Hmmmm.. so do we avoid these areas.....or use them to our advantage.... provide some appropriate experimental, green, natural, beautiful housing for these tired hard working folks??
gots to check where these counties at justincase....
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/retirement/2009/08/25/ten-top-rural-areas-to-which-to-retire/
Look out Bethel. The Woodstock generation plans to migrate back in droves to small towns and rural areas as it ages.
If baby boomers follow migration patterns similar to those of their predecessors, the rural population age 55-75 will increase by 30% between 2010 and 2020, according to a report just published by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Viewed another way: The number of boomers between the ages of 55 and 75 living in rural areas will increase from 8.6 to 14.2 million between 2000 and 2020, according to John Cromartie and Peter Nelson, co-authors of the report, “Baby Boom Migration and Its Impact on Rural America.”
But where and why will they move?
In the past, older Americans mostly migrated to second-home destinations, places where boomers have vacationed or where they have visited family and friends. These destinations, say the authors, offer boomers a high quality of life and a slower pace of life.
And that’s likely to continue if not accelerate in the future. “Baby boomers are increasingly drawn to areas with the right combination of scenic amenities (varied topography, relatively large lake or coastal areas, warm and sunny winters, and temperate summers), recreational or cultural opportunities, and reasonable housing costs,” the report said.
In the 1990s, boomers moved to the “intermountain West, the southern Appalachians, the Upper Great Lakes, and other scenic locations,” according to the report. But growth in those places slowed as home prices rose. Now, however, thanks to the recession and the fall in home prices, boomers will likely move back to those and, more likely, other “isolated” environs. Boomers (though it seems hard to believe given the boomers I know) won’t be moving for work reasons, the report said.
So what are the top areas and counties to either move to or avoid?
According to the report, the retirement-aged population will grow 32.1% in the Northeast, 31.8% in the West, 26.1% in the South, and 21.9% in the Midwest. As for which individual counties will experience the greatest growth, Cromartie said in an email that “projections of this nature always contain a degree of uncertainty. “ That said, he provided a list of 15 representative nonmetropolitan counties that are ranked in the top 50 in the projections for the 2010-2020 time period. Listed alphabetically, they are:
* Dare County, N.C.
* Forest County, Pa.
* Graham County, N.C.
* Highland County, Va.
* Hinsdale County, Colo.
* Jackson County, Colo.
* Jackson County, N.C.
* Keweenaw County, Mich.
* Lake County, Mich.
* Mineral County, Colo.
* Mono County, Calif.
* Monroe County, Fla.
* Pocahontas County, W. Va.
* Tillamook County, Ore.
* Valley County, Idaho
All of these counties were classified as “recreation” counties by the Economic Research Service (ERS), based on 2000 data, Cromartie said in his email. He also noted the following: Dare, Forest, Graham, Lake, Mineral, and Valley were also marked as major retirement destinations in 2000. In general, counties in California, Colorado, and Florida scored very high on the ERS Natural Amenities Index. (Editor’s note: That’s the index the researchers used to figure out to which counties boomers will move.) Forest, Hinsdale, Lake, and Valley had very high percentages of second-home residences in 2000. Graham, Highland, Keweenaw, Lake, and Pocahontas showed below-average median home values in 2000. All of these variables were predictive of migration among 55-75 year olds in the 1990s. The projections for boomers in the next decade are based on the assumption that they follow, within specified ranges, these age-specific migration patterns.
Finally, Cromartie and Nelson wrote — perhaps with a small sense of irony — that there will be “major social and economic implications” for the places to which boomers migrate. And how. There could be strains on the health-care systems, transportation, housing, the retail infrastructure, and even – shhhh…this one’s a secret – the illicit drug business. Yes, another government report released this month shows growing use of illicit drugs among – surprise – aging boomers. About 5% of boomers are users of illicit drugs according to that report, but that’s a blog for another day. (Read that report.)
So here’s the deal. Now that you know where the boomers will move when they age, you can do one of two things - join ‘em or not.
