Transforming vacant lots to community resources:
Gardening the Rust Belt's vacant land
Emily Kern
The big picture
What is the story of America's Rust Belt?
Eighty years ago, cities across the greater Midwest like Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh were booming with industry, fueled by the need during World War II for coal, steel, and manufacturing. This region, shown in the map below, is known as the Rust Belt.
It is marked by access to natural resources like coal and iron ore, and to transportation hubs along the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean, making it invaluable for America's growing industry during the early 1900s.
During World War II Pittsburgh provided 95 million tons of steel, more than Great Britain and all Axis Powers combined.
Populations in Rust Belt cities grew rapidly in the first half of the 20th century, with Chicago counting 3.6 million people in the 1950 census, Philadelphia counting 2.1 million, and Detroit 1.8 million.
After the war, industry transferred to other parts of the world where labor and technology were cheaper, and these Rust Belt cities experienced huge population and economic losses. Cities with aging properties began to demolish properties as the populations decreased, leading to huge numbers of vacant lots.
Populations in these cities today are roughly half of what they were in 1950, presenting these places with a problem to solve: how to use their vacant land?
Pittsburgh not immune to Rust Belt effects
In 1950, Pittsburgh's population peaked at 676.8 thousand people, and by 2023 has dropped to 303.3 thousand.
Average home age: 68 years
Pittsburgh has the 2nd oldest home average in the country, behind Buffalo, and more than double the national average. Half of all homes in Pittsburgh were built before 1942. Because of age, many homes in the city are in disrepair and many have been demolished, leading to vacant parcels.
31.9k vacant parcels
The City of Pittsburgh has identified 31,900 vacant parcels within the city, with 57% privately owned, and 36% owned by the city. 15,400 more are tax delinquent, and 3,200 more are condemned.
246 garden resource sites
Out of these vacant parcels and other urban land, people across the city have been transforming and revitalizing their communities. Grow Pittsburgh has identified 246 community gardens, farms, and composting sites in the greater Pittsburgh area.
Vacant land:
An opportunity for revitalization
Rust Belt cities like Detroit, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh have been transitioning neighborhood blight into neighborhood resources, and filling a growing demand for local food production, by supporting local agriculture on once vacant land.
Zooming In: Enright Garden
In 2009 the City of Pittsburgh purchased a 4100 square foot vacant plot of land in East Liberty for $11,625. It transferred hands to East Liberty Development in 2014, and then to Allegheny Land Trust in 2021.
Today the land is known as Enright Community Garden. It is permanently protected under the land trust, and managed by a combination of local organizations: Grow Pittsburgh, Kentucky Avenue School, and some enthusiastic neighbors.
Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
In 2018, I paid $25 to garden an 8 x 8 foot parcel of land for the summer. That year I grew tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, beets, okra, kale, poppies, chamomile, goldenrod, cucumbers, marigolds, and sunflowers.
After having lived in Pittsburgh at the time for 8 years, I found the new experience of gardening in my neighborhood to be transformative. I walked up the block several times a week that summer to prepare the soil, weed, plant, and harvest. I met neighbors, spent less at the grocery store, and found an activity that I really loved and that was deeply satisfying.
How do community gardens serve us?
My experience is not unique. Research shows that demand for community garden applications grew by 24.7% in 2021, and by 16.5% in 2022, because so many people recognize the benefits of growing food locally in their communities.
Community gardens provide ecological diversity, carbon capture, community placemaking, better health outcomes, increased neighborhood safety, and higher property values.
A 2017 survey of 101 participants in community gardens shows that health and social factors are top motivators for joining a garden.
The Ohio Department of health estimates that "community gardens can lower household food security concerns by up to 90%," and "community gardeners eat 37.5% more fruits and vegetables than non-gardeners."
For me personally, gardens have a very high value: Finding peace/ relaxation, experience of nature, cultural experience (fruit/vegetable cultivation), being creative, experiencing limits, physical and mental balance… With regard to community gardens such as allotment gardens: [add] experiencing community [and] cultural exchange. A life without a garden - and be it only a balcony or terrace - is unimaginable for me. (Germany,45yrs)
It has given me a much greater appreciation for the earth under my feet. The amazing things that the soil and sun and rain can produce. It is magnificent. (USA, 48yrs)
What can you do in your community?
