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Office of Participatory BudgetingIdeas in Action
2026–27 · City-wide

Public vegetable gardens on vacant city lots

Resident asks to turn vacant, city-owned or tax-foreclosed lots into free or low-cost public vegetable gardens in neighborhoods with little green space and high food insecurity.

English title and summary written with AI from the resident's text.

The resident's idea, as submitted

The idea

Boston has dozens of vacant, city-owned or tax-foreclosed lots scattered across neighborhoods like Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan. parcels that often sit fenced off, overgrown, and attracting illegal dumping. Create public vegetable gardens.

Who it helps and why

Garden sites would be chosen in neighborhoods with the least green space and highest food insecurity — disproportionately Black, Latino, and immigrant communities. Free or low-cost plots remove the financial barrier to gardening that already exists in wealthier, greener parts of the city, expanding equitable access to fresh food.

Details

Cycle
2026–27
Submitted
August 3, 2026
Neighborhood
City-wide
Portal category
Community
How it was submitted
Individual submission
Submission language
English

Themes grouped with AI from resident idea text.

The same need in other cycles

City-wide ideas in Parks, trees & climate from the other cycles, up to 3 from each.