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.

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Start In Your Own Backyard

A Place That Feels Like Home

September 30, 2025 • Serenbe Media Network

A lot of what we’ve been exploring on this podcast comes back to an idea known as placemaking: the art of designing spaces that feel meaningful, welcoming, and rooted in community. At its core, it’s about creating places where people truly want to gather and belong.

At Serenbe, that spirit comes alive every day. Visitors might arrive for goat yoga or a stroll through the nature trails and end up moving. A coffee-and-ceramics studio, dreamed up and run by neighbors, has become a beloved local hangout. And community traditions like Porchfest transform front porches into concert stages and art galleries, turning ordinary moments into something magical. These experiences are joyful on the surface, but they also weave the deeper social and cultural fabric that makes a community thrive.

In this episode, Steve Nygren explores how visitors bring fresh energy and perspective, how local businesses reflect and shape a community’s values, and why even the simplest neighborhood gatherings can spark lasting connections.

Whether you’re dreaming of creating something new in your own town or simply curious about how thriving communities take shape, this episode offers inspiration and practical ideas for inviting people in and building places that feel like home.

Show Notes

Keywords: placemaking, community, hospitality, belonging, Serenbe, Steve Nygren, intentional living, visitors, local businesses, Porchfest, goat yoga, nature trails, meaningful design, walkable communities, neighborhood traditions, connection, joy, events, potlucks, concerts, bake sales, sustainability, thriving communities, home, invitation, culture

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.

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