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Community Profile Location: In Gilbert, 22 miles southeast of Phoenix Category: Greenfield Number of homes: All but five of 450 are built. What $300K will buy: Pocket $60K and you can still get a 1,900-square-foot, 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA Craftsman cottage. Closest latte: The Coffee Shop, housed in Joe Johnston's converted tractor shed.
photography: Buff Strickland
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Civic Pride If only all farmers were as resourceful as Joe Johnston. When he felt the development pressure encroaching into Gilbert from Phoenix, he didn't throw up his hands and sell out. He shrank his farming operations and built his own community, one that emphasized neighborliness, quality of life, pedestrians over automobiles, and—this is important—the land's farming heritage. "I asked myself what kind of community I would like to live in," says Joe. He started reading books and visiting beloved older neighborhoods in Phoenix and Pasadena, California. The result is the uniquely named Agritopia, a Traditional Neighborhood Design with Southwest vernacular homes, a school, playing fields, a unique dog park, and a working 15-acre farm at the core. "We love living here because our house is close to the street," says Brian Ruffentine of the home he shares with his wife and three children. "There's a low fence line, and we're always talking to our neighbors or throwing a Frisbee or watching the kids skateboard. We spend more time in our front yard than in our beautiful backyard." Cottage Connection: Agritopia; 602/330-3093 or agritopia.com | 
