Community Garden Essay

A community garden is a local garden that is shared by neighbors and the local community. Community gardens have been proven to help reduce crime and enlighten the environment. Not only crime and emotional benefits, but economic benefits are another outcome caused by community gardens. The only thing that stands in the way of more community gardens are the people’s work ethics. Starting the process of constructing a community garden is the most difficult section, but the benefits definitely outweigh the first month’s work. Community gardens keep citizens safe, create a healthier environment, and encourage economic growth. Proposals to increase the number of community gardens in the nation can include tax breaks and local subsidies. There are

“Community gardens offer a focal point for community organizing, and can lead to community-based efforts to deal with other social concerns” (“Multiple Benefits”). This allows a gathering where community residents are active in the environment. This automatically lowers the crime rate because citizens are active in their community. The garden creates “eyes on the street,” similar to neighborhood surveillance. This allows children to have a safe environment to where they can interact with each other and learn how to improve their environment while having a great time. It is shown that crime decreases in neighborhoods as the amount of green space increases. “In a study of violent and property crimes around public housing buildings in Chicago, buildings with a high level of vegetation that doesn 't obscure view (such as most garden plants) had 52% fewer crimes than those with no landscaping. Buildings with medium levels of this type of vegetation had 42% fewer crimes” (“Multiple Benefits”). This study shows that green space, similar to community gardens, deter crimes. Crime prevention, a benefit from community gardens, keeps children safe which also allows parents to be stress free creating a healthier