The Los Angeles Times today reports on the turnaround success of Long Beach’s own Henderson Avenue, a westside neighborhood that was violence-ridden before blighted apartments were replaced with a community-wide garden. The Times’ Robert Faturechi tells the tale:

Just a few years ago, two adjacent apartment complexes on the 1900 block of Henderson were havens for drug dealers and prostitutes, according to city officials. Neighbors were leery of leaving their homes, and the complexes drew a high number of police calls.

But these days the scene is decidedly peaceful. The crime-plagued apartments have been replaced by healthy plots of squash, golden chard, watermelon and cucumbers thriving in Long Beach’s salty breezes.

The story is indicative of possibility in troubled areas, and an example of community pride defeating crime and violence. Faturechi explains that the Redevelopment Agency spent $1.6 million to buy the plagued apartment buildings in 2007, so it may be worth wondering why the practice isn’t employed more often.

Maybe because it’s not permanent. The article mentions in passing that the garden was intended to be a two-year project and that it will eventually be replaced with affordable housing – an odd footnote, considering the garden is framed as the solution to the problem. The article doesn’t mention the issue again, but one has to wonder whether new apartments will revive old neighborhood habits, and whether residents have any fear of that possibility.

The article quotes one resident who says that current, positive community relations would not be possible without the garden. What happens, then, when you remove the garden?