Tagged: Urban farming

Earlier this year Forbes magazine ranked Austin the 19th Coolest City in America.

Normally this would be an honor, but the list also points out that we’re the fifth coolest city in the state behind Houston (no. 1), Dallas (no.4), San Antonio (no.11), and even Fort Worth (no.13), which all ranked higher than the Capital City on the coolness scale.

But late last week, Austin got some of its swagger back when Forbes ranked East Austin America’s Seventh Best Hipster Neighborhood. 

It's tempting to think the Forbes editors walked around the country, counting pairs of skinny jeans, denim vests and distressed flannel shirts. But the list was actually composed through a partnership with Nextdoor.com, which ranked the East Side as Austin's hottest hipster home base over South Congress and Travis Heights, and Walkscore.com, which tallied the number and proximity of coffee shops, food trucks, locally-owned bars and restaurants and more to pinpoint hip activity.

East Austin is getting a new community garden. The Sustainable Food Center of Austin broke ground today on Martin Luther King Boulevard, just west of Airport Boulevard. The community center will be equipped with gardens, a tool shed and a teaching pavilion.

Earl Maxwell is the CEO of the St. David’s Foundation, a non-profit partner in the construction of the garden. "It's about getting people outside, and getting their hands dirty and kids knowing that vegetables don't come from hands, they come from gardens," he says. "And so, we're just so happy to be a part of this."

The Sustainable Food Center says plots in the community garden will be available to the public in the fall.

Which came first: The chicken, or the city code?

The growing popularity of backyard chicken coops in Austin neighborhoods has prompted the City of Austin to release guidelines helping urban chicken owners from running afoul of the law.

It’s a reminder to chicken keepers of city codes restricting where and how owners can plant their coops.