Fighting poverty with flowers

From Bloomberg Business:

The Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia, named for a summer house built for a federal judge in the early days of the Republic, was once home to the city’s wealthiest families. Today, 48 percent of the area's households earn less than $15,000 a year, and the median home value is about $58,000.

Even in a city with more than 40,000 vacant lots, Strawberry Mansion stands out for its moonscape of blighted parcels. “It’s just poverty, really,” said Keith Green, an associate director of landscape management at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, as he surveyed the rubble of a demolished building on a recent tour.

Beneath that blunt explanation is a series of problems common to plenty of older U.S. cities. Philadelphia shed industrial jobs in the second half of the 20th century, leaving homeowners unable to maintain an aging housing stock. The city demolished abandoned buildings, creating vacant lots, which researchers have linked to lower nearby property values and higher crime rates -- leading more residents to abandon their homes.

Since 2003, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has turned 8,000 of Philadelphia’s vacant lots into simple parks, making it an unlikely player in the city’s battle with urban decay. Founded in 1827 by a group of gentleman farmers, the organization is best known for hosting the world’s largest indoor flower show. At this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show, which finished its nine-day run on Sunday, visitors were greeted by a 12-foot waterfall, a statue of a buffalo, and the sweet smell of hyacinths, crocuses, and other forest flowers.

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