As more people look to move out of cities, a new form of environmentally friendly community may be their next home. Earth911 talks with Scott Austin, a cofounder of the Olivette Riverside Farm and Community, a 346-acre planned “agrihood” along the French Broad River near Asheville, N.C. His team built “a community in which our interactions with water, nature, food, community, and lifelong learning are seamless and foster sustainable living.” It introduces a unique lifestyle that includes a farm funded through a Community Supported Agriculture program built into the cost of living.
Scott shares the Olivette lifestyle and his plans for farm-to-table living that values “gardens over golf courses.” In addition to being able to pick up fresh berries and produce from the farm, residents live in clusters of homes that share large gardens, and everyone can borrow shared bicycles to get around. An affluent community, Olivette may provide an early model for reimagining towns that integrate agriculture, wilderness, and lifelong learning that can be applied in many settings. Austin points to similar projects, such as Serenbe, whose founder Steve Nygren we interviewed in December 2019. There are many lessons to take from the experience of these early efforts at reinventing living for sustainability.
To learn more, visit Olivette Riverside Farm and Community.
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