Meet the farmers who want to grow semiconductors, and their neighbors who don’t

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Tom VanderZanden, whose family owns 247 acres across the road from the Hodges, said he feels urban pressure daily as thousands of cars rush by to access the Sunset Highway. VanderZanden is a founder of the Northwest Hillsboro Alliance and a key voice in the yearslong drive for urban status.

“Virtually all of the farmers around here, if they want their kids to have an economic opportunity, it’s not in farming,” he said.

Given the region’s growth, VanderZanden said, urbanization seems inevitable. And holding onto land until its value transforms is a sensible investment for the family’s next generation.

“I’m older. I don’t benefit very much at all,” he said. “But I think my kids would.”

Landowner Chris Hodges says money — even if it were millions of dollars — hasn’t motivated his push for urbanization.

“I don’t want to talk about money, honestly,” he said. “To me, that clouds the discussion.”

Both Chris and Cindy Hodges have full-time day jobs. His is in high-tech. Cindy Hodges says it’s a great career more people should have access to — and she thinks their fields of clover and berries could play a small part.

“It’s a perfect legacy for us to leave for this land,” she said."