Urban Beautification In Lansing, MI Eastside Neighborhood

Lansing, MI is a town filled with old trees, historic homes and distinctive neighborhoods. I live in the Eastside district and I also rent a large community garden plot there. Currently, there are 80 community gardens that are being leased in the city by the Ingham County Land Bank, plus additional shared gardens organized by the Garden Project. This morning, I drove to the resource center to pick up some plants. Along the way, I snapped some photos from my car that are representative of some of the neighborhood houses. It is a mix of residential and light industrial, with mostly older homes. Some of them are in a sad state of disrepair or abandoned, and that is where the Land Bank and Garden Project is stepping in to revitalize the area. Here are some pictures of the blighted areas. After the first set of pictures, I will show 2 of the larger community gardens that are built where there used to be abandoned homes. My garden is on the block with the last picture, showing the house with the red van. 

Now, here are the photos of the community gardens that are being integrated into the neighborhood. The great thing about this project is that excess food grown in the gardens is also donated to a food bank and distributed into the community, plus the gardens are a great place for people to volunteer and socialize. I often see senior citizens working in the gardens, chatting, and giving gardening advice. These 2 particular gardens are located on Marcus Street, behind Foster Park.

Finally, here are some pictures of the Garden Project Resource Center, also on Marcus Street, in the rear of Foster Park. I was able to pick up some free plants today that were donated by Meijer, mostly herbs like mint, chives, and basil. You need to register online to use the Garden Center and it is for home gardeners and community gardeners. So, if you want to spruce up your home with some flowers or grow your own food, you can register online to obtain free plants and borrow tools from the Garden Center. They have friendly volunteers that have plenty of advice about gardening and cooking your produce.