Asphalt gardening is growing in popularity, as more green-thumbed urbanites reclaim the concrete and break ground to turn parking spots into lush, green space.

In Cleveland, OH, raised garden beds maintained by eco-friendly city folk are used for growing flowers, collard greens, cabbage, and other food. Apart from creating a greener aesthetic amidst the harsh city concrete, these parking-spot beds minimize radiated heat and the amount of storm water runoff to the sewer—and discourage cars and clunkers from sullying the cityscape.

City planners in Vancouver have promised 2,010 new community garden plots by the year 2010, and in San Francisco, locals have turned their cramped, car-infested quarters in the Tenderloin into a “National Forest.” The Tenderloin neighborhood, long notorious for its addiction to strip bars and hard drugs, is home to the densest population in all of S.F. It has the highest concentration of apartment buildings in the city and the highest proportion of families and children.
This innovative alley garden helps to feed locals and hopes to inspire other urbanites to start planting—and stop parking.

See also:  Parking Spots to Parks: Park(ing) Day

Sources:
The Tyee.
The Plain Dealer.
Treehugger.

Photos via CarbonFarm & via flickr by Spacing Magazine.

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