Open Voices News Roundup: August 28

Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture and urban planning, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.

Mother Nature’s Daughters

“If you wanted to find someone picking a fat tomato this week in the City of New York, you could go see Esther and Pam, near the kiddie-pool planters on the rooftop of the Metro Baptist Church in Hell’s Kitchen. … In recent years, chefs, writers, academics, politicians, funders, activists and entrepreneurs have jumped on the hay wagon for urban agriculture. New York now counts some 900 food gardens and farms, by the reckoning of Five Borough Farm, a research and advocacy project. Yet city farmers will tell you that the green-collar work on these small holdings is the province of a largely pink-collar labor force. Cecilia, not Caspar. And they’ll provide the staffing numbers to show it.”

Portland Buys 25 Acres for Nature-Friendly ‘Gateway Green’ Bike Haven

“Efforts to build a nature-friendly bike haven in east Portland moved forward Wednesday as the City Council agreed to buy 25 acres for a future park. Portland Parks & Recreation will buy the landlocked property — tucked between Interstate 84 and Interstate 205 — from the Oregon Department of Transportation for $19,300. Known as ‘Gateway Green,’ the proposed park could open in 2017 if fundraising efforts by parks advocates prove successful. ‘This property is going to be custom built and could eventually be a jewel in the crown’ of biking connections extending from downtown to Powell Butte near Gresham, said city Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees Portland Parks & Recreation.”

The Astrodome: The World’s Largest Indoor Garden?

“Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is mounting the best defense of the Astrodome since Vernon Perry picked off four passes and blocked a field goal in a playoff game against the Chargers back in 1979. It’s been a long time since the Houston Oilers or any other team called the Astrodome home, and voters rejected a bond measure to adapt and reuse this domed cathedral last year. But Emmett’s not giving it up. Yesterday, he led the press on a tour of the Astrodome to introduce his own plan to restore it: By creating the world’s largest indoor park.”

Greenprint Advocates Tout Range of Benefits

“After being lampooned for years as one of the worst metro areas in the country for bicyclists and pedestrians, the Memphis region is poised to make a huge leap forward in developing a regional greenway and trail system. Called the Mid-South Regional Greenprint and Sustainability Plan, advocates say the effort, which leverages the area’s natural resources and growing network of trails, would not only provide more recreational opportunities but boost the regional transportation system and promote economic development.”