Agriburbia (noun): Like suburbia, but with lawns you can eat

October 26, 2009 · Posted in Environment · Comments Off 
Matthew "Quint" Redmond walks a lettuce field in Lakewood. Redmond sees a future where homes are engulfed by farms that feed them — and make income by also selling to local restaurants. His 944-home project in Milliken is ready to break ground. (Craig F. Walker | The Denver Post)

Matthew "Quint" Redmond walks a lettuce field in Lakewood. Redmond sees a future where homes are engulfed by farms that feed them — and make income by also selling to local restaurants. His 944-home project in Milliken is ready to break ground. (Craig F. Walker | The Denver Post)

A new suburbia is coming to the Front Range.

Except instead of homes surrounded by perfectly coiffed lawns and precisely manicured golf courses, these housing developments would exist in the midst of a working farm.

Now a visionary urban planner is bringing his “agriburbia” concept to the Denver-metro area, including one possibility in Boulder.

From this weekend’s Denver Post:

Six years ago, Matthew “Quint” Redmond suggested to Milliken planners that a corn farm north of Denver could increase its agricultural value and still anchor nearly a thousand homes.

“I got laughed out of the room,” Redmond said.

Today, Milliken’s 618-acre Platte River Village is ready for construction, with 944 planned homes surrounded by 108 acres of backyard farms and 152 acres of drip- irrigated community farms. The plan is for the farms to feed local residents and supply restaurants while paying for community upkeep. And Redmond, a 47-year-old planner-farmer, has 13 other Front Range projects mulling his “agriburbia” concept. Read more