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10c. eminent domain. We used it more as a stick, so if there were absentee owners who weren't coming to the table and weren't engaging we could send them a letter and say we are going to exercise the power of eminent domain. That would get their attention." Almost three decades after the land trust was created, the number of vacant lots within Dudley Triangle can be counted on one hand and litter is no longer a problem. The retail mixture is nothing fancy: bodegas, nail salons, barber shops and pizza joints, with a few unique neighborhood locales like the Ideal Sub Shop, which sells submarine sandwiches with a Cape Verdean twist. While the land trust includes fewer than half the 500 affordable housing units promised in the late 1980s, neighbors are happy with the mix of residential, commercial and open space development and say the trust has opted to build a community, instead of solely housing. �i� _ ... --��; r � �� ' �-__ -- .�__. h..., _..�� ,�. C�YY1Gu�[�;:s'uf?a' +��"C9�?il ilOU9"uS�IE',S. The evidence of this broader goal is everywhere along Brook Street, just off the neighborhood's main drag. A former chop shop has been replaced with a 10,000-acre greenhouse. Dennis Street Park, once the epicenter of the area's devastating vacancy crisis, is now a beautiful green space with a working fountain, shady trees and a nicely outfitted playground. The area was originally envisioned for housing, but the community voted for the park instead and DSNI listened to its constituents. The houses built on land trust property have spacious yards with room for flowers in the front and recreation in the back. "When developers see this, they say we could have built a lot more units here, but people wanted raised bed gardens and large yards," says Smith, gesturing at a flower bed. "They wanted to see housing but also other amenities." �� _ :r�� ; j � � ;� �� '� � - � � -.�:,'- � n �- __ - ! �`=�°� �_ ,-�� ,,, a .� �, �� _ �� '� "� '��;.-�: ,. - - ;.� - ,�s uui�a �;�v,� +�i � �� u�; �:: Since 1988, there have only been four foreclosures among the 95 homeownership units and 77 co-op units owned by the land trust. "Pretty much all the neighbors who are in the land trust homes are the same neighbors from when I moved here," says Correa, who became a DSNI board member in 2002 and, five years ago, bought a house on the land trust. "We watch out for each other, when we get packages, when we go on vacation, just simple little things, they go a long way. It's really good to have the stability of having the same neighbors all the time."