About This Project
Philadelphia has a gun violence problem. Clean & Green Philly empowers Philadelphians to take action to solve it.
The Gun Violence Problem
With homicides trending up since 2013, and a record high of 562 gun deaths in 2021, community members need concrete solutions. Many solutions focus on long-term impact, including nearly 80% of the City of Philadelphia’s anti-violence spending. But immediate, actionable approaches are also needed.
The Research
Research shows that greening and cleaning vacant properties is one of the most impactful, cost-effective interventions available to reduce gun violence in a neighborhood. For example, Dr. Eugenia South and her team have demonstrated that greening vacant lots in Philadelphia reduced gun violence by as much as 29% in the surrounding area.
The Challenge
Transforming Philadelphia’s vacant lots should be a key strategy to combating gun violence here. But in a city with nearly 40,000 vacant properties, the main obstacle is figuring out which properties to prioritize and how to get access to them.
Our Vision
Our vision was to empower local residents, non-profit organizations, and government stakeholders to find and prioritize vacant properties for interventions, understand how to transform the properties they’ve identified, and connect users to resources that can support them.
Our Methodology
We created a dataset based on the original research conducted by Dr. Eugenia South and her colleagues, as well as many conversations with stakeholders, including community residents, CDCs, City government offices, academic researchers, and more. We analyzed and combined many data sets on crime, green space, and properties.
Learn More
Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ explains how Clean & Green Philly works. For information about the project’s closure, support, and data policies, please see our README in our GitHub repository.
Who can use Clean & Green Philly and what can I do with it?
Clean & Green Philly is for residents, community organizations, nonprofits, government agencies, and anyone interested in improving Philadelphia neighborhoods. You can use it to find current information on vacant properties, identify which properties need attention most urgently, learn about interventions like cleaning or greening, and connect to resources and community partners.
What can’t Clean & Green Philly do?
Clean & Green Philly does not own or manage properties, grant legal access or ownership, provide direct funding, guarantee outcomes, or resolve land disputes. We are not affiliated with the City of Philadelphia. You must follow City and legal processes for property access. We connect you to resources and opportunities but don’t replace the work of City agencies or nonprofits.
What do the priority levels mean?
Priority levels are determined by gun crime density, L&I code violations, L&I complaints density, tree canopy coverage, and whether the property is already maintained by PHS LandCare:
- High Priority (red): Properties in areas with gun crime rates more than one standard deviation above average and either have code violations, high complaint density, or are not in PHS LandCare. Also includes properties with medium gun crime rates that have violations/complaints but aren’t in PHS LandCare and have very low tree canopy (less than 70% coverage).
- Medium Priority (yellow): Properties in areas with gun crime rates between average and one standard deviation above average that have violations/complaints and are in PHS LandCare, or have violations/complaints but aren’t in PHS LandCare and have adequate tree canopy. Also includes properties with high gun crime rates that are in PHS LandCare but don’t have violations/complaints and have adequate tree canopy.
- Low Priority (green): Properties in areas with gun crime rates at or below average, or properties with medium gun crime rates that have no violations/complaints.
All the vacant properties in my area are ‘Low Priority’ but there are real issues. Does this mean my neighborhood doesn’t matter?
No, your neighborhood absolutely matters. We use a very narrow definition of ‘high priority’ - only about 10% of vacant properties get this label. This doesn’t mean the other 90% don’t have real challenges. Clean & Green Philly was created to help residents and local organizations focus limited time and resources on the places where intervention might have the biggest impact first. A ‘Low Priority’ rating isn’t a judgment about a neighborhood - it’s about helping everyone be strategic with where to start.
What types of vacancy does Clean and Green Philly NOT show?
We focus on vacant land and properties suitable for cleaning, greening, or community use. We do not currently map land already used for community gardens, vacant commercial storefronts, industrial sites, occupied but underused buildings, short-term vacancies, vacant units inside occupied apartment buildings, or land not suitable for greening due to legal or environmental barriers.
Acknowledgements
Clean & Green Philly was built by a team of more than fifty Code for Philly volunteers. The project was founded and led by Nissim Lebovits. Amanda Soskin was Executive Director. Special thanks are due to our board members, Conor Carroll, Dante Leonard, and Claude Schraeder; to Jon Geeting and Will Tung at the Center for Philadelphia’s Urban Future; to our tech leads, Will Budreau, Brandon Cohen, Collum Freedman, Tommy Moorman, Arielle Moylen, Marvie Mulder, Hannah Vy Nyugen, Gary Pang, Tracy Tran, and Nico Zigouras; and to all of the local residents, community leaders, City staff, and faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and Thomas Jefferson University who informed and supported our work.
Lastly, we are grateful to Dr. Eugenia South and her colleagues, whose work this project depends on.
Feedback
If you find issues in this website or would like to offer us feedback, please reach out to us at cleanandgreenphl@gmail.com.
Removing Properties
If you would like to request that we remove a property from the dashboard, please see our Request Removal page.