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Our Town
E.B. Boyd, Common Ground
Sick of single-family solitude? Craving an antidote to urban isolation? The new era of tribal living has arrived.
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Dave Henson has a garden he can’t afford, a restaurant-grade kitchen he can’t afford and a hot tub he can’t afford. He’s also managed to find a way to reduce the number of hours he has to be an on-duty parent – without having to pay babysitters.
That’s because Henson lives at the Sowing Circle in Occidental, CA, one of hundreds of intentional communities in the United States where singles and families are surrendering part of their much-vaunted freedom in order to live with others. In turn, they agree to share certain community responsibilities – and reap the benefits of not having to go it alone.
Twenty-five people live at the Sowing Circle, whose founders were primarily motivated by a desire to live sustainably. Residents have jobs outside the community. Their bank accounts are their own. And they own their own residences on the Sowing Circle’s property. But residents pool resources, time and energy to invest in communal facilities and responsibilities. One of the side benefits, Henson said, is that their lives are richer, in ways both material and intangible, than each would be able to afford on their own.
“There are six children from five families here. They’re growing up like siblings, and we all get to have the experience of raising six kids without having to be the primary caregiver all the time,” Henson said.
The Commune Grows Up
Intentional communities have come a long way over the last forty years. Once considered the provenance of hippies seeking to get back to the land, renounce worldly goods and perhaps submit to a guru, intentional communities today come in flavors as varied as their many residents’ tastes and needs.
“There is less focus on a specific spiritual tradition, or a specific ideology or a specific person,” said Henson, who teaches courses at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center on setting up and managing intentional communities. “Now it’s much more about mainstream people seeking to pool resources and share in the many benefits that a shared living setup can offer.”
Cost-savings draws some people into communities. In an era when median home prices in many neighborhoods around the country can easily top half a million dollars, some first-time home buyers turn to intentional communes as a way of getting into the housing market when no other avenue is available.
(October 2007)
In heart of Texas, drumbeat for green
Austin attacks the problems of climate change — right at home
Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune
AUSTIN, Texas – This environmentally conscious city is already home to the headquarters of the Whole Foods organic grocery store chain, a new City Hall built mostly with recycled materials and a municipal electric utility that features solar cells on the roof of its parking lot.
The Texas capital also pays residents rebates if they install extra attic insulation or high-efficiency clothes washers. There are steep discounts on rainwater collection barrels. Low-flow toilets are practically free.
But those are just eco-baby steps compared with Austin’s latest, and most ambitious, environmental quest: to lead the nation in slashing emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
…Those carbon-reduction targets rank as the nation’s most aggressive, environmental leaders say, outpacing efforts in Portland, Ore., Chicago and other cities that have set “green” agendas in recent years.
One of world’s greenest cities
What’s more, Austin has emerged as a leader on the international stage as the search for solutions to the overheating of the planet grows universal. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives lists Austin among the top 15 greenest cities in the world.
“Austin is important because it shows that a government body can take steps within its own realm of control — that this is a problem that can be managed and that there are models that can work,” said David Hawkins, director of the climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. “If Austin’s actions cause other cities to
(28 September 2007)
Also posted at Common Dreams.
To go green, live closer to work, report says
Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times
New study says planning compact, mixed-use communities instead of suburbs would help save the planet.
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Don’t want to fork out for a Prius? Can’t see tanking up with ethanol? Can’t afford solar panels for your roof?
Not to worry, you can still do something to fight global warming: Live closer to work.
That’s one conclusion of a major national report published Thursday by the nonprofit Urban Land Institute.
Forty percent of the planet-heating gases that Californians emit come from transportation, according to the report’s authors, and with its booming population and sprawling suburbs, the state’s greenhouse emissions will continue to soar unless it dramatically changes the way it builds cities and suburbs.
The report, “Growing Cooler: Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change,” analyzed scores of academic studies and concluded that compact development — mixing housing and businesses in denser patterns, with walkable neighborhoods — could do as much to lower emissions as many of the climate policies now promoted by state and national politicians.
Up to now, climate policy has primarily focused on such things as higher fuel economy for cars and trucks, cleaner fuels, greener building standards, lower power plant emissions, and international treaties. But a growing consensus of experts is also homing in on the everyday zoning decisions of local officials and county planners.
(21 September 2007)
Related:
Group urges state to back smart growth (SF Chroncle)
Download the report, executive summary or press release
San Francisco Takes Action on Climate Change
Peak Moment via Global Public Media
Cal Broomhead and Melissa Capria of the Energy & Climate Program discuss the rationale, aggressive plans, and activities for city-wide energy self-reliance and greenhouse gas reduction. Tools include energy efficiency in buildings, transit alternatives, alternative vehicle fuels, generating electricity with renewable energy, and solid waste reduction. Episode 74.
Janaia Donaldson hosts Peak Moment, a television series emphasizing positive responses to energy decline and climate change through local community action. How can we thrive, build stronger communities, and help one another in the transition from a fossil fuel-based lifestyle?
(22 September 2007)
Birth of EcoDensity Backlash
Colleen Kimmett, TheTyee.ca
Angry residents demand voice in upped growth plans.
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Does Sam Sullivan risk becoming the victim of his own success in pushing his EcoDensity brand?
The mayor who tried to trademark the word EcoDensity has promoted the idea that raising populations in low-rise parts of town will cut down on driving and make neighbourhoods more liveable.
Sullivan’s re-election next fall may ride in part on whether voters decide his vision for growth can make their lives better.
But at a rally outside city hall Tuesday night, residents from neighborhood associations across the city slammed EcoDensity as an excuse to rush development through while leaving unanswered questions about parks, amenities and transit.
And the top planning official at city hall refused to stick the EcoDensity label on controversial plans to re-zone and densify an East Vancouver neighbourhood.
(21 September 2007)
