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Lilli Holden on the Ecology of Vacant Lots
Rethinking the role of vacant lots in Chicago’s West and Southside
© Eric Allix Rogers
In her grandmother’s neighborhood in Chicago, Lilli Holden made an early connection with the outdoors by playing in a vacant lot with a large old tree. Now an emerging environmental leader in Chicago, Lilli has a different perspective on vacant lots, many of which were properties destroyed in the city’s 1968 riots that were never rebuilt due to a lack of investment in Black communities. Because they’re such a big part of the landscape in Black communities on the West and Southside, Lilli wants to rethink how vacant lots fit into the ecology of these economically-challenged neighborhoods.
BirdNote®
Lilli Holden on the Ecology of Vacant Lots
Jonese Franklin: This is BirdNote.
[European Starling calls throughout]
In her grandmother’s neighborhood in Chicago, Lilli Holden made an early connection with the outdoors.
Lilli Holden: There was this huge vacant lot with a big old, I believe at the time, oak tree — it’s a big tree. And so we would just climb the tree. We would play around, just pretty much banter and trash talking as kids. And as I've gotten older, I hadn't realized how fundamental that was in my growth, and the way that I regard nature.
Jonese Franklin: Now an emerging environmental leader in Chicago, Lilli has a different perspective on vacant lots, many of which were properties destroyed in the city’s 1968 riots that were never rebuilt due to a lack of investment in Black communities.
Lilli Holden: The vacant lot at the time as a kid was like an oasis. But as an adult it felt more layered, nuanced, because of the intersections between that space and race riots, lack of investment from the city of Chicago.
Jonese Franklin: Chicago owns about 10,000 vacant lots. Because they’re such a big part of the landscape in Black communities on the West and Southside, Lilli wants to rethink how vacant lots fit into the ecology of these economically-challenged neighborhoods.
Lilli Holden: I would like to see something where there's a push for renovating vacant lots to make it more community friendly. Maybe do a participatory planning process with community members on, ‘Hey, how would you like this vacant lot to be used?’ Ranging from a play space, to a soccer space or a basketball court, to a garden, or even a pocket park or a pond area. I just think it just should really connect to the community.
Jonese Franklin: For BirdNote, I’m Jonese Franklin.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. European Starling ML185120301 recorded by Jay McGowan.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote August 2023
Narrator: Jonese Franklin
ID# holdenl-02-2023-08-16 holdenl-02
Reference:
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/the-chicago-architecture-bien…
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/opinion-they-key-revitalizing-c…
