Friends of Urban Agriculture participated in Arlington County's Park Master Plan 6 month process for Amazon's HQ2 at Metropolitan Park in National Landing (beginning February 20, 2020) with the goal of integrating our urban ag concepts into the final selected design. The site is expected to be completed in 2023. (See the County's website: https://projects.arlingtonva.us/projects/metropolitan-park-public-space-project/). The Metropolitan Park site will offer approximately two acres of publicly available space for neighborhood residents, visitors, and Amazon employees to enjoy. We saw this as a unique opportunity to cultivate urban agriculture features at what will assuredly be a transformative space for Arlington. Additionally, this was a chance to influence Arlington and Amazon's commitment to biophilic, urban landscape design. On September 12, 2020, the Arlington County Board adopted a park master plan and design guidelines for the expansion and transformation of Metropolitan Park. The 2.47-acre public park will create an urban oasis on the site of Amazon’s east coast headquarters. Amazon agreed as part of its community benefits package for its headquarters site plan to provide the $14 million needed for the renovation, and to maintain the park in perpetuity. The headquarters and park are expected to open in 2023. Included in the plan is a "Community Table & Edible Garden (approx. 2,300 sq. ft.): At the northwestern corner of the site, large social tables are situated within an edible garden. This place is envisioned as a hub of community gathering, for meals and celebrations. Regionally appropriate, adaptive edible species incorporated in the surrounding garden." This is great news! Urban Ag is now formally incorporated into Amazon's HQ2. And not just as an afterthought but as a featured amenity. HQ2 will be a very public and a destination/tourist focused place. This will be a chance to put Urban Ag at the forefront of the national conversation. This is a once in a generation chance that won’t come again!
LATEST NEWSUrban Ag at Amazon's HQ2, February 27, 2020FOUA Proposed an Urban Farm on Amazon's HQ2 Campus, Sept. 26, 2019Urban Agriculture Group Seeking Farm at Amazon's HQ2, Kalina Newman, ArlNow, September 11, 2019 |