Archive for the ‘News Articles’ Category
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
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Katie McCamant & Chuck Durrett won a Silver Award for Best of of Senior Living from the National Association of Home Builders on Tuesday according to various articles and a press release.
Nevada City architects, McCamant and Durrett's design for Silver Sage Village, a senior cohousing project in Boulder, Colorado, received the Silver Award for Best of Senior Living. Competing against hundreds of firms across America, the NAHB rated McCamant and Durrett's design as one of the country's best senior housing. Firm principal Charles Durrett was on hand to receive the award, "We are excited to see our ideas become working realities in communities shaped by residents, like Silver Sage."
Silver Sage Village cohousing is part of a trend towards less conventional solutions for aging with independence within communities, or as architect Charles Durrett so aptly puts it "the challenge of aging non-institutionally." Durrett coined the term cohousing - people buying homes in a community they plan and run together - for the type of communities he experienced as an architecture student in Denmark during the 1980's. America may be more ready than ever to consider cohousing's benefits, which include about 25% to 50% less driving, 75% less land used for housing, and at least 80% less energy used.
A recent article on McCamant and Durret also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle a few days before the award was announced where Durret speaks to the issue of senior cohousing:
Two years ago my follow-up book, "Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living," came out. In research, I kept asking them, 'Why are you bothering with this? You're 60 or 70 years old.' I marveled at the answers. People talked about things like, 'I'm not going to just sit here in this house and be bored and lonely and curate my furniture. I want to have fun.'
This month, we're starting construction for a 30-unit senior cohousing project in Grass Valley. One of the reasons I like working with seniors is that they are so much more impatient. These seniors tell me all the time, 'Hey Chuck. I don't even buy green bananas anymore. Let's make this thing happen."
Read the press release.
Read the article on McCamant andd Durret in the Sand Francisco Chronicle.
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Related Posts Tags: Chuck Durrett, cohousing, Katie McCamant, senior cohousing, Silver Sage Village Cohousing
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Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
The environmental news site, Grist, has a great article about how Cleveland is going green. The article highlights the Cleveland Ecovillage a "pedestrian-friendly neighborhood linked to mass transit".
The project is the brainchild of five local nonprofits, the city, the regional transit authority, private developers, and neighborhood residents. They aim to bring residents back to the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, and to serve as an example to other cities of how to redevelop the inner city in a green fashion.
Near the newly renovated West 65th Street rapid transit station, Cuyahoga Community Land Trust is in the process of building five two- and three-bedroom homes, between 1,226 and 1,350 square feet each, called the Green Cottages. They're designed to be LEED-certified and models of energy efficiency, with projected heating costs of just $36 a month thanks to energy-saving appliances and heavy insulation.
Because mixed-income housing is a key to sustainability, EcoVillage designers wanted to coax both lower- and upper-middle-class residents to return to the inner city. The cottages are surrounded by Craftsman-era homes, many of them carefully restored, painted the colors of Easter eggs and with wide front porches. Down the street, within walking distance to the rapid-transit station that links to downtown, are 20 1,600-square-foot EcoVillage townhouses constructed by GreenBuilt Homes, an eco-friendly Cleveland builder.
"We had a few folks who moved in from the suburbs, some who moved from within the local neighborhood, and some that came from other cities and other states," said Metcalf. At this point, the people behind EcoVillage feel pretty safe claiming the project a success.
The article goes on to describe a number of other ecological projects in and around Cleveland.
Read the Eco-city Cleveland article at Grist
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Related Posts Tags: Cleveland, eco-city, ecovillage, Ohio
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Saturday, May 17th, 2008
The local paper in Brooklyn, New York has an article on Brooklyn Cohousing's efforts to start the first community in the New York burroughs. The Brooklyn group plans to buy an apartment building in the recently this recently trendy part of the city, sharing meals and common spaces within a condominium arrangement.
The article follows the standard "they're not hippies" line with an emphasis on the inherent cost of New York City condo ownership with the headline, "Wanted: Roommates with money".
"We want more out of life. We want more community. We were lonely and felt too isolated," said Alex Marshall, who started planning the first co-housing dwelling in the city with his wife last summer.
Alas, the 1970s are dead. This will not be a pot-smoking, patchouli-filled, free-loving, anything-goes compound.
"Take a commune and a condo, put them in a blender and this is what you get," said Ben Watts, a likely resident of the building, which will probably be in Park Slope, Prospect Heights or Windsor Terrace.
The article goes on to get some quotes from members of true communes from New York's past and finishes with a mildly humorous comparison of co-housing and communism noting that in cohousing the main source of conlfict is "Hectic, impersonal modern life" whereas in communism it is "Unequal ownership of the means of production."
For the real trash, see the commentary on the article at nymag.com where their only context to comment on the cohousing group is based on TV and movies and they snidely quip, "Something about a bunch of adults living as roommates seems inherently pervy to us."