For more on the report, go to this site.
Robert Powell is the editor of Retirement Weekly. Learn more about Retirement Weekly here .
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A Seasonal Status Update June 27th 09
Hello Beautiful Inspiring Busy people!
Its been quite a while since one of these things, and I just wanted to try to piece together a little perspective by talking about what different folks on the recieving end of this list are up to (no names though, feel free to reveal yourself, its not my place!), and what I've been looking into, thinking about and doing related to this "project".
First of all,
I'd like to plug this book that Sara brought up "Creating A Life Together" by Diane Leafe Christian. Silly name, as it so happens with so many good books, but definitely the most appropriate, inspired and well researched book that could possibly be for projects such as this. Christian lives at Earthaven in NC and has so much to say about various Villages processes of forming, the legal aspects to think about when buying and owning land, tax stuff, Profit/non Profit, how to think about membership, and so much more. I will refer to this book many times!
I'd also like to suggest that anyone thinking about spending anytime in a co-housing/or eco-village setting read this book however you can.
I was thinking that we could do a foto-copy and mailing swap---
I could mail different chapters to different folks, and each could then mail that chapter they have to other folks, so that way we could spread the cost around, and it could also be a little fun :-) Does that make sense?
Second off, I am so inspired and often jealous of what so many folks i know are up to. I often have to pinch myself to realize that my friends and acquaintences are up to so many cool things.
As for folks that have expressed direct or collaborative interest in the project, here are some stats:
(Please forgive me in advance if i skip you, so much cool stuff is going on, and my mind isn't getting sharper unfortunately!-- let me know if i should add anything to the list please! - and please don't view my contribution of your activity as binding, i just want to emphasize the collective growth wealth around us as a community)
-2 folks in Second year of Law School, with totally awesome ambitions that exceed my comprehension
-A good friend entering 3rd year of Med school.
-A foundational friend owning a house for possible equity in the project and entering Nursing school (if i understand correctly, because Nurses are recognized as one of the best professions to work almost anywhere in the country-- the Farm in TN mentions this in their history. ) All the while, also raising chickens and gardening!
-Several friends in various grad schools in various subjects pursuing their passions, three just graduated in Fine Arts (with grant now!) and one in Media.
-Others now studying for social work and PhDs in agriculture and environmental studies
-A foundational friend running a farm in PA
-A possible foundational friend working on his career as a Children's book writer/illustrator and working on his farm skills in Oregon for the Summer
-A couple amazing friends working for some time now as landscape designers/architects
-A collaborative friend continuing his serious study of Farm life with his partner in CA
-a great friend overcoming the temporal constraints of the Justice system, wowing us and sharing his great insights and charisma with us all
-a good friend busting ass and accomplishing great things related to fish and boats in Alaska to realize his dream for a Naturally Built music studio and more? !
-and knowledge of friends and folks building houses for themselves and others in Texas and Maine.
- and so many much more cool stuff happening!
feel free to post about interesting related things!
In my little world, I am approaching my first anniversary of life as a construction worker. I've been extraordinarily blessed to have lived and worked some with Sunray Kelley in WA, Haikola Custom Construction in ATX, and Kindra's Claysandstraw.com with her awesome partner John near Blanco, TX in the past year in what really has been the most challenging occupation I've yet imagined. In addition, I was able to sublet the first permitted Strawbale/Art house (built by Norm and Cat B) in Austin for 3 months last summer, which was a wonderful education and contrast to living in Sunray's works.
Currently, with Kindra and Co. we are coming to completion on a strawbale house for an awesome recently retired client, with a possible Cob house starting in September.
Apart from "Creating a life Together", I've been in the reading of : bell hooks "Beloning: the Culture of Place" which is a wonderful and deep meditation on her life and coming back to her native Kentucky to teach at Berea, the deep place of agriculture with african-american culture, and many other things.
I just finished Witold Rybscynski's "Home", which is a lovely eurocentric history of comfort and the conception of home within western society.
