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Imagine your ideal rural village. It is surrounded by cropland, pastures, orchards and forests. It includes a mix of dwelling types and compatible commercial uses that offer on-site employment. It meets the special needs of children and elders. It decreases commuter traffic, pollution, erosion, waste generation, crime and taxes. It preserves agricultural land, scenic views, and historic sites.
The village center contains stores, restaurants, offices, guest lodges, farm market, park, theatre, auto repair shop, food processing facility - all in a setting of historic and contemporary structures that are linked by walkable streets and alleys which feed outward into bikeways, hiking trails, and roads laid out in harmony with the land.
This twenty-first century agrivillage combines the best of old and new ideas for "smart growth," "sustainability" and "green development". It embodies our best life principles: malama 'aina and keikis (take care of the land and the children), encourage 'ohana (family, community), respect kupuna (elders), and nurture the spirit of aloha.
Such a community is now possible and its time has surely come. America's townfolk are migrating into the countryside as never before thanks to good roads, prosperity, and high-speed telecommunications. Millions of wealthy "boomers" are relocating to rural areas. The result of this migration from city to country is suburbanization and gentrification of rural lands, with well-known consequences - among them a shortage of affordable housing. We're facing a rural land crisis.
Can we prosper with the agrivillage model? Agrivillages will attract homebuyers who want real community, harmony with nature, and on-site work. They will appeal to visitors who seek an authentic experience of our land, people, agriculture and community. Agrivillage developers will do well by doing good. Government policy objectives will be served - including affordable housing.