Pilsen has developed a network of community gardens and pocket parks since the 1990s, many established through the work of local community organisations and maintained by neighbourhood residents. The gardens are concentrated in vacant lots throughout the residential streets and serve multiple functions: food production, youth programming, and neighbourhood beautification.
The Harrison Park cultural center complex on South Wood Street includes a performance space and athletic facilities; the adjacent Harrison Park itself is one of the larger green spaces in the neighbourhood. The community garden culture in Pilsen is connected to the broader food justice movement and provides an unusually accessible way to see the neighbourhood's community organisations at work.