On the corner of Niagara and Jersey streets in Buffalo is a community garden, with bright red hibiscus blooming in the summer, and evergreens decorated for the holiday season. The once-vacant lot is testament to how communities throughout Buffalo are reclaiming blighted, abandoned property and turning it into welcoming green space and a source of fresh food. The gardens also may be a way in which members of urban neighborhoods can reclaim political visibility and empowerment, says a graduate student in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo.