In January we announced that we were starting work with the Garden Justice Legal Initiative (GJLI) of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia to custom-build an online tool for the Philadelphia land stewardship community. Today, we are pleased to bring to life Grounded In Philly (in beta).

Like the tools we’ve built in New York, this map will help individuals and groups in Philadelphia identify, organize around and access publicly-owned vacant land in Philadelphia, as well as provide information about pathways to protected land tenure for Philadelphia groups that are already land stewards.

You can read the press release here and see photos from the launch event at the Federation of Neighborhood Centers’ Teens 4 Good Farm at 8th and Poplar in Philadelphia on June 26, 2013 here and read some of the press coverage by clicking the links below:

Grid Magazine
Powerful App, New Coalition to Help Turn Vacant Lots Into Green Spaces
June 20, 2013

Citypaper
Putting vacant land on the map: A tech tool to solve Philly’s blight problemJune 25, 2013

Newsworks
Web tool aims to help Philly residents rescue blighted lots
June 24, 2013

Plan Philly
New website helps gardeners secure vacant land
June 26, 2013

Weekly Press
Residents get new tools to help vacant lots become productive
June 26, 2013

CBS Philly
Website Connects Interested Parties With Vacant Lots
June 27, 2013