The Community Boulevard Program

Set to begin in 2026, the first season of our Community Boulevard Program is based on a simple idea: bringing homeowners with boulevard access together with community garden waitlistees. These will be the first steps, not only towards resolving an unmet need for garden space, but towards fostering greater curiosity and engagement in the food system that we all rely on.

The Challenge

The City of Victoria, in close cooperation with community groups, non-profits, and universities, has made great efforts towards increasing access to growing space to help Victorians feed themselves, their families, and their communities. While these efforts have helped increase the number of community gardens to meet this need, the demand for growing space remains far greater than the supply. Some community gardens report waitlists of about 8-9 years! If those discouraged by these wait times had put their names on the list too, this figure could be even higher.

The Challenge

Clearly, with a population that is foreseen to grow, and a cost of living that shows few if any signs of abating, yet more needs to be done.

The Opportunity

Although it looks as though traditional community gardens will remain unable to meet existing and future demands, we believe they are the foundation for the next iteration of community gardens to come. With 300km of boulevard length in the City of Victoria alone, and a highly supportive policy ecosystem, we know that boulevards can and should play a crucial role in meeting the needs of tomorrow’s gardeners.

The Opportunity

We see existing community gardens as the hubs for what we envision: garden communities. By partnering with community gardens, neighbourhood associations, and homeowners, we’re endeavoring to build clusters of satellite community garden plots within neighbourhoods. Not only can boulevards be more than often forgotten grassy patches, they can be spaces of connection where neighbours meet, share, and grow together.

The Opportunity

So, what next?

Coming up

If you’re part of a community garden and haven’t heard from us yet, rest assured we’ll be reaching out soon enough! Our intention is to build this program with our partners, not for them. We believe that community projects can only be just and sustainable when the people they aim to support are involved in creating them too. We’re not just saying that, we really mean it! That’s why we’re a community service cooperative; our partners and program participants should have a say, and that means they should have a share too.

Coming up

If you’re interested in learning more, subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed. Better yet, reach out and send us an email! We’d love to meet with you and talk about how, together, we can build the future of community gardens.