Also read Pollan's "A Place of My Own", an overlooked gem in my opinion refering to interesting construction and architectural history.
Still working on "The Poetics of Space" - let me know if you have any insights from reading it to spur me along!
Also working on "Cohousing" by Chris ScottHanson. A good book, but not essential.
Finally, I've also dived head first into finances initially via a random "motivational conference" my old boss invited the crew to. The speakers included Colin Powell and Rudy Guiliani. Quite a random spectacle! Through the rabbit hole and the experiment of un-demonizing money, I've been studying with an uncommon zeal "the markets", investment and related things in this funny economic political year that we find ourselves in. My only complaint is that i find it a little too fascinating for an often described anarchist....
Thirdly,
reading Christians book (which i still haven't finished its so concisely packed full of information!), has created a very necessary mental rubric about the order of priorities for a village-like endeavor.
Those that i would most like to share with y'all are:
-The necessity for an original core group, however small, and a secondary group of supporters, and also, of course, late-comers.
-The necessity for the coregroup to develop a "Vision statement" and "Vision Document" as a group as something to refer to for the future, as a community exercise and as a creation of a sort of dialog that can be a tool for future communication.
-The need for more advanced knowledge of relevant Tax, Legal, and Investment information in order to better and more smoothly interact with those worlds; as well as the definite need to occaisionally hire accountants and attourneys and other sorts of professional managers (Christian also suggests a Consensus Instructor or Mediator for some of the initial important meetings).
-The need to have an well structured relationship and understanding of loans, and mortgages. Several villages have developed a legal way of forming their own bank, and some also to issue their own internal currency as a way to organize their finances, loans, and internal economy. Fascinating! The "Schumacher Society" is often mentioned as a catalyst for this, but i have yet to understand or find their website to be helpful to me, Christian's book is a great start though!
I think that's all i can bite off for now.
Its been quite a while since one of these things, and I just wanted to try to piece together a little perspective by talking about what different folks on the recieving end of this list are up to (no names though, feel free to reveal yourself, its not my place!), and what I've been looking into, thinking about and doing related to this "project".
First of all,
I'd like to plug this book that Sara brought up "Creating A Life Together" by Diane Leafe Christian. Silly name, as it so happens with so many good books, but definitely the most appropriate, inspired and well researched book that could possibly be for projects such as this. Christian lives at Earthaven in NC and has so much to say about various Villages processes of forming, the legal aspects to think about when buying and owning land, tax stuff, Profit/non Profit, how to think about membership, and so much more. I will refer to this book many times!
I'd also like to suggest that anyone thinking about spending anytime in a co-housing/or eco-village setting read this book however you can.
I was thinking that we could do a foto-copy and mailing swap---
I could mail different chapters to different folks, and each could then mail that chapter they have to other folks, so that way we could spread the cost around, and it could also be a little fun :-) Does that make sense?
Second off, I am so inspired and often jealous of what so many folks i know are up to. I often have to pinch myself to realize that my friends and acquaintences are up to so many cool things.
As for folks that have expressed direct or collaborative interest in the project, here are some stats:
(Please forgive me in advance if i skip you, so much cool stuff is going on, and my mind isn't getting sharper unfortunately!-- let me know if i should add anything to the list please! - and please don't view my contribution of your activity as binding, i just want to emphasize the collective growth wealth around us as a community)
-2 folks in Second year of Law School, with totally awesome ambitions that exceed my comprehension
-A good friend entering 3rd year of Med school.
-A foundational friend owning a house for possible equity in the project and entering Nursing school (if i understand correctly, because Nurses are recognized as one of the best professions to work almost anywhere in the country-- the Farm in TN mentions this in their history. ) All the while, also raising chickens and gardening!
-Several friends in various grad schools in various subjects pursuing their passions, three just graduated in Fine Arts (with grant now!) and one in Media.
