New Releases: A Field Guide for Transforming Vacant Lots

Jennifer Chambers reports on a new tool to help Detroit residents "transform vacant land from neighborhood liabilities to landscaped assets." The "Field Guide to Working With Lots," released by Detroit Future City (DFC), is available in print and online, with step-by-step instructions for how to transform vacant lots.

The guide offers 34 lot designs, according to Chambers, "developed specifically for Detroit’s land conditions and with input from Detroiters, DFC officials said. They range from a clay soil meadow to dumping preventer to basement rain garden. Each design makes recommendations for the level of experience, upkeep and stormwater needed, as well as the cost."

"The field guide website includes a 'Discover Your Lot' quiz, a glossary of terms and the lot designs that can be downloaded. The website will also have images and updates on examples of other organizations, groups and residents working with land in Detroit, including examples of where designs from the field guide are being built," adds Chambers.

The article includes more detail on how the guide was developed.