The New Definition Of A Farmhouse

22 May 2007 - 5:00am

Developers are reacting to the market's demand for environmentally-friendly development and locally-grown food by creating housing developments that include farmable land.

"The projects are one form of conservation development, a movement that aims to balance growth with preservation that has been accepted by municipalities in recent years as a way to maintain open space or rural character. They also are a way for developers to distinguish themselves in a slowing housing market, catering to people's increased interest in environmental sustainability and desire for locally grown food."

"Bundoran Farm, a community under development in Albemarle County, Va., is offering 100 home sites on a working cattle farm and apple orchard at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. South Village, a project in suburban South Burlington, Vt., was recently approved for 334 homes surrounding a 40-acre farm that will grow corn and other organic produce; Babcock Ranch, in southwestern Florida, is building nearly 20,000 homes surrounded by 73,000 acres that include a cattle ranch and a vegetable farm."

Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2007
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The circumstances that many localities and planning departments are suffering in the current economic winter will no doubt generate stress on administrations and service levels. The economy, combined with the housing bubble, has dealt a double blow to local budgets and revenue streams.