On Memorial Day, I met a bright, articulate young woman--the kind of gal most employers would be eager to attract and retain--who said she'd be interested in planting a pot of veggies at her apartment, if her lease allowed her to do so.
This amused me...that a landlord would block the growing of fresh herbs or tomatoes or pretty terra cotta containers of Swiss chard...particularly odd, I think, in an age where New Urbanism widely touts the economic value of green spaces. (Pots are itty-bitty green spaces, sure, but the concept is pretty much the same.) It's not just architects, artists, gardeners and other dreamers who envision "greener" as "more profitable." Widely noted regional economic development guru Richard Florida once quipped that "trees" (meaning parks, hike and bike trails, good landscaping/tree canopies, outdoor amenities, etc.) should be added to the "talent, tolerance and technology" triple threat he has long argued every up-and-coming city needs to succeed to attract and retain bright young professionals (like my new friend). There's also some decent historical research to back the "good green spaces=good greenback" notion up.
If green spaces increase a city's appeal and help property owners maintain/increase their property value, wouldn't a few pots be a good thing for a landlord to tolerate?
That question stuck in my head over the last few days, rattling alongside my fascination with my friend having built a garden at her small business and my reflection on the potential role of churches in the Victory Garden (VG) revival. Eventually, thinking along these lines led me to a realization: why couldn't communities seeking to seed the VG renaissance--for its many benefits but especially the potential economic ones--introduce "Percent for Victory" programs (modeled on "Percent for Art" initiatives) to encourage business folks to dedicate some space for Victory Gardens and similar sustainable planting endeavors? As much as I'd love to believe that we'll all come together with shovel and hoe for gardening's benefits to our earth, it'll be the potential economic gains that'll matter more to some of us.
No, my (right-leaning) friends, I'm emphatically not advocating a new tax or fee. Not at all. That's largely why, in my opinion, Percent for Art initiatives never took root in the nation's mid-section: it demanded money upfront. (We'll skip the "one person's definition of 'art' is my definition of kiddie fridge pics" debate. Wrong blog for that fight.) The "percent" in this case would be a percentage of space dedicated to Victory gardens, allotment and/or community gardens, etcetera in new and existing residential developments...and maybe businesses, too. I'm thinking more of a voluntary, grassroots-style initiative--something that illustrates to developers and businesses, through education and imaginative outreach, that "going green" with local plants and veggies can be attractive...profitable and an example of good, old-fashioned stewardship.
The trick in the selling of this idea comes not in the pitch--which a good many people "get" that green is good--but in tapping, training and educating the right messengers.
More on that aspect in a future post...Percent for V-I-C-T-O-R-Y (Part 2).
For Further Exploration:
• San Francisco Victory Gardens 2008 is at the leading edge of community efforts to promote urban sustainability. Yes, their thrust is do-gooder...but then an awful lot of people want very much to live in SF, even with the high cost of living...in part because of the do-gooder, crunchy vibe. There's a lesson there for the rest of us--granola and number crunchers alike, I think.
• Time Magazine ran "How Green is Your Neighborhood" back in 2007; the article does a decent job of summing up New Urbanism and includes a link to a podcast with Andres Duany, the architect behind the movement.
• Years ago, I had the privilege to collaborate with 100 other young people (and Richard Florida) on the Memphis Manifesto. As remarkable a document as it was to create, and it inspired many of us to get even more engaged with our community, it lacked legs (a workable action plan) for implementation on a wider scale. There are other things that I would do differently with the drafting of it now (like clarifying how concerned we were with people outside our demographic), but for now just wanted to mention it in passing, by was of disclosure.
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