-Others now studying for social work and PhDs in agriculture and environmental studies
-A foundational friend running a farm in PA
-A possible foundational friend working on his career as a Children's book writer/illustrator and working on his farm skills in Oregon for the Summer
-A couple amazing friends working for some time now as landscape designers/architects
-A collaborative friend continuing his serious study of Farm life with his partner in CA
-a great friend overcoming the temporal constraints of the Justice system, wowing us and sharing his great insights and charisma with us all
-a good friend busting ass and accomplishing great things related to fish and boats in Alaska to realize his dream for a Naturally Built music studio and more? !
-and knowledge of friends and folks building houses for themselves and others in Texas and Maine.
- and so many much more cool stuff happening!
feel free to post about interesting related things!
In my little world, I am approaching my first anniversary of life as a construction worker. I've been extraordinarily blessed to have lived and worked some with Sunray Kelley in WA, Haikola Custom Construction in ATX, and Kindra's Claysandstraw.com with her awesome partner John near Blanco, TX in the past year in what really has been the most challenging occupation I've yet imagined. In addition, I was able to sublet the first permitted Strawbale/Art house (built by Norm and Cat B) in Austin for 3 months last summer, which was a wonderful education and contrast to living in Sunray's works.
Currently, with Kindra and Co. we are coming to completion on a strawbale house for an awesome recently retired client, with a possible Cob house starting in September.
Apart from "Creating a life Together", I've been in the reading of : bell hooks "Beloning: the Culture of Place" which is a wonderful and deep meditation on her life and coming back to her native Kentucky to teach at Berea, the deep place of agriculture with african-american culture, and many other things.
I just finished Witold Rybscynski's "Home", which is a lovely eurocentric history of comfort and the conception of home within western society.
Also read Pollan's "A Place of My Own", an overlooked gem in my opinion refering to interesting construction and architectural history.
Still working on "The Poetics of Space" - let me know if you have any insights from reading it to spur me along!
Also working on "Cohousing" by Chris ScottHanson. A good book, but not essential.
Finally, I've also dived head first into finances initially via a random "motivational conference" my old boss invited the crew to. The speakers included Colin Powell and Rudy Guiliani. Quite a random spectacle! Through the rabbit hole and the experiment of un-demonizing money, I've been studying with an uncommon zeal "the markets", investment and related things in this funny economic political year that we find ourselves in. My only complaint is that i find it a little too fascinating for an often described anarchist....
Thirdly,
reading Christians book (which i still haven't finished its so concisely packed full of information!), has created a very necessary mental rubric about the order of priorities for a village-like endeavor.
Those that i would most like to share with y'all are:
-The necessity for an original core group, however small, and a secondary group of supporters, and also, of course, late-comers.
-The necessity for the coregroup to develop a "Vision statement" and "Vision Document" as a group as something to refer to for the future, as a community exercise and as a creation of a sort of dialog that can be a tool for future communication.
-The need for more advanced knowledge of relevant Tax, Legal, and Investment information in order to better and more smoothly interact with those worlds; as well as the definite need to occaisionally hire accountants and attourneys and other sorts of professional managers (Christian also suggests a Consensus Instructor or Mediator for some of the initial important meetings).
-The need to have an well structured relationship and understanding of loans, and mortgages. Several villages have developed a legal way of forming their own bank, and some also to issue their own internal currency as a way to organize their finances, loans, and internal economy. Fascinating! The "Schumacher Society" is often mentioned as a catalyst for this, but i have yet to understand or find their website to be helpful to me, Christian's book is a great start though!
I think that's all i can bite off for now.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
NYT article on cohousing...
((( a multi generational cohousing focused on the arts...sounds great! :-) )))
you Might have to register (for free) with NYT to read the article on their site.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/garden/11cohousing.html?pagewanted=2&_r=5&hp
A BETTER WAY? Touring Temescal Creek cohousing in Oakland.
