Hongbin Gao, Manager and Landscape Designer, Atlantic States Legal Foundation, Inc.

Track: Applied

Abstract

Urban vacant lots and derelict land have long been associated with numerous issues in urban environments. In Syracuse, New York, scores of tax delinquent or City-owned vacant lots are being transformed into various types of green space using LID practices through the Save The Rain Vacant Lot Program. The Save The Rain Vacant Lot Program is a collaboration among Onondaga County, City of Syracuse, Atlantic States Legal Foundation, Greater Syracuse Land Bank, a forthcoming urban land trust, and local communities. Since its creation as part of Onondaga County’s effort to reduce combined sewer overflows and meet water quality standards mandated in a court order, the Save The Rain Vacant Lot Program integrates green stormwater infrastructure, urban agriculture, and urban forestry to transform the city's vacant lots into different types of green islands that at the same time allow community participation in their operation and maintenance. An inter-municipal agreement allows Onondaga County to utilize the City owned vacant lots for this purpose, while the recently established Greater Syracuse Land Bank assists with project planning and will help transfer vacant lots transformed under this program to a soon-to-be-established urban land trust, whose mission is to manage built projects and preserve them as urban green space.