Philly’s cleaning up!  Both the ‘city blocks’ & ‘vacant lots’ are both being judged HARD in Philly this week by two Philly-based organizations.
The Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee (PMBC) is in the middle of judging 17 city blocks to wrap up the 2012 “cleaning season” in Philadelphia. The 2012 Clean Block Contest selected finalists from over 6,600 organized blocks which had cleanups throughout the year. Fun stats for this year’s beautification efforts include:

• 9320 blocks cleaned
• 70,526 volunteers
• 63,937 bags collected
• 1.4 million pounds of debris

On a smaller scale, the other contest judged spaces lot by lot. The Take Back Vacant Land Campaign announced winners on 4th & Manton Street and 2416 Mascher Street of this summer’s best vacant lots. The goal was to take back vacant, blighted land in exchange for productive uses to benefit our communities. It’s a fun spin to highlight the blight issues of Philly and encourage neighbors to collaborate on beautiful efforts instead.

Pearl Brown, winner of 7th district, started her beautiful garden in the 1970s. The professionally landscaped Norris Square area now spans 3 lots and filled with flowers, bushes, seating areas & plots to grow food.

The Manton Street Garden (1st district winner) brought old & new community members together weekly for 5 months to transform the lot. But, the hard work paid off:

“In a very short amount of time, it became clear that this was more than just an effort to increase neighborhood safety and beautification – it was the perfect vehicle to unify and activate our diverse community,” said Mark Berman, President of the Friends of Manton Street Park & Community Garden.

 Photos: Take Back Vacant Lots Facebook page

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Julie Hancher is the co-founder and Executive Director of Green Philly, an independent media organization making sustainability accessible, affordable and actionable. Since launching Green Philly in 2008, she has grown it from a passion project into a leading voice for local climate storytelling, pairing impactful journalism with community events and experiences. Julie is a frequent speaker on climate, media innovation and the future of local journalism, and is the creator of SustainPHL and EcoFair. Outside of Green Philly, you can find her hiking, biking, traveling, or exploring Philadelphia. View all posts by Julie Hancher