Mill Creek

As we got off the bus and walked towards Mill Creek Farm it was clear from the physical surroundings that this a neighborhood that has been struggling to get the attention that it needs. Similar to the story of the Dudley Street community, it is a place that is being attacked by gentrification of “modern” homes that visually make the streets nicer but fail to solve the real problem of the neighborhood. Just as the Dudley Street community and many other neighborhoods that are of low income, Mill Creek is facing the issue of people illegally dumping, very limited affordable housing, and overall poor maintenance of the neighborhood both from the surrounding community but also the local government. For a community to bounce back from this hole of hopelessness that many community members feel due to the lack of attention from the local government, the members of the community must make the initiative to come together and say that enough is enough. This is what the Dudley Street community did, this is what the Mill Creek Farm is attempting to do currently. A major step in the right direction of claiming the neighborhood as their own was the creation of the Mill Creek Farm.

            Mill Creek neighborhood is a neighborhood that has faced a struggling history and they have not forgotten that history. In the 1880s, the city of Philadelphia and other interested parties like real estate developers decided that Mill Creek should no longer be above ground instead it should be redirected underground so that housing and other kind of taxable property can be built on top of this valuable land. The 20ft cement and brick pipe remains there today carrying the sewage and rainwater of West Philadelphia into the Schuylkill River however it has caused problems for the neighborhood since its existence. During its existence many architects and developers who appear to have no landscape literacy, have tried to build apartment complexes on top of the land which the pipe runs under. Due to the poor construction of the pipe the land does not have enough strength to withstand a large project such as the apartment complexes and as a result many projects have collapsed and been condemned and demolished. It is clear that this land is not meant for the construction of heavy buildings and an adaptation has been made with the introduction of community gardens. The Mill Creek Farm on 49^th and Brown St. is the community garden that we visited and is a tremendous size. As we were given the tour it was really amazing that someone who was not even there during the construction of the pipe still felt the backlashes of the construction of the redirection of Mill Creek. On the water barrels they had art that reminded them and the people who came into the garden that this pipe is not something to forget but to remember and push forward.

            The Mill Creek Farm is much more than just a remembrance of the past; it is a space that now provides the community for the opportunity to participate in civil ecology which provides a plethora of positive benefits. According the book, Civic Ecology being around nature and living things boost people’s happiness and overall mental health. For a community that is like Mill Creek, who faces all the struggles of living in a low-income neighborhood the community garden provides a place for the people of the community to relax and improve their mental health. Obviously the garden does much more than this, it is a place for the community that may have had tensions come together and tear down those barriers in a neutral space. Though it does have an extended amount of benefits the

benefit that I found most interesting is the educational benefits. It is safe to say that many people in the city may not have the best experience/knowledge of gardening due to there being very limited spaces/opportunities for urban residents to explore gardening. Also, many community gardens are just a common place for the surrounding community to have the opportunity to grow food of their choice in their designated raised bed. But Mill Creek Farm took on the responsibility of being a place that not only can people freely choose the food that they wish to grow and give them their own space for it. They also provide opportunities for the people of the community to come and learn the basics of gardening so that they do not feel like they are excluded just because they do not know how to farm. This was one of the most powerful aspects that I see at the Mill Creek Farm, as we got off the bus and into Mill Creek Farm it was about the same time that the school a couple blocks down got out of school. For me growing up, once school ended I got on my bus and went home and maybe played outside or stuck inside. But for the students at the nearby school they ran down the street towards the garden and were jumping up and down filled with excitement to be back again. The kids gathered up in their group and got right to work with peeling garlic and walked around the garden to see how the crops were doing. In the study done by Katharine Travaline and Christian Hunold on Urban agriculture and ecological citizenship in Philadelphia, they spoke specifically about the benefits that come from community gardens like Mill Creek Farm. They looked at UC High School students who were noted as learning farming skills, marketing skills, and how to work together to achieve their goals. It is safe to assume that the same phenomenon is occurring to the students that go to the Mill Creek Farm after school, it takes a lot of hard work to maintain a farm and be able to continually grow/sell food. Learning these kind of skills at a young age is extremely beneficial for their future and makes them more resourceful individuals. It is interesting to think about now, that people who are in a much worse situation that I was growing up and going to school are able to learn things that I was not given the chance since many suburban schools do not have a local garden.

            Although the community that surrounds Mill Creek Farm is not anywhere close to being perfect, they were forced to deal with the poor decision of the construction of the Mill Creek pipe and have made a significant improvement to their neighborhood. They have come together as a community and made clear that enough is enough. It is a neighborhood that faces similar struggles that other low-income neighborhoods face but are deciding to rise above the walls and become a vibrant community that is self-reliant. The Mill Creek Farm is a landmark for the community and is essential to the longevity of the community. 

The Struggle of Sustainable Urban Advancement

               Presently the world is facing an epidemic, this epidemic is beginning to impact the daily lives of every individual in this world. The epidemic is called many things, some call it global warming others call it climate change, it may have many names but the similarity between them is that our earth is currently experiencing a change in the climate which is resulting in a multitude of changes to occur around the world. Individuals around the globe are being forced to adapt to these changes by leaving their destroyed home and community behind and seek shelter for a new place to call home. I watched the film Before the Flood, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio who explores the globe to see the true impact of climate change. This film although it was not required in the class a fellow student suggested it in class and I had to watch it. The film opened up my eyes to the severity of the issue and helped me connect the dots of everything that we have been talking about in class. Due to the change in the climate forcing people out of their homes, a massive amount of people will be seeking for a new place and a majority will resort to going into a city.

