Kansas City Program to Turn Vacant Lots Into Urban Forest

Kynn Horsley updates the progress on a project in Kansas City to transform "weed-choked vacant inner city land into productive mini-forests of fast-growing trees."

Recently, the Kansas City Land Bank and Chicago-based Fresh Coast Capital announced "an initial $1 million investment for urban land revitalization projects in Kansas City, St. Louis and four other cities," reports Horsley.

The announcement also included details of the first planting in Kansas City, to be located "in the 1900 block of Montgall Avenue, on two acres of land that used to have houses but are now vacant." Horsley adds:

It’s been a dumping ground and is overgrown with brush and poor-quality trees that need to be removed. But it will make an excellent site, Mendez said, for the planting of about 1,000 hybrid poplar trees.

The article includes more details about the financial arrangement between the Kansas City Land Bank and Fresh Coast Capital as well as more information about the potential benefits of these projects for the environment and the people of Kansas City.