If you want to invest in your community and help put vacant land to good reuse, get involved with your local community gardens!
There are many resources in Pittsburgh to join an existing garden, or start your own. If you live near a vacant lot and it is owned by the City of Pittsburgh or the Urban Redevelopment Authority, it is likely available to transform into a growing lot.
The resources below share information on existing gardens, how to start your own, and how to make sure your soil is safe for growing.
Sources
Donna Armstrong, A survey of community gardens in upstate New York: Implications for health promotion and community development, Health & Place, Volume 6, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 319-327, ISSN 1353-8292, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1353-8292(00)00013-7
Lampert T, Costa J, Santos O, Sousa J, Ribeiro T, et al. (2021) Evidence on the contribution of community gardens to promote physical and mental health and well-being of non-institutionalized individuals: A systematic review. PLOS ONE 16(8): e0255621. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255621
Ohio Department of Health, Community Gardens Plant Seeds for Healthy Nutrition, Healthy Life, 2024. https://odh.ohio.gov/media-center/feature-stories/march-is-national-nutrition-month
Jason Hackworth, University of Toronto School of Cities, Neighbourhood Abandonment in the American Rust Belt, 2023, https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/neighbourhood-abandonment-in-the-american-rust-belt/
Jamie B. Kirkpatrick, Aidan Davison, Home-grown: Gardens, practices and motivations in urban domestic vegetable production, Landscape and Urban Planning, Volume 170, 2018, Pages 24-33, ISSN 0169-2046,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.09.023.
Smart Cities Dive, Vacant Land in Cities Could Provide Important Social and Ecological Benefits, 2025, https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/vacant-land-cities-could-provide-important-social-and-ecological-benefits/59796/
Pauline Marsh, Lucy O Diekmann, Monika Egerer, Brenda Lin, Alessandro Ossola, Jonathan Kingsley,
Where birds felt louder: The garden as a refuge during COVID-19, Wellbeing, Space and Society, Volume 2, 2021, 100055, ISSN 2666-5581, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2021.100055.
Dominik Bieri, Neelakshi Joshi, Wolfgang Wende, Fritz Kleinschroth, Increasing demand for urban community gardening before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening,
Volume 92, 2024, 128206, ISSN 1618-8667, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128206.
Porter CM. What gardens grow: Outcomes from home and community gardens supported by community-based food justice organizations. J Agric Food Syst Community Dev. 2018 Jul 19;8(Suppl 1):187-205. DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2018.08A.002. Epub 2018 Jun 18. PMID: 30766760; PMCID: PMC6372235.
World Population Review, Pittsburgh Population, 2025, https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/pennsylvania/pittsburgh
Grow Pittsburgh, Growers Map, 2025, https://www.growpittsburgh.org/growers-map/
Britannica, Rust Belt, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Rust-Belt
PBS, How Pittsburgh Powered WWII, 2025, https://www.pbs.org/video/americas-arsenal-how-pittsburgh-powered-wwii-nykjzz/
Axios, Pittsburgh Homes Among Oldest in U.S., 2025, https://www.axios.com/local/pittsburgh/2025/06/16/pittsburgh-homes-among-oldest-us
City of Pittsburgh, Vacant, Condemned, Delinquent Parcels, 2025, https://pittsburghpa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/54f843c889a4489e8f65a3c64fe3c8dd
Allegheny County Real Estate Portal, 2025, https://realestate.alleghenycounty.us/GeneralInfo?ID=0084A00236000000&SearchType=2&CurrRow=0&SearchName=&SearchStreet=s%20saint%20clair&SearchNum=214&SearchMuni=&SearchParcel=&pin=0084A00236000000
Grow Pittsburgh, Enright Community Garden, 2025, https://www.growpittsburgh.org/directory/garden/enright-community-garden
