Here is something that *has* worked well for my wife and I.
We guerrilla-gardened the derelict sidewalks next to our house and the one across the street, for two years. Then, one day one of the other neighbors brought corn seeds from his parents' ranch and planted a corn patch on the sidewalk. Then, another neighbor who had cut down two trees, because they were blocking the view from his house (!), started taking care of the sidewalk across the street from his house, and made a beautiful flower garden. Then other neighbors planted flowers and herbs.
It's a beautiful sidewalk “garden” now, not a dirty, muddy, overgrown, and unpaved sidewalk anymore.