Courtesy of PHS

Before PHS's vacant land program.

Courtesy of PHS

After PHS's vacant land program.

For the last two weeks, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) has stopped maintaining most of its 5,000 vacant lots. "There's basically been no work on them," says Alan Jaffe, PHS's public relations manager. "People have started to dump on the lots again." That's because, although the fiscal year ended on June 30, the city still hasn't determined how many funds PHS's vacant land management program will receive this year.

PHS says it needs $2.4 million from the city to keep up the program, which employs workers to clean, mow and plant trees on abandoned lots. The city is considering cutting all of that funding. Jaffe says that without the money, 200 to 250 related jobs would be lost and 5,000 lots would soon become blighted. This could have real, tangible effects: According to PHS, real estate values have increased as a result of the program, and studies have shown that crime increases when the number of abandoned lots and properties in a neighborhood goes up.

The city says it will make a final decision about the funding by the end of the day. We'll keep you posted.

Will PHS’s vacant land program be scrapped?