What can heal city land tainted by twentieth-century industrial practices and provide an economic boost to Cleveland’s struggling inner-city residents? The answer could come from the growing ranks of urban agriculture entrepreneurs —as well as a new, well-positioned initiative—who look to restore the ecological function of land that Cleveland once reserved for industry.

Just as Ice Age glaciers receded and revealed a fertile landscape along the southern shores of the Great Lakes, the industrial age has left a legacy of tainted land and abandoned blue collar neighborhoods. But, the abandonment of city land also reveals a new opportunity.

“Cleveland has some new pockets of urbanity separated by voids or parcels of empty land,” UDC senior planner Terry Schwarz said during her presentation. “Some have become green spaces, but (having) a lot of land is perceived as blighting. So, how do we deploy vacant land so it’s productive?”

In urban agriculture, certain plants can draw the toxins out of the soil so that food crops can be sown and sold to city residents in local markets. This growth industry known as green infrastructure is being pursued by the Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio (UDC), Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI) and dozens of urban agriculturists among the 200 attendees at the Feb. '08 Entrepreneurs for Sustainability monthly meeting.

UDC and NPI have solid plans to take green infrastructure from concept to reality. In 2008, they will work on a program that identifies vacant lots in the City of Cleveland, both in the city’s landbank and with private owners who might be looking for an opportunity to convert it back into productive use. After mapping the sites and meeting with residents to listen to what they want, the groups will tap a major grant from the Surdna Foundation for pilot projects in stormwater maintenance, phytoremediation or urban agriculture. Initially, they will produce a book that can be used by neighborhoods that contains data, guidance and examples of how to redeploy vacant land in a way that addresses the aesthetic, ecological and economic needs and enhances neighborhood life, Schwarz says.

Cleveland is one of five “weak market cities” in which Surdna will invest $2.5 million during the next five years, says Bobbi Reichtell, Senior VP of Planning at NPI. In the first year, Surdna has asked NPI to explore ways to address the impact of a smaller population and excess vacant land. The project includes:

1) Implement a citywide planning initiative to address the reuse of vacant properties in underutilized areas of Cleveland with the goal of enhancing Cleveland’s sustainability;
2) Create a Regional Learning Network with Pitttsburgh and Youngstown on this topic of right-sizing and reinventing older industrial cities; and
3) Explore ways to enhance the “green” community development work in Cleveland

UDC started producing a series of maps identifying pockets of city decline and growth and the location of green vs. gray land cover. The maps have already been used in plans for the “Forgotten Triangle” a former industrial corridor on Cleveland’s east side that has large swaths of vacant land. UDC’s work for community development organization Burton, Bell, Carr, for example, proposed the city convert a vast sea of vacant lots on the eastern edge of the Triangle into a tree farm for the city to grow its own treelawn trees.

NPI and UDC will continue to develop ideas for land re-utilization strategies that generate aesthetic, ecological and economic benefit to neighborhoods, put land to productive use and begin to create a green infrastructure in Cleveland, Reichtell says.

“We’ll generate plans for pilot demonstration projects to hopefully be funded by the Surdna Foundation in the implementation stage (years 2-5) of this initiative.”

Asked whether private landowners might stand in the way of deploying urban agriculture and greening, Schwarz pointed to the work of Chagrin River Watershed Partners nonprofit group working with private landowners in the Chagrin River watershed to implement rain gardens and wetlands as one model.

Emily and Jessica Levin are already urban farming at their Wonder City Farm in Cleveland. They estimate their urban farm reaps $2-3 per square foot. Other urban farmers presenting at E4S include Gather 'round Farm, a permaculture garden built on asphalt at W. 39th and Lorain Avenue in Cleveland. Besides growing veggies in raised beds of woodchips and compost, Gather ‘round is raising chickens and working on ways to handle toxins carried by stormwater on asphalt.

City Fresh coordinators Lisa Jean Silva and Maurice Small talked about the growth of the urban market gardening program including the addition of seven more Fresh Stops in Cleveland totalling fourteen locations where urban gardeners can sell their food.

Morgan Taggart leads market garden trainings for City Fresh through the OSU Agricultural Extension. The program is running into restrictions on where they can establish new market gardens in the city, Taggart says, but they’re still registering plenty of new gardeners.

Composting food waste from restaurants and the West Side Market in Ohio City and then selling the compost to local gardeners is being pursued by Peter McDermott, a new E4S staffer working on this ‘closed loop’ business idea on the side.

“We’re looking at doing a commercial composting facility on a vacant lot in the Near West Side,” he said to a round of applause.

Entrepreneurs for Sustainability is running a survey on local food activity – if you are an urban farmer or just support local foods, E4S wants to know about it here. And go here for the E4S summary of urban agriculture pioneers.

Resources

Image gallery of urban agriculture and green infrastructure

UDC image gallery of population shifts and land-use in Cleveland