locally sourced restaurants,” says Michael, a technology consultant. Private backyards are small in favor of community space, nudging residents to meet each other, Abby says. The Cannery, in Davis, California, is one of the newest agrihoods and also one of the few that redeveloped an industrial tract. This 100-acre development, still under construction, will feature 547 new homes on the former site of a tomato processing facility, in addition to affordable rentals for low-income families. Its heart and soul is a working farm that will feed the community’s households and supply its restaurants. The Cannery is a pioneer in clean green energy, with solar-powered homes, connections for electric cars, and many other energyconserving features. Thirsty homeowner lawns are prohibited in most of The Cannery’s mini-neighborhoods, but no home is more than 300 feet from public green space. Samrina and Mylon Marshall, both physicians in their mid-50s, will be among the first residents to move in this spring. “We like that it’s a green energy community featuring multigenerational living. We’re also big on eating locally and seasonally, so the urban farm was a key draw,” says Mylon. North Atlanta family Gil and Jeny Mathis and their two daughters, 12 and 14 years old, discovered Serenbe, a planned community in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, two years ago. Now it’s literally their second home. “It provides a different life for our children on weekends they couldn’t otherwise have. The community aspect has penetrated our lives in a way that we couldn’t have predicted,” says Gil. Both girls love it, and the younger sibling is lobbying to relocate there full time. The family likes the people Serenbe draws and the opportunities to engage with them, the consistent access to natural and organic food and its artist-in-residence program. Serenbe was the inspiration for the Olivette Riverside Community and Farm, a 346-acre, back-to-the-land project near Asheville, North Carolina. Its owners are transforming a failed high-end gated community and adjacent historic farm along the French Broad River into an agri-centered devel-
Farms have become the new golf course of real estate development. opment featuring a blueberry orchard, community gardens, vegetable farm and greenhouse. “It’s vital that we re-localize our food supply,” says Olivette co-owner Tama Dickerson. “One of the first things we did was to incorporate this farm and see what areas we could preserve, because what you keep is just as important as what you develop.” Future plans include hiking trails, artist live-work spaces, tiny houses, little free libraries and a K-8 school. Agrihoods aren’t solely for agriburbs. Creative public housing developers are bringing agriculture to high-density neighborhoods. The smoke-free Healthy High-Rise Arbor House, a 124-unit, low-income apartment in the Bronx, in New York City, features a 10,000-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse and a living lobby wall that grows organic vegetables for
the community year-round. Residents can obtain a discounted share from the farm using SNAP benefits (food stamps) and take free classes in cooking fresh. Arbor House also allocates 40 percent of its rooftop crop harvests for the larger community. Agrihoods can take many forms, including those involving gardens cropping up in schools, parks and hospitals nationwide, as well as informal, guerilla gardens in vacant lots. Many cities, including Falls Church, Virginia, and Takoma Park, Maryland, have even changed local zoning laws so residents can keep chickens and bees in their backyards for eggs and honey, according to McMahon. “The era of the 2,000-mile Caesar salad has come to an end,” says McMahon, citing high transportation costs that make locally sourced food good for businesses and consumers alike. “The trend of growing food closer to home—in some cases at home—is here to stay.” Connect with April Thompson, of Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.
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natural awakenings
March 2016
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