What does a farmer do when developers look at the land and see mini-malls, tract houses – and dollar signs? Joe Johnston, a farmer in Gilbert, Arizona, decided to keep his 160 acres (thank you very much) and create his own community, one where he wanted to continue living and working. Thus begat Agritopia.

The Agritopia Project is an effort to design and build a neighborly community around an urban farm. The project is under construction and is being built in the Town of Gilbert on a farm owned by the Johnston family. Driven by principle rather than economics alone, the project attempts to solve several problems common in current development neighborhoods lacking character and livability and the complete elimination of Arizona’s agricultural heritage.

(via Poptech)