When I was walking around Seattle last summer I noticed quite a few public gardens that had sprung up by ordinary citizens. They just took abandoned pieces of land and planted vegetables and flowers in them. The thing that shocked me the most is that people respected the gardens and did not ransack them for free food and what not. Are there public gardens where you live? Have you ever thought about starting one?
That's the thing I loved about my hometown. They're quirky and love livening up the place haha. It's like the whole knitted wraps for trees and the dressing up of Lenin in Fremont. Everywhere I went in Seattle there were tons of microparks all over the place, hidden away in random neighborhoods, ect. I miss it so much. The Midwest has nothing like that where I live.
@ kevinkimers: Generally abandoned lots are often tied up in legal battles with dozens of liens, owners who have long since passed on, out of state owners who can't be contated, ect so there's not much the city will do to discourage the planting of plots since they're not permanent structures. There's no actual laws being broken because you're not breaking and entering, putting in a structure, and you're not squatting. You're just taking something that's abandoned for all intents and purposes and just putting plants on it
The Midwest has lots of empty land and lots where some people are trying to do the same but it's not working. The mentality for it isn't here. There's hardly any sense of communal appreciation the for the places people live in and since crime's sky high in this region and a huge lack of education coupled with high rates of unemployment and low paying jobs- people don't care about keeping things nice. That and the lack of fostering creativity makes it hard for people to keep at it.
