Case Study: Portland

Tara

Case Study: Portland

Our group decided to do our grant project on community gardens in Philadelphia. I researched some of the top cities that had community gardens and Portland Oregon is one of the best. The city of Portland offers more than 30 different community gardens dispersed throughout the city. When building new gardens they try to fill in the gaps between the other gardens and place them in locations that lack parks and community gardens nearby. It started out with only three community gardens in 1975 and has increased since. Their programs try to build at least 1 or 2 new gardens a year depending on the funding they receive. The gardens are funded by private donors, local residents, government grants, and capital funding. Citizens find community gardens beneficial because they are able to grow food cheaply by only paying 45 dollars a month for a plot. They also offer school programs to children to learn how to garden and are pleasing to the eyes. “You can view a small fruit demonstration at the Brentwood Community Garden site, a compost demonstration at the Fulton Community Garden site, and some gardens also give you the chance to view local wildlife.” (yahoo) They also offer workshops like "Intense Vegetable Gardening", "Bee Handling Workshop", and "Sausage Making Workshop". There are waiting lists to apply to be able to garden in a plot and may take years until you are able to receive a plot but since they are building more gardens it is more likely to receive a plot. There is a request form you fill out on their website Portland Parks and Recreation website and wait and see to start gardening. Philadelphia could learn alot from Portland by placing more community gardens around the city and offer diverse programs to the community, not just the plot users.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/443954/community_gardens_in_portland_oregon_pg2.html?cat=32

Community Gardens In Portland

Community Garden in Portland