Growing Community in Downtown Tacoma (12. February 2007, 09:25 by Derek Young) ~ Let's Do It
Are you interested in helping transform downtown Tacoma? Are you tired of empty lots that are several years from being developed? Do you have an interest in helping build a new Tacoma community?
Over the last two years I’ve heard from many people about how they wish Tacoma had more community gardens. Why? Because community gardens can be a great catalyst for neighborhood change by stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, conserving resources, promoting exercise, and delivering an educational experience. Plus, there’s a satisfaction in eating food you produced yourself with your own hands.
From what we hear, community gardens came up at last week’s Coffee and Rhetoric. Stacy Kovats at Marcato has offered part of her project’s property for use as a pea-patch, or community garden. There are organizational steps required to make it happen, but the first step is finding people that are interested in a downtown garden. Do you want to learn more? Are you interested in helping transform downtown? Even if you don’t want to garden, do you want to help? Contact me and let’s see what we can do.
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Very cool to see this happening.
Here is some more info about Seattle’s P-Patch Program, which has gardens all over the city, just for a frame of reference.
I know that at least some of the green space on the hillside is currently used by Guadalupe Gardens in a community garden sort of arrangement that also helps to provide food for the underprivileged. I think there is also a CSA share available out of this program. Unfortunately I’m short on details, maybe someone else can chime in…
Worth also noting that there are already a few community gardens around Tacoma. Metro Parks has 3 community gardens: Franklin Park, Kandle Park, and the garden at 21st and Proctor. None of which are that near downtown, but it bears mentioning…
1 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Feb 12, 09:38 AM
That’s great of Stacy to put that offer out there. Now let’s see if we can get UWT and the City of Tacoma to put their 100 or so acres out there too!
2 | Posted by morgan | Feb 12, 09:55 AM
A GREAT contact for information for this project would be Carrie Little. She is the director of Mother Earth Farm in Orting, which is a program of the Emergency Food Network. Many years ago she was involved in (maybe in charge of?) the community gardens all over the Hilltop/downtown area. If I am not mistaken, the Guadalupe Gardens (near 15th and South G Streets) is all that is left. Carrie is an amazing person and an invaluable resource for all things soil-related.
4 | Posted by Mary | Feb 12, 10:02 AM
I’m on the waitlist for the Proctor garden, but I think I and my gardening buddy would be very interested in a patch downtown, not least b/c we’re not sure we’re even getting a spot w/ Metro Parks.
5 | Posted by Heidi | Feb 12, 11:38 AM
At Coffee & Rhetoric, I recall talking with someone about the potential to somehow tie this into the food co-op that is being discussed a little further up the hill.
While I worked for a couple of years with an organization on pocket parks and gardens, I know next to nothing about cood co-ops. So for those who do, would using some of this space provide an opportunity for some people to participate in a co-op on the supply side?
6 | Posted by DavidS | Feb 12, 01:13 PM
For those of you who have spent considerate amounts of time in Rust Belt cities like Detroit or Cleveland, the scale of these agricultural operations is much greater than simple community gardens. I remember driving by whole blocks of land covered in crops such as corn and potatoes when I lived in Detroit. Imagine—a viable agricultural industry within the boundaries of one of the country’s largest cities! With all the vacant land in Tacoma, we could certainly do something similar. All those currently vacant hillsides owned by the city and UWT would look really picturesque if they were planted with merlots, pinios, and rieslings. We could come up with some fancy wine name. I think anything resembling a tourist attraction would have no trouble getting through to the Politburo at City Hall.
7 | Posted by drizell | Feb 12, 03:35 PM
Putting some of the Marcato property and eventually some of the other unused/underused lands in the downtown area to use as p-patches is a brilliant idea. This would be a great way to show that density doesn’t have to mean abandoning the natural environment completely. In time the “hanging gardens of Tacoma” could become a real draw for the city.
9 | Posted by Erik S | Feb 12, 07:17 PM
in Seattle one common strategy for locating community gardens is where there is no development permitted, such as under transmission lines where no structures can locate. of course, there are a plethora of open unutilized lots around here all over town, but someday when things are hopping…
on another note, again in Seattle, community gardens are used by many ethnic groups, not just the upper middle class in north Seattle. this has been a major accomplishment of the program—serving underserved communities and doing a killer job at it.
10 | Posted by tom waits | Feb 12, 08:54 PM
My wife said this area could be eligible for this grant.
I would also love to see dahlias covering part of the hillside!
there are a plethora of open unutilized lots around here all over town, but someday when things are hopping…
The usual recommendation is to establish a clear multi-year lease for the garden. Many of the empty lots downtown are slated for something in several years. Marcato has a multi-year plan for its land. Many of the other downtown land owners have long term plans (think UWT). As long as expectations are set up front for both sides, I believe it can work. If we know when the backhoes are coming and plan around that. The community can morph and survive. The individual plot of land doesn’t matter in the long run.
The biggest challenge we may face is that the most successful gardens are usually surrounded by reasonably dense residential development. It provides users of the land as well as site security. So far the land we’re being offered for consideration is relatively light on residents.
Derek-
Good point about the surrounding development and security. While the most determined people will cause trouble regardless, having people always working in the garden will help. If a wide cross-section of people can get involved in the project, I expect we will see a wide swath of hours people choose to work in the garden.
The only time that concerns me is the sunset to 3AM slot. There are a few things that can help this: 1) No substantial tools left on site, 2) Keeping the plots near 15th where there is traffic & lights, 3) Gardener drive-bys. Hopefully, all that can be left to take is food. If someone feels they need it more than the gardners, there are larger community issues.
13 | Posted by DavidS | Feb 13, 08:12 AM
I’m definitely interested in this Tacoma community garden movement! I just got back from the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in LA—and met a woman who works for a non-profit in Denver (Denver Urban Gardens: http://dug.org/) focused solely on supporting/furthering community gardening in Denver. I’m sure there’s similar momentum closer by (Seattle/Olympia) but this woman would be a good resource too. There’s also the American Community Gardening Assoc http://www.communitygarden.org/links.php
with possible small grant opportunities etc.
14 | Posted by Emily | Feb 13, 10:17 AM
There are also neighborhood innovative grants – could help pay to bring in a back-hoe and fresh soil… and soil testing…
15 | Posted by morgan | Feb 14, 02:33 PM
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