The Lots to Grow podcast

Published July through November 2019

Listen now »

Apple Podcasts or Spotify

As the inaugural Leon Levy Research & Policy Fellow for Great Parks, I produced the Lots to Grow podcast for New Yorkers for Parks, a research and advocacy nonprofit for NYC's open spaces.

The four-part audio series chronicles the history, current challenges, and policy solutions facing community gardens in NYC, unique open spaces created and maintained by volunteers.

Visit the Lots to Grow home page to listen to the teaser and all four episodes accompanied by transcripts, images, and sources.


Episode 1 »

An introduction to the history of community gardens, unique shared pockets of green found across select NYC neighborhoods

Episode 2 »

An analysis of how community gardens' internal and external values are quantified and used for their continued protection

Episode 3 »

A chronicle of internal and external trials and tribulations garden groups have faced from both public and private adversaries

Episode 4 »

An exploration of policy and programmatic solutions organizers are employing in their attempt to secure longterm garden prosperity

Project roles

Creator and sole researcher
Outreach coordinator / interviewer and transcriber
Narrator, sound mixer, and producer / graphic and web designer

Programs used

Apple GarageBand
ESRI ArcMap
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Data sources

Interviews
Academic research / digital archives / news articles
NYC Open Data / NYC Parks data provided privately

Achievements

Produced at no additional cost
1600+ episode listens across 30+ states and 30+ countries
900+ unique web page views
Increased organization network

I travelled across NYC to survey and interview 35+ individuals
This map shows where GreenThumb community gardens are in NYC and what jurisdiction they fall under
All photos and graphics on this page were created by me