Housing
The Tricky Politics of Vacant Lots
A Philadelphia local transformed a lot into a park on his own dime. But the city says the conversion was illegal, and is threatening to sue.
The empty lot next door to Ori Feibush's coffee shop in Philadelphia's Point Breeze neighborhood wasn't really empty. Though vacant, it was full of garbage and overgrown vegetation that made it – like many vacant lots in cities around the world – into a potentially dangerous eyesore. So Feibush did something about it.
After efforts to get the city to clean up the site failed to progress, Feibush took the cleanup efforts into his own hands, removing, he says, upwards of 40 tons of debris from the site. He also leveled parts of the ground, planted trees, built picnic benches, sidewalks and fencing. He invested roughly $20,000 to turn the vacant land into a small neighborhood park. Neighbors were ecstatic.