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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy CHRIS COLIN
Published: June 10, 2009
VICKI SETZER and her cats inhabit a small ranch home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Visalia, Calif. Connie Baechler leases a split-level house in Smyrna, Ga., with her fiancé. Perfectly typical nesting arrangements, and yet something profound seemed to be missing.
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Times Topics: Sustainable Living | Housing
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Drew Kelly for The New York Times
DAILY SHARING Participants on a California tour looked at Temescal Creek cohousing in Oakland.
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So on a Saturday morning in the East Bay area of California, they and about 17 others boarded a rumbling white tour bus to try to find a mode of living better suited to the times.
The tour was one of several this season in different parts of the country designed to give participants an up-close look at various co-housing communities, and to address an increasingly common feeling that one pays too much for one’s home, sees friends too little there and generally lives a more isolated life than is desirable. These are not new complaints, but the recession has sharpened them, as it has thrown all large expenditures under deeper scrutiny.
Remedial questions are permitted on these tours, like, “What is co-housing?”
The Cohousing Association of the United States has been answering that question quite frequently as more people sign up for its tours: The communities consist of individual houses whose residents share some common space, a few communal dinners a week and a commitment to green living.
The movement has been gaining momentum here since it first arrived from Denmark two decades ago. But passengers on the bus tours describe the general climate of uncertainty as setting off more urgent waves of reappraisal: Is this how I want to raise my family? Spend my remaining years? Is there a better option — a more stable community?
Judy Pope, a consultant in Oakland, Calif., who joined the East Bay tour, described a practical interest in co-housing.
“I had a pretty robust portfolio of investments that I was going to retire on,” Ms. Pope said. “Now I’m feeling the financial pressure to live with people. I can’t continue to live in my big old house.”
In some cases, the closeness of these communities offers bulwarks against a lousy economy. Residents speak of lending money to one another when necessary or, say, pitching in to build a wheelchair ramp when insurance might not cover it. Then there is the savings associated with a more efficiently designed home, and shared upkeep costs. But strictly speaking, a home in a co-housing community doesn’t necessarily cost less than a traditional home. As advocates describe it, the benefits are of the added-value variety.
“You just get more bang for your buck,” said Laura Fitch, a 15-year co-houser who led a recent tour in Massachusetts. “You can have entertainment next door rather than going to the movies, and if you’re a parent, you don’t have to drive to all those play dates, or even buy as many toys because your kids are more entertained.”
She added that the price of co-housing often included a common house with guest rooms, a party space, a children’s play area and the security of people watching out for one another.
Jason Reichert, who works at a shipyard in Maine and joined a New England tour, said he liked the idea of weathering the country’s economic and environmental crises with a group.
“My grandparents’ community got through the Depression by being very close-knit,” Mr. Reichert said, “with one family knowing how to farm, for example, and another knowing how to raise poultry. We’ve lost that. But co-housing is accomplishing something similar.”
Craig Ragland, the executive director of the Cohousing Association, said: “Some people are looking at these communities as a lifeboat. The thinking is, if I’m surrounded by people who care about me, I’m less likely to crash and burn.”
More than 115 rural, urban and suburban co-housing communities exist across the country, consisting of 2,675 units, according to the association. There are 3 to 67 homes in each, on tiny city lots and 550-acre parcels. Some are “retrofit” communities, in which existing side-by-side homes are purchased and then converted. Others start with a piece of land and build units from scratch. In both, residents own their homes outright, but agree to participate in the communal arrangement.
The Cohousing Association has sponsored these tours for about a decade. For $105, participants get a box lunch, an enthusiastic guide or two and an eight-hour tour of various communities.
To Your Left, a Better Way of Life?
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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkPublished: June 10, 2009
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The recent East Bay trip was led by Jennifer West and Neil Planchon, both residents of local co-housing communities. The people who convened that Saturday lived alone or with families, ranged from 30-something to 60-something and came from Colorado and Vancouver, Georgia and California.
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Children playing in a communal yard at Doyle Street in Emeryville.
