The recent surge of interest in community gardens, many of which are located on city and county-owned land, may have a beneficial effect on adjacent property owners, according to parks administrators, real estate brokers and community members.
Consider the following:
- A 1986 study found that properties near Salem, Ore. greenbelts added a premium of $1,200 per acre.
- A study conducted in Portland in 2000 found that park proximity accounted for 1 to 3 percent of property values.
- One 2006 New York University study suggested that in the immediate vicinity of a community garden, the dollar-value impact is $3,099 one year after opening and grows to $6,809 five years after opening.
A Growing Interest
The Community Choices' 2009 Community Report Card, published in cooperation with the Clark County Health Department, said that the county "is experiencing an increase in community interest [in growing] food locally for themselves and for donating to others."
And the list of garden plots continues to grow, with Vancouver and Washougal adding community garden sites this year, the city of Woodland starting their first last year and Battle Ground looking into the idea. That follows a nationwide trend, with an American Community Gardening Association report showing the number of community gardens doubling to about 20,000 across the U.S.
Proximity to parks and community gardens adds a "certain curb appeal" to residential properties, said John Kinkade, a relocation director with Vancouver's Century 21 Cascade Pacific office. James Kimball, owner/broker for Realty Pro, said that gardens and parks, especially if they include picnic areas and trails, could prompt as much as 70 percent of buyers to pay more. Don Gladson, spokesman for Coldwell Banker Barbara Sue Seal Properties, said couples with young children and newly-retired baby boomers were especially fond of properties near gardens and parks.
Filling a Void
According to cityfarmer.org, a 600-square-foot garden plot can produce up to 540 pounds of produce worth more than $500. The same report noted that in a program sponsored by the USDA and managed by university extension programs, for every dollar of government investment, $6 in vegetables were produced.
"People are looking for healthy options, safe food and growing things themselves," said Dick Mueller, recreation supervisor for the city of Longview. Mueller said that Longview has had a community garden located on city park property for more than 20 years. In times past, the four acres of plots were about half-rented. But last year, every plot was rented, and Longview began a pilot project of keeping about nine plots in production year-round.
Mueller also said that the county's Cowlitz On the Move coalition, a group devoted to increasing the health of residents, has begun an initiative to establish more "growable city spaces."
Where Should Your Garden Grow?
Before finalizing the location of a new community garden, the city of Vancouver first considers the master plan for that property and garners public input, according to Vancouver-Clark Washington Parks and Recreation manager Jane Tesner Kleiner.
"Gardens aren't appropriate everywhere," Tesner Kleiner said. "We look for complementary uses."
Tesner Kleiner said that though some people thought community gardens had a limited target-use population, she pointed out that, soccer fields and trails at city parks also catered to a specific group of people.
For gardens located on non-park property, such as the one in Rose Village at 39th and "P" streets, the use may be temporary. Consisting of 75 garden plots located on a small piece of city transportation property, the Rose Garden parcel will most likely be affected if road improvements are made in the area, Tesner Kleiner said. But for now, garden advocates say, the property is being productive.
In another parcel outside the park system, Clark County has devoted a former "poor farm" on N.E. 78th Street for use as a community garden.
Not all community gardens are located on municipal property. The Clark County Dept. of Health reported that the county has 87 total community gardens – some on private property, at schools and churches or on corporate-owned land. Woodland's community garden is located on a parcel owned by the Woodland Community Swimming Pool Committee, which allows the city to use the property.
"City or unused private property is both viable," said Debbi Hanson, director of Parks and Recreation for Battle Ground. "We're not ruling anything out."
Growing Neighborhoods
Besides the obvious attraction of having leafy green fruits and vegetables growing nearby, community gardens may also benefit adjacent property owners by reducing so-called quality-of-life crimes.
"We have verified with the police department that vandalism in Hamllik Park has dropped off since we put in the gardens," said Suzanne Bachelder, Parks, Cemetery and Building Facilities manager with the city of Washougal. "The gardens have been a positive experience for residents, even if they are not participating."
Tesner Kleiner also said that having gardeners in the parks has cut down on vandalism.
"We proactively seek programs that provide more positive eyes in the parks," she said. "Gardening, which people tend to do before work, during lunch and even until dusk, fits this goal nicely."
As for the question of the highest and best use of city property, at least one Longview resident is convinced that gardening can reap much more than fresh produce from the ground.
"Community gardens are one of the best things the city can do," said Wendell Harper, who has used Longview's community garden site since 1987.
And in terms of city revenue, Harper may be right – the NYU study estimates the net tax benefit over a 20-year period in New York City at $1 million per garden. The Local Government Commission, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to local elected officials and other community leaders, claimed that in New York, neighborhoods surrounding a community garden saw a 9.4 percent increase in property values within the first five years of its opening.
While Clark County may be leagues away from New York's high-octane real estate market, most homeowners in the region probably wouldn't pass up even a modest bump in home prices – particularly during a real estate recovery that hasn't quite arrived yet.
Where Stuff Is Growing
a. Marshall Center Community Park Garden
(1009 East McLoughlin Blvd.)
b. Haagen Community Park Garden
(N.E. 9th St., west of N.E. 136th Ave.)
c. Campus Garden (Campus Drive & 65th Avenue)
d. Ellsworth Road Garden (S.E. 10th Street & Ellsworth Rd.)
e. Fruit Valley Park (31st Street & Fruit Valley Rd.)
f. Clark County Gardens (2000 block of N.E. 78th St.)
g. Rose Village Neighborhood Garden (39th and "P" streets)
h. Hamllik Park (4285 Addy St., Washougal)
i. Hathaway Park (799 25th St., Washougal)
