably at traffic junctions and in the vicinity of similar districts in adjoining neighborhoods 6.
Internal street system road design to be proportional to anticipated traffic load and entire system to provide efficient circulation within the area while discouraging through traffic Perry's work emphasized the concept of the elementary school as a central point. The maximum walk to it from the farthest residence would be a half-mile and the neighborhood would have a population between 5000 and 10,000 people (Beyer 1965: 317). An application of Perry's concepts can be seen in the design of Radburn, New Jersey which was used as a example of good neighborhood design (Herbert 1972:227). 5 Examples of Clarence Perry's neighborhood plan can still be found in our cities today.
However, many of these neighborhoods, particularly those in urban areas, have been allowed to physically deteriorate into slums. The Highway Act of 1954 and the guaranteeing of home mortgages by the Federal Housing Administration spurred the construction of suburban housing developments on open tracts of land outside cities (Levy 1988: 17,192). This allowed higher income-level people to move out of the city and take advantage of the opportunity to own a house of their own.  (Rivlin 1987: 15). Webber and Webber (1967: 44) (Kropat 1985: 149).
A common expression of neighborhood attachment is the concept of symbolic ownership. This feeling of ownership extends to outdoor public spaces which, because of their proximity, access and use, causes residents to feel a sense of collective responsibility for them causes and to view them as their own (Hester 1975: 20). The ownership is considered symbolic since it is not protected by law and there is no individual personal control exerted over the areas (Hester 1975: 58). The more an individual uses the space, the greater the feeling of ownership.
This sense of responsibility for areas not personally owned is important since it increases residents' interest in the area in which they live. Studies have found that the more attached a person feels to his neighborhood, the more likely he is to become active in its planning and development (Kropat 1985: 204) .

Social Relationships
The second benefit derived from living in a neighborhood is the opportunity to form social relationships with others 8 living in the area. Schools, churches, local businesses and public recreational areas all provide places for frequent meetings between residents. The establishment of social networks has been found to be an important factor in the development of attachment to an area (Rivlin 1987: 12).
Local friendships are particularly important for the urban lower and working classes (Yancey 1973: 108). They provide a means of coping with the poverty and deprivation found in slums. A study conducted by Banerjee and Baer (1984: 164-165) found that neighborhood living appeared to be more important to blacks than whites. Parents with children and the elderly were also found to value the neighborhood more. The reasons given were largely based on social concepts, such as sociability, friendliness and familyrelations. The establishment of these relationships rely in part on semi-public spaces and facilities found in the neighborhood (Yancey 1973: 111). There are urbanized areas in this country where the residents feel secure and where crime rates are low. In these neighborhoods, streets and other public places are used for programmed activities, special events and casual socialization during both day and nighttime hours (Hester 1975: 95). The visible presence of people discourages acts of crime and violence which have the chance of being detected (Jacobs 1961: 119). Ethnic neighborhoods and those with a high level of civic pride usually have lower crime rates, also (U.S. Dept. of the Interior 1978: 76). The term, "defensible space" was created to describe those areas over which residents feel they 11 have control and can def end against intruders or criminals (Merry 1981: 231).
It has been found that a moderate reduction in an area's crime rate does not reduce the fear of crime.
Only an increase in social relations, particularly between different ethnic groups, will reduce the fear people have toward one another and allow them to feel safe in their own neighborhoods (Merry 1981: 239-240 In more recent times, England has been credited with the evolution of community gardening as it is known today with the establishment of the first allotment gardens in 1731. These gardens were based on the "common field" or "open field" system used by their ancestors in which all the land around a village was one common farm where farmers worked together (Jobb 1979: 71). The allotment plots were privately owned and rented for one guinea a year, a fee which was considered quite high. They thrived until the 1830's when much of the private land was sold for industrial expansion.
To replace the gardens some company owners provided land to their employees for development of gardens as a form of recreation after long days spent in the factories.
Although the country was in the midst of rapid change due to the Industrial Revolution, the Allotments Acts of 1887 and 1890 and the Local Government Act of 1894 were created to 13 ensure that the agricultural heritage of the country was not lost. These Acts required the establishment of garden plots in neighborhoods where there was a demand for them. This was followed by the Small Holdings and Allotments Acts of 1907 and 1908 which provided for plots of 500 square yards to citizens who had no access to land for gardening (Coe 1978: 11-12 When the country's economic situation began to improve the WPA withdrew funding and many of the gardens were abandoned. The arrival of World War II spurred the revitalization of these gardens as a means to support the war effort. This was the time of the well-known Victory Gardens. Demand was high for plots and many were assigned through a lottery system. It is estimated that nearly forty million people were involved in the program (Jobb 1979: 73). Numerous programs were 15 established by PTA Committees in public schools. Country clubs and cemeteries provided land for gardens (Coe 1978: 14). The 18 The National Association of Gardening identifies seven basic steps in developing an effective gardening program (Coe 1978: 78). They include: 1. Finding a sponsor 2. Selecting a site 3. Recruiting a coordinator 4. Developing a site plan 5. Advertising and enrolling 6. Preparing and maintaining sites 7. Encouraging communication Individual programs vary in size from site to site with some utilizing a more formal framework than others. However, all programs can benefit from the information contained in the above steps. The following is a discussion of the seven main steps considered by the organization to be important in the formation of a community garden program as explained by Mary Lee Coe in her book, "Growing with Community Gardening" (1978). Several additional sources have been used and they are so noted.

