Operated by a pair of brothers, Finca Tres Robles is one of several Houston farms coaxing fresh produce from unused urban land. Increasingly, urban farmers compete with developers for space.
In June 2014, Thomas and Daniel Garcia-Prats founded Finca Tres Robles (in English, Three Oaks Farm) in an industrial area of Houston's East End. But their domain may soon be contested: "The access to vacant land has been an issue this past year, with Houston's booming real estate market coming at odds with growing operations, like the community garden lost to townhouses in Midtown. The brothers Garcia-Prats have a deal with a local business that's leasing them their odd-shaped 1.25-acre lot at an affordable rate for a minimum of 3 years."
Recently, urban farming has become more popular in a city with abundant, relatively cheap land. It's seen as a way to pursue local resilience and self-sufficiency. "The brothers speak specifically about tracking their water usage so that they can be independent from the city's water supply, with talk of sensors being installed in the future along crop rows to monitor moisture levels."
In a further bid for independence from the gentrification process, the brothers want to steer clear of the hipster economy. "To avoid becoming simply a farm supplying chic local restaurants, Finca Tres Robles has made it their mission to sell the majority of their fruits and vegetables to folks in the 77011 area code."
FULL STORY: Finca Tres Robles: Urban Farming on the Rise in Houston
Guidebook: Lowering Barriers to Urban Farming
Urban agriculture has long been a staple of sustainable urbanism—in theory. Can policy changes help it become much more than that? This guidebook offers tactics and policies that planners can use to promote urban farms.
The Local Food Movement Goes Online
Online tools designed to connect local farmers with consumers are helping sustain the local food and urban agriculture movements.
Fish: the Future of Urban Farming
Cityscape Farms has developed a new technique for farming fish along with vegetables in combined urban food systems that allows them to farm in developed areas.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