Read the article on Brooklyn Cohousing.
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Related Posts Tags: Brooklyn, cohousing, New York
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Another cohousing community is not big news these days but this article in Delaware Online had an interesting twist, drawing the connection to Delaware's historical Arden Villages. The three villages of Arden, Ardentown, and Ardencroft were founded in the early 1900s based on Henry George's single-tax theory and were part of the Garden City Movement.
While the goals and theories behind the Arden Villages and cohousing are quite different they are both examples of movements to intentionally reshape our human settlements for a greater good. Both foster a sense of community and an attention to the ecological effects of our homes, neighborhoods, and cities.
The article focuses on Empty-Nest Cohousing and Concord VIllage which are both looking for land in Delaware.
Read the article on Cohousing and Arden Village in Delaware.Cohousing in Delaware Evokes Historical Arden Villages
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Related Posts Tags: Arden Village, cohousing, Concord Vllage, Delaware, Empty-Nest Cohousing, Garden City Movement, Hennry George, Single Tax
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Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
The news coverage of the Texas fundamentalist Morman community that was raided by Texas authorities last month has dies down recently. This article in the Dallas Morning News gives a good picture of the raid's effect on the 700 person community, where only a few dozen remain to keep up the physical plant and manage the legal crisis.
Emptiness echoes off this polygamist community's once-lush lawns, now parched and brown.
And the schoolhouse sits frozen in time, its half-finished spelling tests and chalky blackboard lessons a reminder of the religious sect's absent children.
Standing amid Nike Air Jordan sneakers and orthopedic house shoes on the porch of one of the commune's few occupied homes, Kathryn Jessop offers a pained smile. She said she wishes she'd never taken for granted the sound of her grandchildren's voices as they traipsed across the lawn collecting wildflowers or recited their evening prayers."These children have been so happy here," said Mrs. Jessop, who was seized from her own childhood home 55 years ago in the infamous Short Creek, Ariz., raid. "To be taken away from your parents, from everything you know – I didn't think I'd see this again in my lifetime."
The fate of the community and the children still remains open and is in the hands of the courts at this point.
Read the article in the Dallas Morning News.
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Related Posts Tags: Mormon, Texas
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Monday, May 12th, 2008
The financial investment advice website, The Motley Fool has an article promoting Cohousing as a great option for retirement living. This fits with the recent trend of community on the business pages with recent articles in Forbes. For the most part it is your standard cohousing article with the added twist of stock symbols for any company mentioned.
The idea of settling into a rich, close-knit community in your post-working years appeals to many folks contemplating retirement. Such a community can be hard to find under the best of circumstances. As you age -- and as you or your old friends move to warmer climes or to downsized houses in different neighborhoods, grown children disperse, and interests long shared with friends start to diverge -- community can be a downright scarce resource.
As I've noted in the past, choosing to downsize one's house runs counter to the way many of us think about our own paths to success in life, but it can make a lot of sense. A smaller house costs less to buy, heat, and maintain -- good aspects anytime, but even more so during retirement. And if you can have a smaller house without losing the functionality of a larger home, why not?
Cohousing isn't for everyone, but if you're looking for a comfortable, friendly place to retire to, cohousing communities deserve serious consideration.
The author mentions plans to move to a cohousing community and follow-up blog posts indicate that it is Mosaic Commons in Massachusetts.
Read the Motley Fool article on Cohousing
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Related Posts Tags: cohousing, Mosaic Commons, Motley Fool, senior cohousing
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Friday, May 9th, 2008
EcoVillage at Ithaca is helping set up a car sharing cooperative for the town of Ithaca, NY. Car Sharing co-ops are designed for people who don't own cars but have occasional needs for them. Members are often cyclists, walkers, and frequent users of public transit.
After about three years of planning, Ithaca CarShare is set to launch June 1 with six Nissan Versa hatchbacks and a Ford Ranger pickup. The organization expects to add more vehicles in August.
Jennifer Dotson, executive director of Ithaca CarShare, said the average car sharing member spends $100 a month compared to the $600 a month that AAA says the average car owner spends.
Nancy Jacoby, an Ithaca resident, said, "I'm really excited. It's been rocking my world all week. It's the missing link to getting rid of my car."
One of the locations cars will be available is at the Ecovillage. I'm sure a number of Ecovillage members will take advantage of the program.
Read the article on Ithaca CarShare.
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Related Posts Tags: Car Sharing, Ecovillage at Ithaca, ecovillages, New York
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Monday, May 5th, 2008
Its not uncommon to find musical artists with roots in intentional community making it in the industry. Its more rare to see a community that also operates its own record label promoting over a dozen artists.
The Denver alternative weekly Westword has an article on Dark Meat, an 18 member rock ensemble that grew out of the Orange Twin Conservation Community near Athens, GA.
