Gardeners and Friends of Gardeners,

              Madison has a unique opportunity to be the first city in the world to build community and sustainability by incorporating ROOFTOP COMMUNITY GARDENS into its long-overdue plans for a new Central Public Library or major renovations of the existing library.

              Urban rooftop gardens, including vegetable gardens, are becoming commonplace in cities around the world, like our neighbors Milwaukee and Chicago.

              Rooftop community gardens not only produce healthful, local food, but lower energy costs in both summer and winter by insulating the building below. Rooftop gardens also reduce polluting runoff, so we spend less money cleaning up our lakes. They absorb water that otherwise erodes our sidewalks and streets (necessitating expensive and annoying repairs.)

              Additional costs (if any) to the city would be trivial compared to the generous subsidies Madison continues to lavish on questionable projects around town. To mention but one example, current plans call for spending a million dollars to turn tiny Peace Park on State Street into an amphitheater.

              It is time to shift Madison’s public resources from luxury condos and hotels that benefit the few, to libraries and community gardens that benefit the many.

              Sign our petition. Contact the mayor and your alder. Let’s do it. Join us!

              -- the Downtown Community Gardens group (downtown-community-gardens@googlegroups.com)

WHO ARE WE? Hello from Downtown Community Gardens

              The Downtown Community Gardens group supports the right of everyone in Madison to have community garden space within walking distance of their residences.

              We support the maintenance of current community gardens, the preservation of those under threat, and the creation of as many more gardens as is necessary to meet the needs of city residents.

              With as many open spaces and underutilized rooftops as there are in this city, it is unacceptable for community garden waiting lists to be years long. The people of Madison need many more community gardens.

              Considering the amount of resources that the city spends subsidizing auto-centric development, the petroleum economy, and their unsustainable satellite activities, it is unacceptable that the city spends but a reluctant pittance on community gardens.

              The Downtown Community Gardens group’s focus is to establish a series of permanent community gardens in downtown Madison, encompassing both ground gardens and rooftop gardens, and starting with the establishment of a community garden on the new Madison Public Library.

              We stand in solidarity with gardeners everywhere.

              -- the Downtown Community Gardens group (downtown-community-gardens@googlegroups.com) (7-15)