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Rick Friedman for The New York Times
In Massachusetts, members of a tour group had lunch together at Mosaic Commons in Berlin.
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Rick Friedman for The New York Times
Julia Negele gardened at Jamaica Plain in Boston.
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As rolling adventures go, the trip had the esprit de corps of Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus and the hands-in-laps manners of a sightseeing tour. Between stops, passengers talked about how they ended up on this atypical excursion.
Ms. Baechler from Georgia presented a familiar gripe. “I like my neighbors back home, but we don’t really have a community that gets together and talks,” she said. “So I end up driving 20 miles to have dinner with a friend after work.”
She added: “I guess there’s always Facebook, but I want to be sitting next to a three-dimensional person. With co-housing, we’d be able to converge just yards from where we live.”
Paul Hadley, 35, is a freelance French-horn player and stay-at-home dad in Santa Rosa, Calif. He and his wife, Judy, a chemical engineer, live with their 2-year-old in a three-bedroom house on a country road that has become a busy thoroughfare. Co-housing, Mr. Hadley said, seemed to offer a return to village life, without all the cars. He and his wife were seeking “a richer life of relationships, not stuff,” he said.
The bus steamed along, periodically disgorging passengers to stumble through people’s happy homes. Parents on the tour watched as children ran from unit to unit, no supervision required. Devotees of sustainability listened to tales of shared resources and reduced footprints. Those keen on intergenerational living saw residents of all ages mingling casually. For the design conscious, there was an intelligent flow that encouraged serendipitous meetings while still preserving privacy.
“For a long time we’d always be referred to as ‘communes for the ’90s’ or ‘the new commune,’ ” said Mr. Ragland of the Cohousing Association. “But increasingly people are seeing that it’s really just a new type of neighborhood.”
Karen Hester, who lives in the Temescal Creek community, the fifth stop of the day, answered questions about daily life in co-housing. “It’s not about utopia,” she said. “It’s fundamentally a pragmatic thing. When my computer crashes, my neighbor is over in five minutes to fix it. In turn, maybe his kids come home from school sick and I’m there to take care of them.”
The tour put the group in a kind of envy daze. At Temescal Commons, originally formed by members of a nearby Methodist church, photovoltaic roof panels let the residents sell power back to the utility company. At Pleasant Hill, children sold lemonade in a bright patch of shared grass.
But Ms. West and Mr. Planchon were clear that co-housing presented challenges, too. Ms. West recounted a heated episode at her community where someone didn’t receive a party invitation. They also spoke of meeting fatigue, a byproduct of reaching decisions via consensus model, and the surprisingly volatile matter of pets.
Do the tours win people over? Some, like Ms. Baechler, came away with reservations — she thought she might hold out for a community focused on the arts. But mostly the groups leave ecstatic, fingers nearly on checkbooks.
Delina Malo-Juvera, 36, lives in a 19th-century farmhouse in rural Maine. After the Massachusetts tour, she said she hoped to one day start a co-housing group of her own. “The economy and the state of the world — you don’t know what’s going to happen, so it’d be great to have that secure, self-sustaining community,” she said. “I loved it.”
For her part, Ms. Setzer, the cul-de-sac dweller from Visalia, said that the idea of joining a multigenerational community might be the most appealing aspect — and that she didn’t mind how few people were aware of the existence of this vaguely Norman Rockwellian lifestyle.
“I told my son about co-housing, and he thought I was a Martian,” Ms. Setzer said. “Then again, he often thinks that.”
you Might have to register (for free) with NYT to read the article on their site.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/garden/11cohousing.html?pagewanted=2&_r=5&hp
A BETTER WAY? Touring Temescal Creek cohousing in Oakland.
Sign in to Recommend
comments (54)
Send To Phone
Single Page
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ShareClose
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy CHRIS COLIN
Published: June 10, 2009
VICKI SETZER and her cats inhabit a small ranch home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Visalia, Calif. Connie Baechler leases a split-level house in Smyrna, Ga., with her fiancé. Perfectly typical nesting arrangements, and yet something profound seemed to be missing.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Times Topics: Sustainable Living | Housing
Enlarge This Image
Drew Kelly for The New York Times
DAILY SHARING Participants on a California tour looked at Temescal Creek cohousing in Oakland.
