California’s first farm-to-table community makes eating local easy

For urbanites who like a little taste of the countryside at home, California's new farm-to-table community might be the ideal living space.

The Cannery, soon to open in Davis, California on the former site of the Hunt-Wesson tomato cannery, is a community of 547 homes arrayed around a 74-acre farm plot. Unlike the utopic communes popular with California hippies in the 70s, the development delivers large, single-dwelling homes and access to fresh produce without the need to get your hands dirty. For residents with green thumbs, fruit and nut trees will be planted in every yard.

The Cannery Farm, now planted with corn, tomatoes, zucchini and fruit trees, will be run in partnership with the Center for Land-Based Learning and will provide fresh produce to residents and local restaurants. It will also act as an agri-classroom for beginning farmers. A town center is planned for the community, featuring a Market Hall, office spaces, retail spaces, and mixed-use lofts and flats.

A third of the land at The Cannery will be designated for public space and the area has been designed with pedestrians and cyclists in mind. Biking and walking paths will be placed throughout the project, ensuring that each destination within The Cannery is no more than a 10-minute walk or five-minute bike ride away.

A wide variety of real estate is planned for the site, including large single-family homes with up to six bedrooms and five baths, and flats and townhouses with up to four bedrooms. The homes range in price from $400,000 to $1 million and all feature solar-powered electricity, LED lighting, tankless water heaters and electric car chargers. With the smallest dwellings at 1,400 square feet, downsizing fans and the tiny home crowd will most likely have to look elsewhere to satisfy their needs.

For interested buyers, 14 display homes are now available to tour.