Agrihoods: Development-Supported Agriculture

!"#$%&$'("%)"*+,"-'*.%/'0"1,/*,$")%$"!##$%#$.'*,"2,3+/%0%&4""5""678997:;<7=6;9""5"">>>?'**$'?/3'*?%$& Agrihoods: Development-Supported Agriculture By Jef Birkby This publication introduces the concept of development-supported agriculture, also known as agrihoods. NCAT Smart Growth The recent growth of agrihoods in the United States is discussed. The major types of agrihoods are Specialist described, and the benef ts and challenges of agrihood development are discussed. Case studies of Published June 2016 agrihoods are presented, and further agrihood resources are included. ©NCAT IP515 Contents Introduction: What are Agrihoods? .................1 Types of Agrihoods ..........................2 Inf ll Development and Agrihoods ..................3 Benef ts of Agrihoods ..........................3 Challenges and Concerns of Agrihoods ..........................5 Conclusion .........................6 Appendix: 12 Agrihoods Taking Farm-to-Table Living Mainstream ..........7 References .........................9 Farmers Market at Willowsford Farms. Photo Credit: Molly Peterson Further Resources ...........9 Introduction—What are Agrihoods? he popularity of planned suburban Although this type of mass-produced subdivision home developments in the United States has been popular for decades, residents of these stretches back to the 1950s. Many sol- cookie-cutter housing developments often felt iso- Tdiers returning from World War II were anxious lated from their neighbors due to the subdivision ATTRA (www.attra.ncat.org) to acquire a home and start a family, and the GI design and lack of central gathering places and is a program of the National bill provided low-interest loans that helped kick- Center for Appropriate Technology walkable streets. But in the 21st century, many start the postwar housing boom. Many post-war (NCAT). The program is funded millennials, baby boomers, and retirees are seek- through a cooperative agreement subdivisions consisted of identical home designs with the United States Department ing out neighborhoods that have more direct packed within cul-de-sacs and along broad streets, of Agriculture’s Rural Business- relationship to the land and to local food. An Cooperative Service. Visit the often located far from a city center. Levittown, NCAT website (www.ncat.org) built between 1947 and 1951 in the state of New increasingly popular subdivision design, called an for more information on York, epitomized this type of subdivision. More agrihood, is helping to f ll this desire to connect our other sustainable agriculture and than 17,000 homes f lled the Levittown subdivi- more closely with their community, with nature, energy projects. sion by the early 1950s. and with their food supply. www.attra.ncat.org Page 1 (Serenbe, just outside Atlanta, was established in 2005; and Prairie Crossing, outside Chicago, was developed in 1995). But the real growth in agrihoods has occurred in the past decade. Interest and growth in agrihood developments has been dramatic. Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Insti- tute estimates that, as of 2014, there are over 200 agrihoods either developed or in the planning stages in the United States (McColl, 2015). Types of Agrihoods Agrihoods typically feature a central working farm, which can include livestock, orchards, vineyards, and row crops. Agrihoods can vary Levittown subdivision in the 1950s. Photo: Courtesy of dramatically in total acreage, number of home Wiki Commons sites, and farm size. Unlike the thousands of golf-course developments T e smallest agrihoods are sometimes called Related ATTRA microhoods, which consist of less than a dozen in the nation, where homes are built around a Publications homes that surround a large community garden central golf course and club house, an agrihood www.attra.ncat.org or small farm. T e residents of these small agri- is built around a working farm, with much of the hoods may be much more active in farm man- Community Orchards land preserved for growing food or set aside in agement than larger agrihoods, with residents Community conservation easements. choosing what crops to plant and how to market Supported Agriculture the produce. Community T e most common agrihoods in the United States Gardening range in size from 100 to 1,000 home units, with Start a Farm in the City a signif cant portion of land set aside for the working farm and protected areas. In many cases, these Tips for Selling through CSAs— agrihoods are built around farms that have been Community in the same family for generations, and the farm Supported Agriculture family is behind the development. At the largest end of the agrihood spectrum are new development-supported agriculture projects that may contain several thousand homes and have hundreds of acres set aside for farming or Golf course subdivisions, popular in the 1960s, land conservation. A large agrihood currently were built around a clubhouse and golf ng greens. under construction near Orlando, Florida, called Photo: Courtesy of Wiki Commons Lake Pickett South, will contain almost 3,000 homes. T is agrihood, which will cost about $1 In some agrihoods, the homeowners surround- billion to complete, will feature a 9-acre farm, ing the working farm own shares in the farm, almost 20 acres of community gardens, and a and can choose to be actively involved in the farm-to-table restaurant. T e developer estimates planting and harvesting of crops if they desire. it will take about 20 years to fully build out the agrihood. T e agrihood residents may also hire a farm manager to live onsite and manage the day-to- Agrihood developers also target dif erent income day operation. and age clientele in their home developments and locations. In some cases, high-end homes are More of cially called development-supported the norm, with million-dollar homes common, agriculture, the agrihood concept is fairly new to such as the Kukui’ula agrihood development in suburban developers. A few community-owned Hawaii. On the other end of the spectrum, some farmsteads were built in the past 20 years or so agrihoods target low-income and senior citizens, Page 2 Agrihoods: Development-Supported Agriculture as well as mixed-generation developments. T e Win6 development near Santa Clara California is an example of an agrihood that consciously targets a percentage of its homes for low-income and senior citizen residents. Inf ill Development and Agrihoods Inf ll development (using previously developed commercial land within an urban boundary) is often preferred over developing open space or agricultural land. But many of the agrihoods in the United States are based around existing rural farms on the outskirts of urban areas. However, some developers and city planners are viewing agrihoods as an option for inf ll development, using land available near abandoned malls, shuttered factories, and demolished housing projects. The Win6 agrihood in downtown Santa Clara, California, will feature low-income housing. Source: Davis Studio Architecture + Design, http://davisstudioad.com Two examples of inf ll agrihoods are described below. Inf ill Example 2: Win6 Village Inf ill Example 1: The Cannery Santa Clara, California, is the site of a new 6-acre One of the f rst agrihoods to make use an aban- inf ll agrihood near a busy thoroughfare. Located doned commercial facility is the Cannery, located near two large shopping centers, the Win6 proj- near Davis, California. Concrete covering the site ect will feature a small organic farm, as well as of the abandoned Hunt-Wesson tomato-process- community and children’s gardens. Other fea- ing facility was removed, and the soil underneath tures include more than 150 housing units desig- was used to create a new farm-centered subdivi- nated for low-income or senior housing. Walkable sion. (Hickman, 2015) design will be incorporated, allowing residents to easily travel to nearby malls for shopping. Con- Opened in late 2015, the 100-acre development struction on the Win6 development is scheduled will eventually feature over 500 new homes sur- to start in January 2017 (Herron, 2015). rounding a 7.4-acre working farm. Almost f ve acres of public parks and other open space will Benef its of Agrihoods give community residents room for recreation. T e Cannery’s working farm will be managed by T e rise of agrihoods in the United States is linked the nonprof t Center for Land-Based Learning, to a variety of benef ts available to developers, which will also manage an educational facility farmers, and residents. Many of these benef ts are for beginning farmers. tangible, but some are psychological. Sustainable design will be used in all residential Perhaps the greatest attraction for land developers considering agrihoods are much lower develop- homes built in the Cannery, including solar pho- ment costs compared to similar amenity-centered tovoltaic systems on the rooftops, tankless water subdivisions. Over 16,000 golf communities have heaters, energy-ef cient design, and aging-in- been built in the nation since the 1960s. T ese place features for senior citizens. Home buyers communities usually provided developers with a can also choose to increase the energy features nice prof t premium when compared to standard in the homes to achieve a net-zero-energy status, subdivisions without the golf-course amenity. requiring no net energy to heat, cool, and light the home. A commerce district and town center is It’s easy to see why many developers have changed planned for retail and small business of ce space their mindset from a golf-course centered devel- (McGrath, 2015). opment to agrihoods, centered on a working farm. www.attra.ncat.org Page 3 “[Developers] f gured out they could charge a lot have been built on inf ll space or rehabilitated premium [of] anywhere from 15 to 25 percent, industrial brownf elds, and a variety of tax cred- [for golf-centered subdivisions],” says Ed McMa- its and other f nancial incentives are available to hon of the Urban Land Institute.

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