Readers' Comments
Share your thoughts.
Read All Comments (54) »
So on a Saturday morning in the East Bay area of California, they and about 17 others boarded a rumbling white tour bus to try to find a mode of living better suited to the times.
The tour was one of several this season in different parts of the country designed to give participants an up-close look at various co-housing communities, and to address an increasingly common feeling that one pays too much for one’s home, sees friends too little there and generally lives a more isolated life than is desirable. These are not new complaints, but the recession has sharpened them, as it has thrown all large expenditures under deeper scrutiny.
Remedial questions are permitted on these tours, like, “What is co-housing?”
The Cohousing Association of the United States has been answering that question quite frequently as more people sign up for its tours: The communities consist of individual houses whose residents share some common space, a few communal dinners a week and a commitment to green living.
The movement has been gaining momentum here since it first arrived from Denmark two decades ago. But passengers on the bus tours describe the general climate of uncertainty as setting off more urgent waves of reappraisal: Is this how I want to raise my family? Spend my remaining years? Is there a better option — a more stable community?
Judy Pope, a consultant in Oakland, Calif., who joined the East Bay tour, described a practical interest in co-housing.
“I had a pretty robust portfolio of investments that I was going to retire on,” Ms. Pope said. “Now I’m feeling the financial pressure to live with people. I can’t continue to live in my big old house.”
In some cases, the closeness of these communities offers bulwarks against a lousy economy. Residents speak of lending money to one another when necessary or, say, pitching in to build a wheelchair ramp when insurance might not cover it. Then there is the savings associated with a more efficiently designed home, and shared upkeep costs. But strictly speaking, a home in a co-housing community doesn’t necessarily cost less than a traditional home. As advocates describe it, the benefits are of the added-value variety.
“You just get more bang for your buck,” said Laura Fitch, a 15-year co-houser who led a recent tour in Massachusetts. “You can have entertainment next door rather than going to the movies, and if you’re a parent, you don’t have to drive to all those play dates, or even buy as many toys because your kids are more entertained.”
She added that the price of co-housing often included a common house with guest rooms, a party space, a children’s play area and the security of people watching out for one another.
Jason Reichert, who works at a shipyard in Maine and joined a New England tour, said he liked the idea of weathering the country’s economic and environmental crises with a group.
“My grandparents’ community got through the Depression by being very close-knit,” Mr. Reichert said, “with one family knowing how to farm, for example, and another knowing how to raise poultry. We’ve lost that. But co-housing is accomplishing something similar.”
Craig Ragland, the executive director of the Cohousing Association, said: “Some people are looking at these communities as a lifeboat. The thinking is, if I’m surrounded by people who care about me, I’m less likely to crash and burn.”
More than 115 rural, urban and suburban co-housing communities exist across the country, consisting of 2,675 units, according to the association. There are 3 to 67 homes in each, on tiny city lots and 550-acre parcels. Some are “retrofit” communities, in which existing side-by-side homes are purchased and then converted. Others start with a piece of land and build units from scratch. In both, residents own their homes outright, but agree to participate in the communal arrangement.
The Cohousing Association has sponsored these tours for about a decade. For $105, participants get a box lunch, an enthusiastic guide or two and an eight-hour tour of various communities.
To Your Left, a Better Way of Life?
Sign in to Recommend
comments (54)
Send To Phone
Single Page
Reprints
ShareClose
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkPublished: June 10, 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
The recent East Bay trip was led by Jennifer West and Neil Planchon, both residents of local co-housing communities. The people who convened that Saturday lived alone or with families, ranged from 30-something to 60-something and came from Colorado and Vancouver, Georgia and California.
