Financial measures approved today by City Council will support community garden and urban farming projects on the City’s South Side.

Bronzeville Alliance Neighborhood Garden
Three vacant, City-owned parcels near the northwest corner of East 42nd Street and Calumet Avenue in Grand Boulevard will be redeveloped as a community garden through a proposed land sale to NeighborSpace land trust. To be sold for $1 per parcel, the .30-acre Bronzeville Alliance Neighborhood Garden will serve as partner site for the Farmers for Chicago program, which helps emerging farmers that have completed a U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved farm training program to launch their own sustainable farming businesses. To be managed by Growing Power, the garden’s produce will be sold to area grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers markets.

70th & Dorchester Community Garden
City-owned land at 70th Street and Dorchester Avenue in South Shore will be improved and sold for $1 to the NeighborSpace land trust, which will own and insure the property for continued use by local residents. The .72-acre site, which has vegetable beds, flower beds and fruit trees, will receive about $160,000 in additional improvements, including water access, environmental work, new plants, fencing, a shed and compost bin. The work will be funded by Open Space Impact Fees, which are collected by the City of Chicago from new residential developments to help expand the amount of open space in each of the City’s 77 community areas.

Eat to Live Englewood Farm
Three City-owned lots at 70th Place and Princeton Avenue in Greater Grand Crossing will be sold to the NeighborSpace land trust for $1 each to provide a permanent home for Eat to Live Englewood Farm, which serves as an incubator for people interested in agricultural food production. The site will be managed by the Angelic Organics Learning Center, a sustainable food-oriented nonprofit that is currently leasing the space. Angelic Organics intends to improve the space with an irrigation system, produce washing and processing area, storage shed, and composting area.

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