Andre Joseph Gallant

via heidelberg.org

Detroit gets a hard rap as far as urban blight goes and most of it’s deserved. Left to fester as the region siphoned off auto jobs over the last few decades, the downtown and suburbs of the once bustling car making metropolis are covered in weeds and plywood. And hosting the NCAA Final Four doesn’t make it easy to hide these economic bruises.

One area businessman has a great idea with what to do with some of the blighted properties: plant the heck out of them. Not only does this aid in decreasing food deserts within an urban environment, it also creates place in a way that lofts and public art works never will. Life, both human and plant, is the gorgeous, intrinsic piece of gardening/farming. And while you can argue over the elitism of the organic/local food movement, it’s more fun to do so with dirt in your fingernails than horn-rimmed glasses balanced on the tip of your nose. (That last part was a hipster jab, sorry.) 

Didn’t Detroit’s practice of leveling slums earn it the name “urban prairie?” The stars are aligning.

 

 

What about urban agriculture? That is what John Hantz, CEO of Hantz Farms LLC, is proposing. Hantz, a Detroit resident, wants to take vacant properties and develop them into viable commercial farm operations, providing fresh, locally grown food for Detroiters while at the same time creating jobs and enhancing the city’s tax base.

He plans to start with 70 acres on the city’s lower east side and grow fruits and vegetables to meet the increasing demand for locally grown produce.

via Plowing new ground | battlecreekenquirer.com | The Enquirer.

Related?:

This story gives a great example of art for the public good. 

Also, foreclosed homes are going for $40 dollars in the Motor City.

Turning foreclosed homes into parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and urban gardens could be just what the Motor City needs to revitalize itself.  Considering the price of these foreclosed homes, it would be affordable for any grassroots organization to undertake.

via go media