I thought I knew where all of the Chico's community gardens were, until a colleague asked I I had been down Vista Verde Avenue, off East 8th Street.

The La Vista Verde apartments is a Rural Development farm labor housing complex, and is one of a handful of two-story low-income developments along this street.

Despite the noise from adjacent Hwy 99, which itself was muffled by a dense wall of tall trees, I found the complex to be peaceful and well-kept, with children casually strolling between the buildings. I was impressed by the balance between concrete parking lots and grassy lawns shaded by mature trees. A resident pointed out an abundance of fruit trees around his complex.

At La Vista Verde, I was told, the residents had dismissed landscaping in place of a community garden.

And there it was--just a few yards from the highway, there was a massive garden space, neatly divided into about thirty 25' x 25' garden plots. There was a distinct hispanic flavor to the garden: Edible prickly pear cactus (nopales) bordered all of the fencelines, hot peppers still lingered on many of the plants. One resident was in the process of planting onion starts in three tidy rows; most of the plots had at least one winter crop in the ground.

Too often I think folks imagine high density housing and they picture the concrete jungles of some of our larger cities. But I believe there is a style of high density housing that fits the character of Chico, a style that doesn't rise any higher than the nearby trees, a style that includes space for gardens and fruit trees and common space.