Start In Your Own Backyard
Start In Your Own Backyard is a mini-series about how the choices we make, both big and small, can transform the world around us. For host Steve Nygren, this is personal. Two decades ago, while running through the woods on his beloved family farm, he spotted bulldozers toppling trees for what he feared was another soulless suburban development. That sobering moment sparked a question that changed the course of his life: Isn’t there a better way to build community? One that works with nature, not against it?
The answer became Serenbe, a community built on biophilic principles, sustainable living, and the idea that well-being starts in the everyday spaces where we live, work, and connect with others.
Through stories, guest experts, and personal reflections, Start In Your Own Backyard invites listeners to find their own sense of agency. Whether it’s rethinking your diet, running for school board, planting edible landscapes, or advocating for change in your city, the podcast explores what it means to take action right where you are.
With a strong belief in the power of optimism, even when things feel tough, this series shows how each of us can create ripples of positive change.
The question is simple: What gifts do you bring? And are you ready to use them?
Want to dive deeper? Steve’s book, Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense, comes out on October 7th, 2025, and is available for pre-order now wherever you get books. Part memoir, part guidebook, it offers a blueprint for building sustainable, connected communities, places where wonder exists in the everyday and people of all ages can truly thrive.
Start In Your Own Backyard
The Deepest Wells of the Human Spirit
Food, shelter, walkable streets, even access to nature are all vital ingredients for a thriving community. But on their own, they aren’t quite enough. To truly flourish, people also need beauty, inspiration, and creativity woven into daily life. That’s where the arts come in.
In this episode of Start In Your Own Backyard, Steve Nygren explores why music, theater, sculpture, literature, and public art are so vitally important. You’ll hear insights from Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, on how our brains respond to beauty, as well as stories from artists themselves who have seen firsthand how art can knit people together and shape a place’s identity.
We’ll also share how Serenbe pioneered a permanent funding model for the arts by dedicating 1% of real estate sales to its nonprofit Art Farm, ensuring that creativity remains central to community life for generations to come.
Whether it’s a sculpture tucked along a forest trail, neighbors gathering for a midsummer play in the woods, or children inspired by visiting artists, this episode reveals how the arts sustain not just culture, but the human spirit itself.
Show Notes
- Pre-Order Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Steve Nygren
- Start In Your Own Backyard Substack
- Learn more about Serenbe
- Serenbe Stories Podcast
- The Art Farm at Serenbe
- The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art by Dr. Anjan Chatterjee
Serenbe community celebrates Curtis Patterson’s striking new sculpture by Gail O’Neill (ArtsATL)
- Naturally Fragile & Durable with Rachel Garceau (Serenbe Stories)
- Morgan Boszilkov Studio
Keywords: art in community, arts funding, Serenbe, Start In Your Own Backyard podcast, Steve Nygren, Art Farm, public art, creativity, culture, biophilic community, artist residencies, sculptures, theater in nature, concerts by the pond, transfer fee model, community building, creative placemaking, arts and wellbeing, art and neuroscience, Curtis Patterson, community design, sustainable community, supporting artists
Now through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.
Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle Today
Pre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.