Melina Warling, Anika Hammershrug, Joshua A. Bickel
Gilbert, Ariz. (AP) – Just a short distance from Portico, patio, clay tile roofs and well-maintained lawns in the suburbs, Kelly Saxer is getting used to the questions. She weaves tomato grapes, snaps up asparagus, and generally stains her hands, and even visitors and nearby residents want to know what she is doing and how the farm she works has been caught up in here.
“Sometimes we feel like we’re at the zoo because people just pass by and like our gorks, they just find it,” Saxar said.
This is Agritopia. Everything that remained after a few miles of alfalfa, corn, cotton, durum wheat and sugar beets was engulfed by the development of the phoenix roaring.
This “farming” – a residential community that includes working farms – children play outside in a communal green space between schools and homes adjacent to the vegetable fields. Well-dressed couples and raucous teenagers flock to for selfies and picture-like photos. The diner line form featured at Guy Fieri’s Food Network Show. On the farm itself, people can walk along dirt roads, rent plots to grow their own food, or buy produce.
Some developers have turned to the concept of agriculture over the past few decades, luring buyers with different types of amenities. At least 27 US and Canadian provinces had pesticides as of a 2018 report from the Urban Land Research Institute, and more has happened since.
Experts say pesticides cater to buyers interested in sustainability, access to healthy foods and mixing urban and rural life. The central purpose of many projects is to “create people’s senses.”
The founders of Agritopia saw changes coming and made plans
Joe Johnston was in the late 1990s when the family behind Agritopia saw “what was written on the wall.”
The family farm was about five miles from Gilbert, but it was clear that the rapid growth of the Phoenix area would bring development to their gateways. His parents have almost retired and together with a pair of siblings interested in doing other things, Johnston gets their blessings to develop the land himself, rather than simply selling it.
With a background in design engineering, Johnston intended to “make a place” as he would place it. Nearby there are small streets and houses within walking distance of restaurants, bars, shops, small parks and fitness business. The farm is at the heart of it.
Melissa Checker, a professor of anthropology in New York City and author of a book on environmental gentlemen, said agriculture can appeal to people in many ways.
“You have a kind of convergence of some commercial interests, you know, there’s something you can sell to people, and this real desire to change the way we do it,” she said.
Agritopia, a community around a farm plot, deliberately close to the farm in Gilbert, Arizona on April 22, 2025 (AP Photo/Anika Hamershlug)
Tractors will clean farmland in Agritopia, a community around farmland plots, in Gilbert, Arizona, on Sunday, April 22, 2025 (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
The farmland is located in Agritopia, a community around a farmland plot in Gilbert, Arizona, on Monday, April 21, 2025 (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Kamori Parla, 5, hangs out on one of the Agritopia farms around a plot of farmland in Gilbert, Arizona on April 22, 2025 (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Residents will greet Joe Johnston, founder of Agritopia, a community around farmland plots, as they play a round of golf carts in Gilbert, Arizona on April 22, 2025 (AP Photo/Anika Hammerschlug)
Agritopia founder Joe Johnston is a community located around a farmland plot, posing for a portrait in his office on April 22, 2025 in Gilbert, Arizona (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Agritopia’s lead farmer Kelly Saxar is a community located around a farmland plot, where he will harvest lettuce on April 22, 2025 in Gilbert, Arizona (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Faye Padron, age 4, will play for “Kid Pod,” a family gathering of over 20 children in Agritopia, around a farm plot in Gilbert, Arizona, on April 21, 2025 (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Liam Guerena will perform on April 21, 2025 at “Kid Pod,” a gathering of families with over 20 children, in Agritopia, around a farmland plot in Gilbert, Arizona (AP Photo/Anika Hammershrug)
Josie (3) and 4-year-old Faye Padron, Playhouse of “Kidpod” April 21, 2025, a group of families with more than 20 children between them in Agritopia, around a plot of farmland in Gilbert, Arizona (AP/Annika Hammerschlag)
Sabrina Matizen stops smelling flowers in her Agritopia garden, around a farmland plot in Gilbert, Arizona, on April 21, 2025 (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Lettuce will be washed in Agritopia, a community located around the farmland site in Gilbert, Arizona on April 22, 2025 (AP Photo/Anika Hammerschlug)
Center Maria Padron will play for the “Kid Pod” along with her daughter Faye Padron, aged 4. This is Agritopia, located around a farmland plot in Gilbert, Arizona, on April 21, 2025, and is an Agritopia, a cluster of families with over 20 children.
Maverick on the left and Brennan on the right will perform on April 21, 2025 at Agritopia’s “Kid Pod,” a cluster of families with more than 20 children in Agritopia, around a plot of farmland in Gilbert, Arizona (AP Photo/Annika hammerschlag)
1 of 14
Agritopia, a community around a farm plot, deliberately close to the farm in Gilbert, Arizona on April 22, 2025 (AP Photo/Anika Hamershlug)
Enlarge
Agritopia, but not utopia
In an ideal world, growing food using the spaces of green communities can benefit people, particularly food-safe people, Checker said. However, pesticides are often linked to real estate prices and developers want the return on investment, so “it’s much more likely that these types of projects will enter milder or more wealthy areas,” she said.
It is not clear how big a farm plays in attracting buyers. For example, Agritopia is taking part in a farm box program that offers the first choice of seasonal fruits and vegetables out of 500 homes. (The farm is also sold at the downtown Gilbert market, and donated to a local food pantry.)
Johnston said he knew, “Not everyone is passionate about farming.” So that’s why he was planning to create a village with spaces for people to gather. They want them to be involved in agriculture, even if they do.
Still, farms are a selling point, especially for developers across the Sunbelt who compete to offer pools, gyms, parks and other perks. He is the founder of the developer who created Indigo, a pesticide outside of Houston, and also founded a company called Agmenity, which runs farms for agricultural developers.
How farms and neighborhoods intersect
When the sun rises, farm workers cut the roots from the green onions and pull up thick bundles of lettuce and green garlic.
Before he began working in Agritopia, Ernesto Penalva didn’t know all the steps involved in growing garlic – harvesting, cleaning, packaging, transporting. “But we just perceive it as one process, so it was really interesting to understand it,” he said in Spanish.
CC Garrett, who passes through “Miss Hickory” while leading an education tour for children on the farm, said he loves to see young people connect with food in new ways.
“I think this community is just built around urban farms and is a really important American concept,” she said.
For those who live here, this place is more than a typical area. In Agritopia’s “Kid Pod,” parents, a family gathering of 23 children, let young people roam freely, knowing that at least one parent is always looking for them. The rest of the parents will cook dinner or plan a date night. Just across the street, peach and citrus orchards sway in the breeze, occasionally smearing fruit smells through the front yard.
Maria Padron lives in a “children’s pod” with her husband and two children. She loves to live in Agritopia because of her camaraderie with her neighbors.
Her own family in Virginia had to give up on their farm when her grandfather couldn’t take care of it anymore. She hopes it was staying with the family, but now it’s a vineyard.
She was asked if she wanted her grandfather’s land to become a pesticide, she says, perhaps if it was done right.
“There’s clearly something beautiful here, but if you see this land being a particular thing and see it changing instantly, there’s sadness there too,” Padron said.
x Follow Melina Walling at @melinawalling and bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social. Follow Joshua A. Bickel on Instagram, Bluesky, and X @joshuabickel. Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram @ahammergram.
Associated Press Climate and Environmental Insurance receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP standards for working with Ap.org supporters and charities, a funded coverage area.
Original issue: May 28, 2025 1:10pm EDT
