On the eve of 2013, without connections or jobs, my wife, daughter and I made an intentional move to Maine for purposes of quality of life. We landed on Foreside Road in Falmouth, just a couple blocks up from Town Landing. We had wonderful neighbors, a beautiful neighborhood, great access to nature trails and easy entry for taking my kayak on the water to the litany of islands that were within a short distance from the dock.

However, as our daughter approached her teenage years, the house we loved was becoming increasingly difficult for our changing needs, and, ultimately, we decided to move into the new developing Homestead Farms neighborhood in West Falmouth last year.

When we first arrived at Homestead Farms, we had no idea what the constitution or who our new neighbors would be. The rich ethnic and cultural diversity and engagement of our new neighbors in Homestead Farms has been a wonderful surprise as we all got together for a costume parade on Halloween one week and then turned right around for a Diwali celebration the next, complete with authentic Indian foods and fireworks. Also, it has been a joy to watch neighborhood kids getting together for games of football in yards or four square in driveways, reminding me of my own childhood in the late ’70s and ’80s.

While I know this development was sometimes controversial in its planning phase as high-density housing, Homestead Farms has given my family a very new lens for our time here in Falmouth. Foreside Road will always be a unique, beautiful and now nostalgic gem, but now Homestead Farms, imbuing diversity in every sense of the word, has also become a uniquely special place for us in Falmouth and has rounded out our appreciation for this community.

Bryce Hach
Falmouth