Design for Life: Bringing Life to the City
(Page 2 of 3)
January/February 2003
By Carol Venolia
L.A. Eco-Villagers have planted a dozen organic gardens and more than 100 fruit trees in their two-block neighborhood; developed a community revolving loan fund that made it possible to purchase and eco-rehab two apartment buildings (which will be converted to co-ops); composted sixty cubic yards of green neighborhood waste; diverted twenty tons of brick from the landfill (from the 1994 earthquake) for Eco-Village beautification projects; and held weekly community potlucks to build a sense of community.
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Future projects include developing eight live/work spaces; purchasing more buildings; bio-remediating several brownfields; creating a demonstration “slow street” (already funded by the city), where landscaping and pedestrians have priority and cars move slowly; installing a graywater system and a demonstration neighborhood “living machine” for sewage treatment; demonstrating innovative solar heating and cooling systems; starting local green businesses; organizing organic food buying and car co-ops; creating a training program for urban eco-villages; and establishing a local currency system.
Fewer fences, better neighbors
Ecological community grows differently in different places. If you live on a street of single-family houses, you may draw inspiration from N Street Cohousing in Davis, California. This project also grew gradually, beginning in 1986 when two neighboring families with a shared interest in permaculture took down the fences between their yards. As homes on the block came up for sale, the original families found like-minded buyers to move in. Their community now includes sixteen homes with one huge backyard enhanced by play areas, outdoor dining patios, organic gardens, laundry lines, compost bins, and a chicken pen. One house was transformed into a “common house” with a large kitchen, group dining room, office, and upstairs rooms for rent. Some homes were retrofitted with solar collectors.
Another inspiring project is OnGoing Cohousing in Portland, Oregon. It includes seven existing homes whose inhabitants share meals, work parties, and celebrations. Together, they are rehabbing their houses (upgrading insulation, adding double-pane windows, recycling building materials, adding solar water heat and low-flow toilets), sharing amenities (tools, electric mulching lawnmower, pick-up truck), growing gardens and orchards, capturing rainwater, and recycling graywater to irrigate the gardens. A food-buying club has now turned into an organic cooperative storefront.