Time to #LoveThatLot — A Valentine’s Day campaign for revitalization projects!

Back again for the fourth year, it’s time to #LoveThatLot! ♥

In 2017, the #LoveThatLot campaign gained national momentum. You took to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share your love for revitalized spaces. A number of you hosted in-person celebrations to recognize those creating positive change in your community.

In Newburgh, New York, for example, the Newburgh Community Land Bank honored Land Bank property purchasers for their work in restoring deteriorated properties. The Land Bank shared chocolate and donuts with neighbors, and even “heart-bombed” some of the properties.

YOU made it happen, and we need your help again in making #LoveThatLot bigger and better!

We want to see photos of gardens, vibrant public art spaces, playgrounds, rehabbed homes, urban farms — any space that has been transformed into a community gem. Let’s flood timelines with photos of amazing revitalization projects and the local champions behind them.

Want to get involved? Here are three ways to participate this year’s #LoveThatLot campaign:

1) Share photos of revitalized lots in your community

Share snapshots of your favorite revitalization projects on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using #LoveThatLot. These could be rain gardens, art installations, rehabbed houses, or anything else that’s restored vitality to a neglected property.

This year, we also encourage you to fill in the blank, “I #LoveThatLot because____________.”A selection of tweets and photos will be shared with a national audience on our blog.

2) Send a Valentine, online or in-person

E-Valentine: Download the e-Valentine and send it on social media or via email to the people behind the revitalization project that’s captured your heart. When you share it on social media, make sure you use #LoveThatLot for a chance to be featured on our blog.

Paper Valentine: Nothing beats a paper Valentine with a hand-written message. Download the #LoveThatLot Valentine, print it off on regular 8.5”x11” paper, and fold it in four. Send it off to a revitalization rock star so they know their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. If you’ve received a Valentine, post a photo of it—and your revitalization project—on social media with #LoveThatLot.

3) Go really public with your #LoveThatLot PDA – and bring well-deserved attention to a revitalized lot

Use #LoveThatLot to shine a big spotlight on exceptional revitalization efforts in your community with an in-person celebration, including an invitation to local media. You can find all the guidance you need to pull off a successful in-person Valentine’s event, including a sample media alert, in our #LoveThatLot celebration kit.

For example, if a formerly vacant lot was transformed into a community garden, you can stage a small Valentine’s Day celebration to recognize the person or organization that helped revitalize that property by surprising them with flowers, chocolates, and balloons–or even decorate the site in a Valentine’s theme, in the style of the “heart-bombing” popularized by Buffalo’s Young Preservationists.

Have questions? We’re here to help! Feel free to contact Christina at [email protected].