Finding a sponsor
When the decision to establish a garden is made, a sponsor or sponsors should be found who will provide support in several forms to the program. This will eliminate the necessity of forming an independent non-prof it organization and provides the program with financial, organizational, political and legal assistance. This support may be found in local government agencies such as city park or recreational programs, community development offices and mayor's offices.
Sponsors may also be found among churches, corporations, garden clubs and non-prof it organizations (National Gardening Other Support from these groups can take many forms and do not necessarily have to be financial in order to be useful.
In the past, federal funds have been provided through the U.S.

Department of Agriculture's Expanded Food and Nutrition
Education Program (EFNEP), HUD block grants, HEW Older Americans Act and ACTION minigrants (Jobb 1979: 63).
In order to interest potential sponsors in a garden program, a proposal should be drafted which includes the following information: 1. Yearly budget 2. Additional sources of financial assistance with which the sponsor may collaborate 3. A schedule of plot fees which will enable the garden to be self-supporting 4. Possible fund raising activities to supplement the requested contribution 5. sources of horticultural assistance 6. A program for land-use management to assure longterm fertility of the soil 7. Possible educational programs which may include gardening skills, natural pest control and canning and freezing techniques.
In addition to the above items, a discussion of the benefits a garden can provide to a community should be included.
The goal of most community gardens is to become financially self-supporting as quickly as possible.
To do this, a combination of plot fees and fund raising activities are used. A staggered fee schedule may be used which is~based on the size of the plot. Many programs charge a flat fee which can run between ten to twenty dollars per year. A third alternative used by the Philadelphia Green program is the charging of twenty-five dollars the first year and nothing thereafter. This is used to target those individuals who are serious about participating in their program (Jobb 1979: 60).

Selecting a site
Potential garden sites can be found in many places. The most common are vacant lots which are often filled with trash and used as gathering places for illegal activities. If no lots are available, however, there are other options such as church or school property, industrial parks, utility rightsof-way, unused parking areas, rooftops and cemeteries (Nat. Assoc. for Gardening 1978: 6).

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It is desirable to obtain a site which may be cultivated as a garden for a long period of time rather than developing a site which is on land available only temporarily (Jobb 1979: 75). This is important since it may take several years to increase the soil's fertility to an effective level. One way to do this is to acquire land through a land trust, a nonprofit corporation which owns and manages the site. The trust rents out plots to gardeners on a long-term basis (Nat. Assoc.  (Jobb 1979: 82).
Several things must be considered before a particular site is chosen. These include: sun and wind exposure, access to a water supply, soil fertility, ease of access for gardeners and past and present uses of the site (Johnson and Bonlender 1990: 4 Industrial facilities and homes with lead-based paint may have left a lethal residue which must be removed or covered over before anything can be safely planted. This can be an expensive and time-consuming process and it may be wiser to choose a more suitable location. If this is not possible, raised beds may be constructed which are filled with soil obtained off-site to a depth of at least twelve inches (Jobb 1979: 78).

Recruiting a coordinator
The program should have one person who is responsible for all aspects of the garden and who has the authority to make In the spring much work needs to be done to prepare the site for another growing season. If gardeners know from the beginning that their participation is expected, the work load can be easily managed.
In place of personal involvement in the clean up process, a fee may be charged at the time of enrollment to pay for the services of an outside crew. In the event an individual plot is not properly maintained, the consequences should be explained. At the same time, the right to privacy, quiet and access should also be communicated to the gardeners.
Additional areas which may be covered in the agreement include the use of pesticides, a "no perennials" policy and a policy concerning the abandonment of plots.
Once a program has been in operation for some time, areas of concern may emerge which can be addressed in subsequent years. Training is provided to volunteers on topics which include horticulture, design, construction, networking and presentation techniques.
Once a program is well-established, a time period of three or four years, a dedication ceremony is held to celebrate the progress a community has made in its greening effort. This also provides an opportunity to let others know about the program and its success. After dedication, support for the community's efforts is ongoing and a yearly assessment is made by Philadelphia Green staff to ensure the program successfully meets the community's goals.
Although the Greene Towne Countrie program provides important benefits to a community on its own, many communities have been able to attract funding from other sources following their participation in the program. In the past, these funds have been used for housing rehabilitation, the construction of community centers and the creation of social programs. These activities have helped to further Philadelphia Green's goals of instilling pride and strengthening community leadership within inner-city neighborhoods.

New York City
There are probably fewer cities in the country which pose more difficulties to a greening effort than New York City.
Its five boroughs are comprised of hundreds of neighborhoods 35 which have minimal amounts of green space and few ideal places for the installation of new projects. Violence, drug traffic and prostitution, in combination with other forms of crime are a daily occurrence in many neighborhoods. However, the city has had remarkable success in turning many vacant lots, which previously were sites for illegal activities, into productive garden plots. An estimated 700 gardens can be found throughout the city (Cohn 1991: 79). This study briefly describes four programs which work to provide green space for the city's residents.

Operation GreenThumb
Operation The program provides assistance, for a period of three to five 37 years, to residents in order to help them make the garden a permanent addition to their community.
Green Bank provides 50 / 50 matching funds to existing parks and gardens for supplies and materials. This allows groups to make purchases at one-half the wholesale price.
Grow Truck is a mobile program which loans tools to garden groups. It transports and distributes materials to sites and provides horticultural information to gardeners. It also works with other organizations, such as the Green Guerrillas, New

York Botanical Garden's Bronx Green-Up and the New York City
Street Tree Consortium in implementing their programs.

