The Goat Next Door: An examination of the underlying community dynamics in agrihoods and the policy strategies that can assist in the expansion of this model

Abstract

Agrihoods are single-family, multifamily, or mixed-use communities that integrate agriculture and food consumption or distribution into their development. The popularity of this model has continued to grow since the phrase was first popularized in 2014. Despite the topic’s novelty, diversity of developments, potential health benefits, and growing popularity, academic research on agrihoods is limited. This thesis expands knowledge of this development model by examining the underlying community dynamics in agrihoods. For this research, community dynamics describe how residents feel about their neighborhood and the concomitant impact of these feelings on the development and residents. Understanding agrihoods’ community dynamics can provide another dimension to how planners conceive of this model and may help planners or developers determine what features of agrihoods they should replicate elsewhere. Twenty-two agrihoods in the United States were surveyed to answer the research questions posed by this thesis. The ranking of values and survey responses demonstrated that sense of community is the strongest perceived value in agrihoods. Agrihoods bolster residents’ sense of community through reinforcing feedback loops created through social capital and the presence of amenities. This relationship is illustrated through visual diagrams. This thesis also provides direction on the tools planners and developers can use to create agrihoods and warns of challenges that planners may face in the promotion of this model.