Part of what makes the band and the town special is the nearby intentional community called Orange Twin. Part record label and part commune, Orange Twin Conservation Community was founded by Elf Power's Laura Carter to support the arts and eco-friendly living in the Athens area. "On a random Wednesday," enthuses McHugh, who also works on the farm and does copywriting and administrative work for the record label, "there'll be an outside show at the farm, with a punk band and a potluck with a roadkill deer that they've cooked up."
Elf Power is another Athens area band that runs the Orange Twin record label and community.
Its great to see a place where community nurtures the musical arts and in turn the music nurtures the community.
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Related Posts Tags: Athens, Dark Meat, Georgia, Orange Twin
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Friday, May 2nd, 2008
A lot of news about communities comes my way and its hard to pick and choose what to highlight on Community Buzz. Today, nothing stood out so I figured I'd do a round up of some news thats been languishing on my list but didn't seem quite enough for its own story.
Ithaca has a new community in the works, Farm Pond Circle, and they are already getting press in the Ithaca Journal for planting trees on their new community land. Obviously folks in Ithaca know about community and must be interested in whats new in their area.
The AP Wire put out a story on how many people are choosing to have only one child and they have quotes from folks at Tryon Life Farm community in Portland.
The local paper in Worcester, MA has an article highlighting the new cohousing communities in the Worchester area. They highlight Mosaic Commons and Camelot Cohousing but also have a nice map of cohousing throughout Massachusettes.
Champlain Valley Cohousing was in the Burlington Free Press in an article about the farm they have on site. The 22 unit cohousing community has a 25 acre farm on its land that works as a CSA and sells to wholesalers.
The Portland Oregonian had an article about Columbia Ecovillage, a community developing in Portland that started as a farm and sustainability education center and just bought the adjacent apartment complex with plans to convert them to green living cohousing. See photos on the Oregonian blog.
Then there's all the reviews of the movie Mister Lonely that is about impersonators (look-a-likes of Michael Jackson , Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, etc.) who come together in a commune in Scotland. The kicker is that according to some reviews filmmaker Harmony Korine spent some time as a child "on a commune near Nashville, TN". Most likely The Farm but there are many communes in the Nashville area.
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Related Posts Tags: Camelot Cohousing, Champlain Valley, cohousing, Columbia Ecovillage, ecovillage, Ithaca, Massachusettes, Mister Lonely, Mosaic Commons, Oregon, Portland, Tennessee, The Farm, Tryon Farm, vermont
Posted in Blog posts, News Articles, Video and TV | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Colleges and Universities around the country are wanting to improve their ecological impact while also providing students opportunities to learn about sustainable living. Some are taking the ecovillage model and integrating it into their campus planning and student residences.
The University of Maine is exploring ecovillages with the notion of turning some of its less attractive dorms into an ecological demonstration project:
An energetic group of students and faculty have been developing plans to convert these former apartment-style dorm rooms on the fringe of campus into an "ecovillage."
Organizers envision the so-called "York Ecovillage" as a model of sustainable living where students will eat food from local greenhouses and gardens, recycle almost all waste and live in rooms powered by the sun and heated by the Earth.
Berea College Ecovillage in Kentucky has been providing ecological living for students since 2003.
Guided by intertwined educational, environmental, and social goals, the Ecovillage is an ecologically-sustainable residential and learning complex designed to meet housing needs for student families, childcare for campus children, and provide a living/labor opportunity for students interested in sustainability.
Rigorous performance goals for the Ecovillage include: reduction of energy use by 75%; reduction of per capita water use by 75%; treatment of sewage and wastewater on-site to swimmable quality, and recycling, reusing or composting at least 50% of waste.
Giving students an opportunity for community living is not new. There are hundreds of student co-ops at colleges and universities around the country and many of them have a simple living or ecological focus.
The Homestead at Denison University in Ohio has been offering community and simple living experience for students since 1977.
We are off the grid, utilizing solar energy to pump water and to power some appliances. Cooking and heating are accomplished with wood-burning stoves.
At Stanford University they have plans in the works for a Green Dorm which would house students ecologically. Unfortunately Stanford's plans do not incorporate cooperative living into the dorm, despite the fact that their feasibility study shows that some campus co-ops such as Synergy already use 30% less energy than the average.
Hopefully colleges and universities will include the aspects of the ecovillage model which incorporates both sustainable technology and principles of cooperation in their efforts to green their campuses.
Sources
University of Maine Campus article on York Ecovillage
Bangor News article on York Ecovillage
Richmond, KY Register article mentioning Berea College Ecovillage
NASCO Student Co-op Directory
Stanford Green Dorm Feasibility Study
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Related Posts Tags: Berea College Ecovillage, ecovillage, Homestead at Denison, Stanford, Student Co-ops, Synergy Co-op, University of Maine
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