Who is Arcadia Commons?

At the corner of Huntingdon and Emerald Streets, there is an empty lot that was abandoned by the owners.

Trash and debris — empty bottles and remnants of sexual activity — were scattered underneath signs pleading passersby to protect the green space.

[Editor’s note: This article originally ran in Green Philly.]

Last year, Catherine Lowther, a neighbor who walks her daughter to school near the park, had enough. She noticed a mural on a wall asking neighbors to report illegal dumping and parking, indicating an ongoing struggle and showcasing community efforts to reclaim this forgotten parcel of land. Another community member tipped her off to the name of the group taking care of the lot: Arcadia Commons.

Signs asking neighbors to keep Huntingdon Emerald park clean. Photo: Arcadia Commons

Arcadia Commons is an advocacy group that has been trying to activate the land at Huntingdon Emerald for years despite ongoing bureaucratic hurdles. They are among many other land stewards — like those at La Esquina Community Garden, Tioga Hope Park, and Tulip Street Garden — who contribute to a pattern of hard-fought community-driven battles to green vacant lots around the city.

So, who is Arcadia Commons? How did they form? And what does community organizing look like for turning vacant lots into thriving green spaces?

“A new partnership”

Arcadia Commons is a non-profit with “collective expertise in visual arts, design, architecture, arts education, community organizing, urban planning, sustainable building, and real estate.”

“It’s a special collection of people,” says Jeff Carpenter, an artist who is a member and co-founder of the group. It all started in 2013 when Carpenter moved to the neighborhood and attended an East Kensington Neighborhood Association (EKNA) meeting to get involved in his new community.

It was at that meeting that he met Jeff Carpineta. Carpineta and several community members had been fighting for five years to protect green spaces in the area. In 2008, Carpineta — a realtor — understood that a wave of development was forthcoming with no protection for any of the vacant green lots that were stewarded by the neighborhood. There was so much open land that the neighborhood “looked like a prairie,” says Carpenter.

He collaborated on a 30-page report detailing over 730 parcels of vacant land in the EKNA boundaries, focusing on eight lots that already had community engagement.

After the EKNA meeting, Carpenter knew he wanted to help by using his expertise in nonprofit management. He suggested the group form an official non-profit under the name Arcadia Commons after the abandoned “ghost street,” Arcadia Street. For the next ten years, Carpenter and Carpineta successfully fought to secure three green spaces in East Kensington: Emerald Wildflower Garden, Kern Park and Huntingdon Emerald.

Community members are at the heart of the work.

Neighbors playing in Huntingdon Emerald Park Photo: Arcadia Commons

Along with “the Jeffs,” there are four to five regulars who roll up their sleeves during planting and mulching seasons. There is “Joe the Roofer,” a neighborhood hero who shows up with his truck to remove illegal dumping materials from the parks. And, there are the “minders” who lead in each of the parks. Altogether, an alternating cast of about twelve people dedicate their time to the Commons’ cause.

One groundskeeper at Kern Park, Marcy Frankil, says that community events like chili cook-offs keep the space alive and bring people together. In addition to garden planting days, she organizes a get-together once a month for neighbors over various activities or themes. The idea was borne out of a sudden breaking of trust two years ago when a bordering household was broken into and robbed.

“There was uproar about the neighborhood and the park surveillance,” says Frankil. She quickly started a group text, asking neighbors to meet with her to give feedback. “I asked, ‘What could we do better at this space?’ When people feel like they’re being listened to, and their ideas are put into action, they feel like they’re a part of something. And I want people to feel part of the space.”

Frankil says that she sees a new face every month, which brings new energy and new ideas. This past Halloween, hundreds of children came by the Kern Park for its first-ever trick-or-treat candy handout. Neighbors of all ages joined in on the fun, including one neighbor who built a skeleton display for the back of the park.

“A lot of this work is face-to-face interactions, and it’s those interpersonal relationships that really make these kinds of projects successful,” says Catherine Lowther. Lowther is now on the board of Arcadia Commons and is leading the charge to make Huntingdon Emerald a mainstay green space in East Kensington. She hopes to plant thriving pollinator gardens and provide a space for intergenerational education around sustainability and local ecosystems.

Huntingdon Emerald suffers from a lack of community ownership — a problem that has persisted for community gardeners throughout the city. The property is owned by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority.

In 2015, Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) agreed to use the site for a stormwater management project. Disagreements over the land title easement — a requirement for PWD to do work — lasted from 2018 to 2023. Finally, PWD completed its project in the fall of 2024. The title has yet to be transferred to Arcadia Commons, meaning they are not legally allowed to care for the park.

“Philadelphia is largely a story of how the neighbors pick up the slack for what the city doesn’t do,” says Carpineta. “And on this one, I wish this wasn’t the case.”

No land ownership at Huntingdon Emerald stymies the group’s ability to partner and grow. Still, Arcadia Commons remains dedicated to its mission. The organization supports others such as St. Francis Inn, Kensington Soccer Club and Philly Tree People, who all work to uplift the community in their own ways.

“In this community, something that’s beautiful is there’s a whole necklace of people that are doing great work to try to heal,” says Carpineta. “We’re doing our part to make a healthy community.”

What’s next?

Greening vacant lots is a part of Mayor Parker’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026. The proposal calls for the creation of a Ten-Point Greening Plan that will seek collaboration between city departments and community stakeholders such as nonprofits and local organizations.

Visit Arcadia Commons website for ways to organize within your community.

Angie Bacha (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based solutions journalist and recent Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Journalism, Media and Globalisation student in Aarhus, Denmark. Previously, she worked as a student journalist at Community College of Philadelphia and Editorial Intern at Resolve Philly. Some other hats she has worn: Human Rights and Theatre Studies graduate; teaching artist; carpenter; AmeriCorps volunteer; and rock climbing gym shift supervisor.

Every Voice, Every Vote funds Philadelphia media and community organizations to expand access to civic news and information. The coalition is led by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Lead support for Every Voice, Every Vote in 2024 and 2025 is provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Comcast NBC Universal, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Henry L. Kimelman Family Foundation, Judy and Peter Leone, Arctos Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, 25th Century Foundation, and Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation.