Is Detroit Being Reclaimed By Nature?

"After decades of blight, large swathes of Detroit are being reclaimed by nature. Roughly a third of this 139-square-mile city consists of weed-choked lots and dilapidated buildings. Satellite images show an urban core giving way to an urban prairie. Rather than fight this return to nature, Mr. Weertz and other urban farmers have embraced it, gradually converting 15 acres of idle land into more than 40 community gardens and microfarms -- some consuming entire blocks... Urban farmers face a number of challenges, from finding water (renegades tap into fire hydrants...) to eliminating broken glass, concrete and unsavory contaminants like lead from the soil. Hayfields, mistaken for 'ghetto grass,' have been mowed down by the Department of Public Works just as they are ready to be cut and baled."

Thanks to Laura Kranz