Fort Collins, Colo., is a growing, vibrant college town with a typical American problem: Beyond its idyllic historic city center, cookie-cutter subdivisions are eating away at farm fields, ranches and forests. According to the National Wildlife Federation, “the conversion of natural areas for homes, offices and shopping centers has become one of the most serious threats to America’s native plant and animal species.” It’s also a leading cause of biodiversity decline worldwide.
Yet one development, called the Hill at Cobb Lake, stands out from the turfgrass- and pavement-covered sprawl. Here, homes clustered along a single access road leave bird-filled meadows and ancient cottonwoods untouched.
The Hill is different because it was designed with the notion that rural and suburban housing don’t need to be a death sentence for biodiversity. Homes here are strategically clustered to preserve the most ecologically valuable parts of the land.
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