There’s a growing legion of homebuyers out there who don’t dream of a home on the 16th green—they dream of living next to a field of green, as in corn. In response, savvy developers around the country are planning and building communities known as “agrihoods;” in simple terms, communities built around urban farms.
Officially described as a “planned development combining clustered houses and broad natural landscapes with farm-to-table living, agrihoods typically include community-supported agriculture (CSA) pickup points, community kitchens, and even schools, as well as miles of walking trails—all places for people to meet naturally and share experiences.
In these developments, farms aren't razed to make way for housing, but instead are incorporated into neighborhoods, allowing residents to raise farm animals, grow food, reconnect with nature and be a part of a community.
Houses built in these farm environments come at a premium, however, due to the lower density of homes and the sustainable features that homebuilders often include as standard.
Ed McMahon of the Urban Living Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based thought leader on housing and land use, says that developments that preserve natural areas have been around since the 1960s.
A nationwide trend, Harvest, a Hillwood community in Argyle, Texas and Harvest Green in Houston are two such agrihoods that have sprouted up in the Southwest.
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