Green Guerillas
The Green Guerillas is a non-profit organization made up of approximately 300 volunteers who work with residents throughout the City in establishing gardens (Green Guerillas 1991) . Based in the Bowery, the group dates back to the 1970's and were the first to recognize the benefits community gardens could provide to the City's residents (Cohn 1991: 81).
They focus their efforts in neighborhoods, elderly housing projects and residences for the homeless and people with AIDS (Green Guerillas 1991). Their work in assisting neighborhood groups who were attempting to create gardens on their own caused the City to establish its own program, Operation GreenThumb.
Although they undertake projects throughout the City, the Approximately ninety percent live in rental units (Marietta 1992 a non-profit agency is interested in buying a piece of property but must wait for funding to do so, the city will lease the land for the creation of a garden on a year-to-year basis until such time as the non-prof it obtains the necessary funds (Lepore 1992).
The size of a Land Trust garden is determined by the dimensions of the lot and range from eight to fifty plots. An average individual plot is 4' x 16' and is rented to a gardener for ten dollars a year. Plot fees are used to pay for a variety of materials which may include fencing, compost, fertilizer, pest management supplies such as fungicides, and water. Timber is also a necessary expense since the high incidence of lead in the soil calls for the construction of raised beds. A limited supply of tools are available for use and seeds are often donated by seed companies for distribution to gardeners. With the total cost of a new garden approximately $3000, it is clear that the plot fee is merely a token payment. For many low-income families, however, growing their own vegetables for less money than it would cost to buy them is a necessity and higher fees might cause some participants to drop out.
Regulations in the gardens are few but they are strictly enforced. A potential gardener is required to sign a contract with the Land Trust and abide by its requirements. In April, a Saturday is designated as a clean-up day and members participate in clearing debris and readying the site for spring planting. A similar day is scheduled in October in preparation for the winter months. Gardeners are expected to perform regular maintenance duties in their individual plots.
If this is not done, two warnings are given after which the gardener is asked to leave the program. This is important since a carefully-tended garden signals the routine presence of people and tends to discourage vandals. The Southside gardens have experienced minor vandalism and it has been found that a locked garden is an effective deterrent. The rules have not discouraged people from joining the program and many gardens have a waiting list of potential participants.

This spring, in cooperation with the Socio-Economic
Development Center for Southeast Asians, the Land Trust has begun a Farmer's Market in the Kennedy Plaza area of downtown Providence (Marietta 1992). The Market is held twice a week to enable residents and people employed in the city to purchase fresh produce, while at the same time, providing an opportunity for community gardeners to supplement their income. Although it has been held only a few weeks, initial sales show it to be a success. Its most important contribution, however, may be the incentive it provides to people to become involved in an activity which allows them to help themselves.

Indicators of Change
The majority of the literature available on community gardens and the effects they have on neighborhoods and their residents is anecdotal in nature.
Peoples' perceptions of changes in their communities once a garden has been established have been the focus of most of it. In collecting data for this project, no studies were found which used statistical or experimental data for evaluation purposes. The Dudley Street garden was created in 1983, has thirtytwo plots and is located several lots away from the headquarters. Its size has recently been reduced to provide land for development which, it is believed, will be in the form of low-income housing (Bassow 1991) .  (Bassow 1991) . It is not known exactly how many additional plots will be created.
The fourth garden in the study is located on a section of

Potters Avenue which runs between Eddy Street and Prairie
Avenue. This garden is located in the most run-down section of the city, South Providence. A few infill housing units have recently been constructed on the street but the majority of it is lined with tenement apartments, many in poor condition. The location where a crime is recorded as having taken place is either listed as a building address or as 11 000 11 , designating that no structure is involved and has most likely occurred along the street. The accuracy of this location is questionable since certain crimes may occur on one street but the perpetrator may be apprehended on a neighboring street.
There is no method to determine the accuracy of the location.
Most of the categories used are self-explanatory with the possible exception of two -robbery and larceny. This suggests an overall decrease between 1989 and 1991.

