In 2006, I developed a sympathy for the farmers of America. Not that I didn’t always believe it was a noble profession, I just hadn’t yet recognized their difficult position in the land ownership game.
I had just spent the past 2 years working on skyscrapers and urban living residences. I was hanging out in a culture that believed Americans were moving to the urban core. It was a fun time- hip concerts, trendy social mixers, fashion parties, and lots of gourmet hamburgers. It was the future of America.
However, outside of this trendy circle of friends, I knew many people who weren’t leaving their suburban mc-house, their small town victorian, or their country cottage. Deep down in my stomach I knew that everyone was not moving downtown. In fact, it was only a select demographic: “the young professional,” “the dual-income with no kids,” and a handful of “mid-life crises baby boomers.”
I started to research the historical trends and precedents for American housing developments. I learned that while some people will move to urban residences, there are many more that will not. There are characteristics of towns, suburbs, and exurbs that people truly love and demand.
As an architect and a community planner, I wondered how we will accommodate for population growth in those outlying areas. What would I do if I was a farmer who is asked to sell his land for housing? Would I sell? Would I stay? Would I build? Although it seems best to keep the farm, eventually this greenfield development will be inevitable. This is when I realized that our farmers are working the land that is the future of America.
I design communities that are ideal places to live. I want to help America grow and become a wonderful home for all our future generations. Please feel free to browse my research. If you have questions or comments, you can contact me at: jacob@smalltowngrowth.com