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.