An Analysis of Possible Barriers to the Growth of Community Gardens in San Bernardino and Los Angeles County

Community gardens are a common land use and social activity in urban agriculture. Although there is plenty of research on the benefits and the necessity of community gardens, there is little research on the barriers that hinder the growth of community gardens. "Barriers" are defined in this paper as obstacles that prevent the development or progression of a community garden. Community gardens are important to urban agriculture and the social needs of a community, so why are we not seeing more gardens in urban communities? What are the challenges that cities and organizations face when trying to establish and maintain community gardens? Are community gardens a priority in urban communities? As we try to look closer into the barriers that hinder the growth of community gardens, semi-structured interviews with city employees (planners, community service managers, community development directors, etc.), garden owners, and non-profit organizations were conducted, transcribed and analyzed to examine which barriers are the most apparent. Interviewees have confirmed barriers that have been researched in other scholarly work such as the lack of land availability (Irvine et al., 1990; Angotti, 2015), funding (Twiss et al., 2003), social impacts (Kamper et al., 2018), NIMBYism (Lejava & Goonan, 2012), and policy and institutional barriers (Mikulec et al., 2013); but after researching cities in San Bernardino County and eastern Los Angeles County, findings suggest that barriers to community gardening are nonprofit challenges such as the lack of partnerships and collaboration, lack of dedication from staff and from volunteers, unstable budgets and staffing challenges, and community organizing barriers. Barriers also include institutional and policy barriers such as the lack of zoning code requirements, lack of government support, and more. Other barriers such as secure land tenure, language, application fees, communication with vacant lot owners, and break-ins are also playing a role in the growth of community gardens. Based on the prevalent barriers, it is recommended that community gardens located in the Inland Empire and in eastern L.A. County need to implement a larger community garden network in order to reach the inner-cities of L.A. County to create more partnerships and collaboration. There needs to be a standard in place to provide clarity of the grant process and make information available on grant availability for nonprofit organizations, including the need for dedicated budgets specifically for health-initiated projects, and community events to raise funds for community gardening. Local governments are also recommended to update their local policies to accommodate place-based initiatives, to prioritize the health of their residents, and to provide a list or directory of vacant lots to applicants who are interested in establishing a garden. It is also important to have a strong coordinating position to help bridge the gap between local organizers and City bureaucracy. It is with the hope that this research sheds light on how support from local governments can relieve most barriers to community gardening. Urban agriculture is a growing phenomenon and some cities have already incorporated these policies into their general plans and zoning codes; but a lot of local smaller cities are still behind. As city planners and researchers, it is important to reveal the challenges that are faced when trying to establish urban agriculture in order to close the gaps and better inform/create policies that are more inclusive to address the needs of the community.