Starting a Green Space in Baltimore
500 N. Block Duncan Street Community Garden, protected since 2012.
If you want to start a new green space in Baltimore, here are some resources:
- Our own handout, Start and Keep a Community Green Space, is a short pep talk for project leaders.
- How to Help Resident Greeners is a tip sheet just for community organizers.
- The Master Gardener program of the University of Maryland Extension helps neighborhood groups plan a greening project, locate the resources to get it done, and learn the principles of sustainable gardening.
- Parks & People offers financial and technical assistance to help community-based groups transform, activate, or maintain public parks and green spaces as places for communities to grow, learn, play and enjoy. Any community groups seeking advice, resources or assistance for a greening project can contact Parks & People for help here to tell them about your group and your project.
Growing Your Green Space
- Check out our guide to installing a shipping container on your site.
- There are many affordable options for solar powered, motion sensor lights. View our guide to solar lights.
Baltimore City Policy on Preserving Community-Managed Open Spaces
Baltimore Green Space worked with Baltimore City government to develop a City policy that favors the preservation of neighborhoods’ urban oases.
- You can download the booklet that the City uses to implement this policy.
- This flow chart provides an overview of the process.
Research
A picture’s worth a thousand words — and so is a research finding. Here are links to academic papers that show how or why community-managed open spaces provide a broad range of benefits to their communities:
- A summary of evidence that green environments are essential for human health, written by a lead researcher in the field.
- An article showing a substantial increase in property values for properties close to New York City’s community gardens.
- Finally, here is our attempt to summarize relevant research.