The story of Hantz Woodlands—and a local philanthropist's vision to transform urban blight into an urban forest.
"John Hantz wanted to make the urban desert bloom. Today, a thousand-plus volunteers showed up to plant 15,000 trees on 20 acres of east-side land, transforming blight into landscape," reports Laura Berman.
Hantz is a local financial service entrepreneur who last year bought 1,500 vacant parcels from the city with a promise to clear the land and plant trees. The recent volunteer day created a place called Hantz Woodlands, and Hantz has goals to plant another 15,000 next spring.
On the subject of hope springing eternal: "Hantz, who expects to spend $6 million on his trees, acknowledges that it takes 20 years for the trees to mature. 'This isn’t completely altruistic,' he said. 'If I don’t see it become something, I think my daughter will.'"
FULL STORY: Tree planting brings a sense of community to once desolate area
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Detroit Gives Go-Ahead to Controversial Urban Farm Project
By a narrow vote, Detroit's City Council has given approval for the city to sell 140 acres of vacant land to financial services business owner John Hantz for the creation of an urban agriculture project. Some are calling the deal a "land grab."
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