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local economy and helps farmers to retain their livelihood. Farmers markets provide the opportunity to connect with the local families who planted and harvested the food. Farmers markets dramatically reduce the journey that food takes to your table and avoid costly, wasteful packaging and emissions. What the City can do: • Acquire city garden plots that can then be leased out to residents • Encourage local foods in restaurants • Implement electronic benefits transfer system into all farmers markets so that residents who use food stamps can buy fresh fruits and vegetables Future Progress • Progress can be measured by tracking the amount of farmers' markets, community gardens, natural and food grocery co-ops, and regional community supported agricultural farms • Initiate policies that allow for more community and individual gardens, as well as co-ops and CSA's 4. Housing Being that St. Anthony Village has gone through a complete "suburban life cycle," meaning that a majority of its housing was built between 1950 and 1970 and is now in need of redevelopment, the original residents of these homes are moving into retirement facilities and younger families are moving into these houses. This transition period is the perfect opportunity for St. Anthony Village to redevelop in a sustainable manner. Goal: Create a community in which there is a full range of sustainable housing options for individuals of all ages. Objective: To maintain and redevelop existing housing stock in an efficient manner. According to the St. Anthony Village's 2008 Comprehensive Plan, "as determined by the Metropolitan Council, 77 percent of St. Anthony owner -occupied housing and 45 percent of its rental units are considered affordable." Thereaxe many options for the city to increase its housing affordability, particularly in its rental sector. Strategy: Implement Accessory Dwelling Units Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, are also known as auxiliary apartments, garden cottages, or carriage houses. They are additional living units that have separate kitchen, sleeping and bathroom facilities. ADUs can be a converted garage, an addition to a garage, or a new building. The benefits of ADUs are that they allow for an increase in affordable housing opportunities by providing an increased number of affordable apartment rental units, an increase in homeownership opportunities by providing prospective homeowners with an additional source of income that lowers their effective mortgage payments (in communities where this is legal), ADUs provide proximal housing to family members or others needing assistance in daily . am t 01 18 I la (J