Green Acres: Serenbe founder Steve Nygren is converting each of the development’s tractors to biodiesel fuel.
Green Leaders
For the Love of the Land
Community mastermind Steve Nygren sets the bar for alternative development in south Atlanta
BY
Heather J. Paper
PHOTOGRAPHY
Lauren Rubinstein
PRODUCED BY
Elizabeth Reh Ralls

Perhaps no other Georgia suburb has received as much attention, locally and nationally, as Serenbe—a community just south of metro Atlanta. One of the masterminds, Steve Nygren, is passionate about this place in the heart of Chattahoochee Hill Country. When he and his co-founders conceived it, they took a new look at community development, basing every facet of Serenbe’s design on environmental sustainability and conservation.

All homes in the development are built to EarthCraft House standards, which include energy efficiency, low maintenance, enhanced air quality, water conservation, as well as resource-efficient building materials and systems. There’s a working organic farm, which has a thriving Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, servicing the community’s three restaurants and the public via a weekly market.

What’s more, Serenbe’s 900 acres lie in the heart of 40,000 acres protected with a master plan that calls for 80 percent green space. How has Nygren garnered the attention of the residents in this new city, which incorporated as recently as December 1, 2007?

“We empowered members of the community to dream, to make them aware they’re in charge of their own destiny,” he says. “We couldn’t stop development, but we found a way to manage it.”

His excitement about the concept has become contagious, too. Of the Chattahoochee Hill Country’s 2,400 residents, no fewer than 16 recently ran for the first six available offices. And that is just the beginning. People are traveling far and wide to study this model.

“It all goes back to preserving the land,” says Nygren. “With inevitable development coming to the Chattahoochee Hill Country, we built Serenbe as a model for alternative development that preserves and conserves while accommodating just as many—or more—people as traditional development. In every way, we want Serenbe to be a good steward of this beautiful land and the environment.”