This is Bird Note.

In her grandmother's neighborhood in Chicago, Lily Holden made an early connection with the outdoors.

There was this huge vacant lot with a big old, I believe at the time, oak tree is a big tree.

And so we would just clam the tree.

We would play around just pretty much banter and trash talking as kids. And as I got an odor,

I hadn't realized how fundamental that was in my growth and the way that I regard nature.

Now an emerging environmental leader in Chicago, Lily has a different perspective on vacant lots,

many of which were properties destroyed in the city's 1968 riots that were never rebuilt due to a lack of investment in black communities.

The vacant lot as a kid was like an oasis, but as an adult, it felt more layered nuance because of the intersections between that space and race riots,

lack of investment from the city of Chicago.

Chicago owns about 10,000 vacant lots.

Because there's such a big part of the landscape in black communities on the west and south side,

Lily wants to rethink how vacant lots fit into the ecology of

these economically challenged neighborhoods. I would like to see something where there's a push

for renovating vacant lots to make it more community-friendly, maybe do a participatory planning

process with community members on, hey, how would you like this vacant lot to be used? Ranging from a play space to soccer space or basketball court to a garden or even a pocket

park or a pond area. I just think it just should really connect to the community.

For Bird Note, I'm Joni's Franklin.