Lots of Green

Lots of Green is an innovative vacant land reuse program focused on comprehensively reactivating vacant land in the focus neighborhoods where YNDC operates.

Lots of Green was created to address the negative conditions caused by demolition and the resulting unmaintained vacant lots. The program provides a new way of viewing vacant land as an opportunity to create productive and maintained spaces and economic opportunities for residents. The program’s first year of operation (2010) was focused in the Idora neighborhood on Youngstown’s southwest side. Over the course of 2010, Lots of Green returned 115 parcels of vacant land (approx. 14.5 acres) to productive use. The parcels were transformed utilizing a number of green strategies including: the development of 5 community gardens, many sideyards, a stormwater mitigation demonstration site, an expansion of the adjacent Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District, several pocket parks, a block long demonstration site which includes the development of a soil research project led by The Ohio State University. This work has dramatically changed the Idora neighborhood over the course of the past twelve months and is working toward the continued creation of a more resilient and sustainable neighborhood.

In 2011, Lots of Green will continue in Idora and expand to other areas of the city.

Resources: 

Vacant-Land-Reuse-Resource-Guide.pdf

Lots of Green Overview.pdf