               Cities are a complicated subject while being in the same discussion as climate change since cities are a major contributor to the production of carbon emissions forcing a change in the climate. That being said they are also the best place for an individual or family who was been displaced from the repercussions of a change in our climate to seek shelter and start a new beginning. This means that cities are not something that we can make a shift away from and resort back to the open land that surrounds the cities. Instead they are here to stay so we have to adapt them to remain evident in the future. For cities to remain evident and a part of our lives, cities across both the United States and the globe must take an action in reforming their current infrastructure into sustainable infrastructure that addresses the current climate issues that cities create, so that they lessen the impact that cities are having on climate change. The issues that they create range from massive amounts of waste, littering in both the streets and water, general emissions from cars, buses, trains, and the factories that reside within the city. The list can go on, but just as the list can go on about the negative ways a city impacts the climate another list can go just as long on how the city can positively adapt to sustainable


practices that will only help. Many cities around the world are beginning to understand the urgency and the immense amount of benefits that come from sustainable design and currently are making policy changes that are encouraging more sustainable approaches, many European cities are doing so and the city of Philadelphia has recently initiated the Green City, Clean Waters plan which aims to reduce the amount of storm water/dirty water that enters the sewage system.

               For Philadelphia the plan to reduce the amount of contaminated water that goes into the sewage system enables the city to have a more efficient water system and would lessen the amount of pollution that goes into the Delaware River. Currently the city is running on a combined sewage system which means that both the storm water and waste water are being directed into the same pipe and when there is a storm the two different types of water mix together and increase the amount of water that needs to be processed. Personally I see this is as something that should be on the top of the cities to do list knowing the large amount of time that it takes for the water department to make the water drinkable. I know this because I have seen it with my own eyes while being taken on a tour of the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant with Philadelphia Water. Seeing the amount of time and chemicals that are needed to recycle water back to our homes for us to use has led me to a believer in changing the city’s urban environment to a design that is focused around reducing the carbon footprint of both the city as a whole and its occupants. The Green City, Clean Water plan is something that just does that by introducing green roofs, curb sides, and other green practices the city will be able to reduce its carbon footprint. Cities have always played a major role in enforcing the way that people live within its limits, but these enforcements have not always been thought of in terms of environmental issues. Yet historically the city has played a major role in setting limits/restrictions that promote healthy choices for the people in the city. The Cities and Nature textbooks speaks about three different historic cities, Athens, Sicily, and medieval York who each made changes on the rules for the city that make the people that go into the city practice more green practices. For example, medieval York may be the best to talk about since it was like Philadelphia and wanted to fix the pollution that the city was doing to the air and water. The pigsties were crowding the streets and were polluting the air and water with their stench and leaving the dung in the streets, however once it was causing an inconvenience to the people and I guess more importantly the king, the pigsties were abolished from being kept near the street. During the time it was a magnificent solution to solving the polluted water and air that the residents of the city were facing. Not only was it a great example of simple green practices, it also shows the way that substantial change is made in sustainable practices. The way this is done is from the city’s government acknowledging there is a problem and making the steps that need to be done, usually in form of policy, to solve the problem. At the end of the day it is up to the government and governmental funding to make sufficient progress in sustainability.

               The influence that the government has on improving the urban environment in the city is tremendous, it was obvious after reading the Green City, Clean Water plan in class and after going on a tour with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. I found this tour very helpful to my understanding of the relationship and teamwork that is required between the planners/organization and the local government. The Civic Ecology book refers to this relationship, and speaks of the need for the relationship between the two. The author speaks on how the government can “provide financial and technical support, as well as enabling legislation that grants land tenure and management rights to civic ecology practices, while allowing the nonprofit and community organizations to play the lead role.” This quote perfectly acknowledges the fact that there is a need for help from the government however receiving aid still allows the people who have a vision for a sustainable design are able to follow through with their idea and have it legal. For the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, they have big plans for the waterfront that has the potential to not only economically benefit the areas but also according to their master plan are going to incorporate green infrastructure and open space and reduce the amount of non-permeable surface along the waterfront. It has the ability to be a major economic benefit and environmental friendly design, but for it to be completed it requires a substantial amount of money to come from government funding and on top of that it must follow city zoning. To sum it up, the government is going to have a major role in deciding whether this design is going to happen and it seems that the city government is always in this Civic Ecology and Cities and Nature they both have designated entire chapters on the influence that policy has on green practices, it was even mentioned on the tour of the waterfront. It is clear that policy has a major influence on the advancement of our city, and as the world is getting warmer it is going to be on the local government to approve and fund sustainable plans and continue to implement plans like the Green City, Clean Water as ways to make the urban environment cleaner and healthier.
position. Whether you are talking about the city of Philadelphia or even Miami the same thing is happening, there are major plans for sustainable urban advancement but the plans are not receiving enough help. After reading both the