Home Hints: Best Cities for Urban Gardening

 

Which of America’s concrete jungles are ideal for growing your own food? To mark April as Lawn and Garden Month, LawnStarter laid the groundwork of ranking 2023's Best Cities for Urban Gardening. We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on four categories broken down into 12 metrics. We looked for cities with easy access to gardening space and supplies, an ideal climate, and a big gardening community. What exactly is urban gardening? Think empty parking lot-turned-communal veggie plot, rooftop container garden, or vertical plant wall. Learn more here. See the 10 best (and 10 worst) cities for urban farming below, followed by key stats from our report.

Best Cities for Urban Gardening Rank City 1 New York, NY 2 Atlanta, GA 3 San Francisco, CA 4 Portland, OR 5 Tampa, FL 6 Seattle, WA 7 Miami, FL 8 Austin, TX 9 Pasadena, CA 10 Orlando, FL Worst Cities for Urban Gardening Rank City 1 Anchorage, AK 2 Aurora, CO 3 Detroit, MI 4 Thornton, CO 5 Newark, NJ 6 Jersey City, NJ 7 Springfield, MA 8 Buffalo, NY 9 Yonkers, NY 10 Lakewood, CO

Key Insights: Community Cropsharing: Besides earning the gold medal in our ranking, New York boasts the most community gardens, 775. That’s over 650 more than in Atlanta, the city with the next highest number, 120. Sunny Stats: Sunshine State cities make up seven of our top 20 — including Tampa, Miami, and Orlando among our top 10 — the most of any state. Moreover, no Florida city ranked lower than 39 overall, thanks in big part to their crop-friendly climate. Gardening for All: Only two states, Florida and Illinois, have “Right to Garden” laws on their books. (Tip: Check your local ordinances or homeowners association rules for on-property gardening restrictions, if any.) Into the Food Forest: Of the more than 80 U.S. food forests addressing local food insecurity, the biggest, at 7.1 acres, is in Atlanta. Over a third of residents in the city’s Browns Mill neighborhood, where the forest is located, live below poverty, while nearly a quarter of Atlantans live in severe food deserts. The nation’s first food forest sprouted in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood in 2012. Hungry for More: America’s Garden Capital, Philadelphia, tends nearly 40 community gardens and a food forest but could use more to address its hunger problem. Residents in the City of Brotherly Love miss the most meals in America — “38.8 million meals per year or the equivalent of skipping dinner every other day” — according to one analysis.   Helpful links: Full Ranking Full Study Article Expert Insights  Methodology Inspired by Lawn and Garden Month to get your hands dirty? Hire a LawnStarter pro to get your landscape in garden-friendly shape — then grab a shovel and some seeds and start planting