Start in Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where We Live with Radical Common Sense

by Steve Nygren

A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

Genres: Urbanism

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 7, 2025

Reviews

[KRM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the central message of this book -- I was so persuaded by the author that I've already sent off an email to my city about replacing grass with native wildflowers to bring a little nature into our neighborhoods!

The title is a little misleading, the author did in fact start in his own backyard, but most of the suggestions are on the city planning level, not the individual. The arguments about how to build more nature centric communities and why they'd benefit us mentally, socially, and even economically were so interesting. I wasn't into the woo woo sacred geometry bit, but it was a very small portion of the book.

I hope one day more places are built with this book's ideas, I will absolutely be recommending it to anyone interested in urban planning!

Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy, all opinions are my own.

[Luna and Co · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so much more than I expected it to be. The title led me to believe it would contain small tips for smaller changes to make in my community. This book is bigger than that, a lot of the tips felt huge for me, who's only starting, but it was so interesting to read and created new aspirations. The author is clear in his writing, but the fact that each chapter was written to be read by itself, which led to some repetitions that were getting annoying by the end. I finished reading and tought it felt more like a "here's my success story and how i reached it" instead of a 'what you can do to change the way you live." Now I want to visit Serenbe as I'm curious.

Thank you Netgalley and Brilliance Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Serenbe, my husband and I have been on numerous tours and have stayed there twice for our anniversary, I wanted to learn more about the founder Steve and the interworkings of this community. Full of practical tips big and small to bring pieces of Serenbe to where you live. Many of his principles and best practices will weigh heavily in my next home purchase decision.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books reads a bit like an ad for the Serenbe community, but it is a beautiful place and the author/founder of the community is obviously very proud of his work. I enjoyed reading about the technical aspects of how to actually create a sustainable community and the science behind placemaking.

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read Start in Your Own Backyard by Steve Nygren. I liked the message about strengthening local communities, but some ideas felt unrealistic. The book covers a lot of unique topic. While I didn’t agree with everything, the emphasis on small local changes making a big difference was thought-provoking.

A big thanks to NetGalley, the author & the publisher for the opportunity to experience this advanced copy.