The city is planning on adding 500 acres of parkland, mostly through the conversion of small vacant lots into pocket parks.The ambitious plan—dubbed Green2015—will be released Tuesday. The upsides to increased green space are ten fold. The Inquirer put it this way:
The plan’s strategy is purposely structured to allow the city to tackle a variety of other urban problems simultaneously. By distributing pocket parks around the city, Green2015 could help Philadelphia provide more play space in underserved neighborhoods, combat childhood obesity by creating exercise space, reduce polluting water runoff reaching the city’s rivers, raise property values, and attract new development.
Grid‘s upcoming issue (hitting the streets this week) tackles the city’s efforts to combat stormwater run-off, and programs like this can make a huge difference.
