Agrihoods Bring Farms to Urban Neighborhoods

These communities built around working farms aim to boost food security, reduce temperatures, and increase biodiversity.

Apr. 8, 2026 at 9:40pm

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A brightly colored, high-contrast silkscreen print of a watering can repeated in a tight grid pattern, using flat, unnatural neon colors and heavy black outlines to transform a simple farming tool into modern pop art.Vibrant silkscreen prints of essential urban farming tools symbolize the growing trend of integrating working farms into residential communities.Santa Clara Today

Agrihoods are communities designed around a central farm, with housing built around the agricultural land. These developments promise to boost food security, reduce temperatures, capture rainwater, and increase biodiversity in urban areas. While agrihoods are often built in affluent areas, developers say they can be implemented nearly anywhere with the right zoning changes. However, the logistics of running a successful farm within an agrihood can be complex, requiring careful planning around water usage, crop selection, and staffing.

Why it matters

As climate change intensifies heat, flooding, and pressure on food systems, agrihoods could be a way to make urban living more resilient. By integrating farms into residential developments, agrihoods can provide fresh, nutritious produce to local communities while also offering environmental benefits like cooling, water capture, and increased biodiversity.

The details

Agrihoods typically feature a working farm surrounded by single-family or multifamily housing, as well as amenities like community centers, retail shops, and farm-to-table restaurants. Developers say the key is finding the right balance between housing and active open space that generates commerce. Water management is a major consideration, with the goal of capturing enough rainwater to sustain the farm. Crop selection is also crucial, with a focus on high-yield, fast-growing produce that can feed the local community.

  • Steinberg Hart recently finished two agrihood projects in California - one in Santa Clara and another in Encinitas.
  • Last year, residents of the Santa Clara agrihood alleged management failures have left them living in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

The players

Vincent Mudd

A partner at the architectural firm Steinberg Hart, which designs agrihoods.

Lara Hermanson

Cofounder of Farmscape, which helped design, install, and maintain the farm in the Santa Clara agrihood.

Greg Reese

The farm manager at the Fox Point Farms agrihood in Encinitas.

Catherine Brinkley

A social scientist who studies urban agriculture at the University of California, Davis.

Lucy Diekmann

An urban agriculture and food systems advisor at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

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What they’re saying

“Developers have a hard time offering open space, because they would like to build more housing. One of the few ways to kind of bridge that gap is to be able to use active open space that actually generates commerce.”

— Vincent Mudd, Partner, Steinberg Hart

“It's incredible what we could do with what we have, and what we could do even more with intentional planning.”

— Catherine Brinkley, Social Scientist, University of California, Davis

“What is in high demand, and then what grows really fast as well? I can plant a seed and they can harvest it in a month, or transplant it within two months, so it's a higher turnover.”

— Greg Reese, Farm Manager, Fox Point Farms

What’s next

As more cities explore agrihoods as a way to integrate urban farming, local governments will need to examine zoning laws and other regulations to ensure these developments can be successfully implemented. Ongoing monitoring and management of agrihood farms will also be crucial to address any issues that arise, as seen with the problems reported at the Santa Clara agrihood.

The takeaway

Agrihoods offer a promising model for bringing the benefits of urban farming - increased food security, environmental sustainability, and community engagement - to residential neighborhoods. However, the success of these developments requires careful planning, funding, and long-term management to ensure the farms can thrive and provide value to the surrounding community.