564 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



ognize these opportunities. When people from Europe visit Amer- 

 ica they are invariably impressed with the drabness of many of 

 our small towns and with the tragic neglect of the blighted slum 

 areas within our large cities. 



In an effort to improve this situation, the Neighborhood Gar- 

 den Association of Philadelphia was founded in the spring of 1953 

 and initiated a program which has proved such a successful counter- 

 attack against urban blight that it has received national and inter- 

 national recognition. This has become known as the Garden Block 

 program. It has been a cooperative endeavor, involving the set- 

 tlement houses, the garden clubs, and other sponsoring groups, and, 

 most important of all, the people living on the blocks. 



When the project was launched there were many skeptics. They 

 said that we were too visionary, that we would be unable to cope with 

 the vandalism, that we would meet nothing but apathy on the part 

 of the people. Even the head of one of the largest settlements said 

 that the program would be doomed to failure. However, each of the 

 seven settlements agreed to start a pilot block. At the end of the first 

 season there was no doubt in anyone's mind concerning the value of 

 the garden block program. Not one of the 427 window boxes had 

 been harmed. In the ensuing 12 years there has been only one 

 instance of vandalism. The response of the people was tremendous. 

 The flowers proved to be a catalyst that set off a chain reaction. 

 Windows were washed; house fronts were painted; trash-filled lots 

 were cleared ; and the streets were kept clean. 



On a typical garden block there are flower boxes at the windows 

 and on some blocks little brick bays between windows or by doorsteps 

 in which climbing roses are planted. If the block is in an area 

 where there are front dooryards strewn with litter, they soon become 

 gay with flowers. Vacant lots become community gardens or 4-H 

 Club gardens or tot-lots for very young children. A garden block is 

 a pleasant block upon which to live, a happy place for children, a 

 block in which the residents take great pride. And with this up- 

 surge of civic pride comes a sense of individual dignity and worth. 



All garden blocks are judged during the summer, and awards 

 are presented at the annual recognition dinner. Every block 

 measuring up to a high standard of excellence receives a blue ribbon 

 award. When the program was launched certain guidelines were 

 set. We felt that, as much as possible, initiative should come 

 from the people. A block desiring to become a garden block must 



