Vacant Lot in Cleveland, Ohio

A vacant lot with a lot of small pieces of trash in it, and bare soil washing onto the sidewalk

Mar 12th, 2003, by Alex Zorach

This shows a vacant lot in Cleveland, Ohio, in late winter. The snow has melted, but the trees have not yet leafed out.

This vacant lot shows a fair amount of trash, although the hill here results in less accumulation of trash than one sees in concave-shaped properties. This area is on a slope and has no vegetation cover, and is already showing soil being washed onto the sidewalk. Loss of the soil amounts to loss of a valuable resource, and the soil then becomes a nuisance that must be cleaned up, when it covers the sidewalk.

From a maintenance perspective, I think it is better to leave vacant lots populated by weeds, as this at least holds the soil in place. Mowing lots to the ground produces effects like in this picture.

I do not remember exactly where this picture was taken, but I'm pretty sure it was along Carnegie avenue, looking south.