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Valley of the Sun(flowers)

It's no secret that Phoenix, Arizona has vacant land - lots of it. With so much space sitting idle, an affordable development solution can have a huge impact on the urban environment. A large parcel of vacant land in Phoenix, Arizona's urban core will soon be transformed into a vibrant sunflower garden and a source of local bio fuel. Valley of the Sunflowers is a collaborative effort between downtown Phoenix’s Adaptive Reuse of Temporary Space project (ARTS), Intel, the Phoenix Bio Science High School, and dozens of volunteers. The urban farming project will be tended by volunteers and students from the Bio Science High School, who will then harvest seeds twice a year and transform the yield into bio fuel. Valley of the Sunflowers broke ground on Friday, September 9th – just in time for the fall growing season!

This project comes on the heels of years of research on re-development strategies for Phoenix's abundance of vacant land – most of which is tied up in a complex web of zoning code, liability restrictions, and public/private ownership regulations. Valley of the Sunflowers is a vital turning point in this effort, as it represents a new method of low-cost temporary revitalization, community building, and city beautification on existing vacant lots.

Follow the growth of the first crop of sunflowers on the project's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/phxVOS

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