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Community greens can be developed in several
ways:
Residents and other property owners merge parts of their
backyards into a larger shared yard, park, or garden.
In more and more communities, people's backyards are divided
by tall privacy fences. While these fences do give residents
a feeling of privacy, they also cut down considerably on people's
ability to get to know their neighbors. This is especially true
in our modern culture in which Americans are more likely to
spend time in their backyards and on their back decks and patios.
In
working together to create a community green, the residents
of a block would jointly decide how much of each of their yards
they would want to contribute to their community green and how
much they would want to remain their solely private backyards.
The commons could be as narrow as a pathway that unifies the
inside of the block and allows neighbors to visit with one another
more easily. The neighbors would also decide what kinds of fencing
and other materials would be appropriate to separate their backyards
from the community green. Rather than a tall privacy fence,
they would more likely choose a lower three to four foot picket
fence or a low wall or hedge. Landscaping can be used to give
those residents who desire a greater sense of privacy. Of course,
each fence should have a gate in it to give people easy access
to their community green.
Click here
to see six steps that residents and property owners could take
to create a community green on their block.
These images are of The Meadows, a
community green in Berkeley, California that was developed by
removing all of the back fences on an existing block of detached
single family homes. Residents
work with their city government to transform dysfunctional or
neglected alleys into verdant pathways that encourage neighborly
interaction. Alleys have become a popular tool for
removing automobile parking from the public streetscape. However,
numerous older cities have alleys that are no longer used for
parking access in many cases because the alleys are too narrow
and the backyards or garages too small for easy parking access.
When alleys do not have the regular use of people coming and
going in their cars, they can become neglected and even dangerous
places that negatively affect the entire interior of the block.
In such cases, residents are likely to separate their yards
from the alleys with tall fences or walls.
These neglected alleys present a tremendous opportunity to create
a new amenity inside residential blocks - a green pathway that
brings neighbors together. If the alley is gated where it meets
public streets, residents are likely to feel more comfortable
replacing their tall privacy fences with lower picket fences.
Paved or cemented alleys can be replaced with narrower pathways
lined with greenery, trees, and flower beds. Neighbors can also
install sitting areas and children's play equipment where they
choose.
Grindall's Yard in the Federal Hill neighborhood
of Baltimore serves as a model for how other alleys in the city
could be transformed into community greens. The existing alley
is in the Patterson Park neighborhood. -
Developers
incorporate community greens into new housing developments
Developers are increasingly interested in creating neighborhoods
that have a sense of place. They recognize that growing numbers
of Americans want to live somewhere with a sense of community.
While some developers will put the open space in a new community
off to one side next to the retention pond, there are numerous
innovative developers who are instead weaving the green space
into the fabric of the community. Some of these new communities
accommodate community greens and alleys by placing
the community greens in front of the homes.
Click here
to see an example of an affordable housing development called
Stoney Creek that was built around several community greens.
Also, see our Resources
page for links to other sites that show examples of community
greens that were created by developers.
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Greenwood
Avenue Cottages (left) is a “pocket
neighborhood” of eight small houses around a community
green developed by the
Cottage Company and designed by
Ross Chapin Architects. |
The Hamlins at Highpoint (right)
is a new community underconstruction outside of Chicago
in which houses are built facing community greens with
alleys in the rear. |
How
can you create a community green on your block?
1. Develop buy-in amongst residents and property owners.
Get your neighbors excited about creating a community green. Try
to recruit as many homes as you can that are contiguous –
both front to back and side to side. Recruit both homeowners and
renters.
2. Design your community green. Work with your neighbors
to create a vision for your community green. How do you want to
use the shared space? How would you like to landscape the green?
What design elements would you like – benches, paths, shelter,
play equipment, etc… What kind of gates and fencing, if
any, would you like to use to separate your private space from
the shared space? If you are using fencing, then how much of your
backyards do you want to contribute to your shared green?
3. Decide on legal framework. How formal a legal arrangement
is appropriate? As more households join your community green,
it will become more important to create legal mechanisms that
ensure that as homes change hands, the new owners will participate
in the shared arrangement.
4. Decide on what kind of entity should “own”
and manage the community green(if any). You may want to
create a community association, nonprofit, or other kind of entity
through which the members of the community green will manage and
maintain your shared space.
5.Develop plan for financing the implementation and
maintenance of the community green. How much will implementation
cost? Will you need a loan? Will you require households to pay
dues?
6.Tear down those fences! This is something that you can do
all at once or incrementally. Decide what you can do on your
own and what implementation steps will require hiring outside
help.
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