FOUA sent a letter (below) to a variety of stakeholders in the development process for Amazon’s HQ2 in Crystal City proposing an Integrate Urban Farm concept be considered in the design. FOUA wrote the proposal in light of the upcoming Site Plan Review Committee meeting for HQ2 on Monday, September 23. Click here for more info on the planning process for Amazon’s HQ2 development.
September 4, 2019
Dear HQ2 Development Civic Stakeholder:
Amazon’s HQ2 offers an incredibly rare opportunity to partner with one of the world’s largest companies and the local community to create a vibrant public space in and around the HQ2 campus. Metropolitan Park will offer over 60,000 square feet of park space to be used by the surrounding neighborhoods, employees, and visitors.
As a non-profit civic organization focused on building a vibrant, local food ecosystem within Arlington, Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA) believes urban food production is integral to creating an environmentally sustainable community and economy. We believe Arlington is poised to become a national leader for urban agriculture, and the Metropolitan Park project offers an opportunity to showcase Amazon’s and Arlington’s commitment to sustainable, biophilic (integrating the natural world into the built environment) development.
We envision less than 2% of the Park (1,000 square feet) be allotted for an Integrated City Farm. Thanks to ZGF Architects progressive design and environmental modeling, Metropolitan Park will have optimal solar coverage for a wide range of edible fruits and vegetables year round. FOUA proposes the Integrated City Farm be positioned in the southeast corner to take advantage of sunlight.
Much like the successful urban farms found in NYC, St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, and other comparable cities, the Integrated City Farm will provide a cross-generational public amenity that will offer:
- Aesthetically appealing, biophilic focal point event space
- Movie nights, public or private receptions, exercise classes, etc.
- STEM plant lab for K-12 research
- Public demonstrations of growing sustainable techniques & methods
- At-scale food production for distribution to local food banks
- Incubator for urban agriculture-focused start-ups
- Encourage public interaction with local food systems
We would love to discuss our vision further and find ways to collaborate on Metropolitan Park’s public site design and usage objectives.
Sincerely,
Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture Board
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