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The time of day a crime occurred during the May to September period was studied to see if there was a possible link between longer daylight times with more activity, and fewer crimes. If so, the establishment of a garden with its day-long presence of people could help to reduce rates even more during daylight hours. Two time periods were considered, 6 am to 9 pm and 9 pm to 6 am. Three crimes were selected which were likely to occur out of doors and considered to be more sensitive to detection by onlookers.
These included larceny, robbery and breaking and entering. Individual occurrences for each category were placed in one of the two time periods for the three years and the results tallied.
The results show that out of 3 6 possible cases, the majority of crimes occurred during daylight hours 24 times, or 67%, and occurred during nighttime hours 4 times, or 11%. In eight cases, 22%, the same number of incidents took place in each time period. Potters Avenue was the exception with an equal number of crimes occurring during the day, during the night and equally occurring both day and night. This appears to show that, at least in the categories of larceny, robbery and breaking and entering, more incidents take place during the day than during the night. This is in opposition to the commonly-held belief that thieves are more active when they are harder to detect, as under the cover of darkness.
In these instances, gardens and the increased presence of people in them seem to have no effect on these crimes. A more Without funding, a single planting would cost an individual $75 per tree so planting as a group is an relatively easy, cost-free way to provide shade and greenery to a neighborhood.
In a telephone interview with its coordinator, Lesley Urgo (1992), it was explained that individuals and groups 58 apply to the Endowment for funds to cover the cost of a tree and its planting. This fall she estimates fifteen sites will be chosen to receive funds, although over forty-five applications have been received. Only those sites with a high involvement of resident participation will be considered.
This can present a problem since many of the neighborhoods have a high turnover in resident population. Peoples' interest in caring for property which they do not personally own and for which they had no initial involvement in is often low. Also, the Endowment does not award funds for a "piecemeal" approach to planting. They attempt to plant trees in proximity to each other in order to make an impact, such as along one side of a street. This necessitates the involvement of many residents and is often difficult to achieve.
Although the Endowment's approach differs from the city's, it was also difficult to obtain data from them to try to establish a link with the gardens and the planting of trees.
As an alternative to this data, a windshield survey was done to locate any young trees existing along the four study streets.
Dudley Street, the site of one of the first gardens, had one tree. Its existence and apparent good health, however, may be due to factors other than the nearby garden. The original founder of the Land Trust, Deborah Schimberg, resides on the street with her family in a renovated tenement house.
The Schimbergs appear to have invested much time and money in 59 their surroundings and this attention has probably been extended to the recently-planted tree in the vicinity of their home. It may also have been planted at their request in which case the tree carries a bias with it for evaluation purposes.
Of the four gardens studied, the one on Somerset Street is the largest and appears to be well-cared for. it is unlikely the garden had any effect in the planting of these trees.

A review of the area of Potters Avenue between Prairie
Avenue and Eddy Street showed no new plantings of trees. It appears there has never been an effort to plant here so the lack of trees can not be attributed to neglect on the part of residents.

Conclusion
A link between street tree planting and the creation of a community garden does not appear to be possible in this study. The primary data needed to make an accurate evaluation was lacking. In its absence, secondary data was used which was of minimal assistance in establishing a cause and effect relationship.

Special Vacant Lot Program
The Providence Redevelopment Agency through its Special Vacant Lot Program is responsible for the disposal of vacant land in the city's neighborhoods, as described above. Land available for the creation of gardens must measure less than 3200 square feet, be rejected for purchase by adjacent property owners and be found unsuitable for use as low-income housing (Providence Dept. of Planning 1991). The zoning designation for these lots and the number of lots in each zone are as follows: Rl light residential 5 lots R2 2-family units 2 R3 multi-family units 32 R4 apartments houses 6 Ml light industrial 1 Zoning information for one lot in the Broad and Elmwood section was unavailable. As

Summary
This study attempted to quantify subjective observations reported by neighborhood residents and agencies following the establishment of a community garden.
In the case of the Southside Land Trust's program this was not possible to do.
Al though some changes were detected, the results were not sufficient to provide a cause and effect relationship.
The time period used in the study was not of a sufficient duration to provide data which could be extracted from biasing conditions which may have existed.
In the event an influencing factor was detected, it may have been possible to retain enough data unaffected by it, if the time period had been longer. Results are highly subject to influencing factors which may take a longer time period to be recognized.
It is mandatory that their effects be incorporated into a study before any absolute conclusions are formed. It is also likely that three years is not a long enough time span to detect emerging trends.
In the case of this study, the sample size was not sufficiently large enough, nor the time period long enough to provide data on which accurate conclusions could be drawn.
However, it may still be possible to do so once these deficiencies are corrected.

CONCLUSION
The revitalization of this country's urban areas multifaceted task which will require keen insight innovative approaches in order to bring about change.
is a and The specialized knowledge of professionals will be needed in addressing diverse issues which share the common goal of