Skip to next paragraph
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Drew Kelly for The New York Times
Children playing in a communal yard at Doyle Street in Emeryville.
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Times Topics: Sustainable Living | Housing
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Rick Friedman for The New York Times
In Massachusetts, members of a tour group had lunch together at Mosaic Commons in Berlin.
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Rick Friedman for The New York Times
Julia Negele gardened at Jamaica Plain in Boston.
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As rolling adventures go, the trip had the esprit de corps of Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus and the hands-in-laps manners of a sightseeing tour. Between stops, passengers talked about how they ended up on this atypical excursion.
Ms. Baechler from Georgia presented a familiar gripe. “I like my neighbors back home, but we don’t really have a community that gets together and talks,” she said. “So I end up driving 20 miles to have dinner with a friend after work.”
She added: “I guess there’s always Facebook, but I want to be sitting next to a three-dimensional person. With co-housing, we’d be able to converge just yards from where we live.”
Paul Hadley, 35, is a freelance French-horn player and stay-at-home dad in Santa Rosa, Calif. He and his wife, Judy, a chemical engineer, live with their 2-year-old in a three-bedroom house on a country road that has become a busy thoroughfare. Co-housing, Mr. Hadley said, seemed to offer a return to village life, without all the cars. He and his wife were seeking “a richer life of relationships, not stuff,” he said.
The bus steamed along, periodically disgorging passengers to stumble through people’s happy homes. Parents on the tour watched as children ran from unit to unit, no supervision required. Devotees of sustainability listened to tales of shared resources and reduced footprints. Those keen on intergenerational living saw residents of all ages mingling casually. For the design conscious, there was an intelligent flow that encouraged serendipitous meetings while still preserving privacy.
“For a long time we’d always be referred to as ‘communes for the ’90s’ or ‘the new commune,’ ” said Mr. Ragland of the Cohousing Association. “But increasingly people are seeing that it’s really just a new type of neighborhood.”
Karen Hester, who lives in the Temescal Creek community, the fifth stop of the day, answered questions about daily life in co-housing. “It’s not about utopia,” she said. “It’s fundamentally a pragmatic thing. When my computer crashes, my neighbor is over in five minutes to fix it. In turn, maybe his kids come home from school sick and I’m there to take care of them.”
The tour put the group in a kind of envy daze. At Temescal Commons, originally formed by members of a nearby Methodist church, photovoltaic roof panels let the residents sell power back to the utility company. At Pleasant Hill, children sold lemonade in a bright patch of shared grass.
But Ms. West and Mr. Planchon were clear that co-housing presented challenges, too. Ms. West recounted a heated episode at her community where someone didn’t receive a party invitation. They also spoke of meeting fatigue, a byproduct of reaching decisions via consensus model, and the surprisingly volatile matter of pets.
Do the tours win people over? Some, like Ms. Baechler, came away with reservations — she thought she might hold out for a community focused on the arts. But mostly the groups leave ecstatic, fingers nearly on checkbooks.
Delina Malo-Juvera, 36, lives in a 19th-century farmhouse in rural Maine. After the Massachusetts tour, she said she hoped to one day start a co-housing group of her own. “The economy and the state of the world — you don’t know what’s going to happen, so it’d be great to have that secure, self-sustaining community,” she said. “I loved it.”
For her part, Ms. Setzer, the cul-de-sac dweller from Visalia, said that the idea of joining a multigenerational community might be the most appealing aspect — and that she didn’t mind how few people were aware of the existence of this vaguely Norman Rockwellian lifestyle.
“I told my son about co-housing, and he thought I was a Martian,” Ms. Setzer said. “Then again, he often thinks that.”
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Dry Counties in Lower Appalachia
Georgia
* Murray County, in northwest Georgia, is a dry county, although the city of Eton allows the sale of liquor at a local level. Hart County in northeast Georgia is currently a dry county which prohibits the sale of liquor, yet a referendum was voted on in the general election on November 6, 2007 to allow the sale of liquor by the drink.
* White County, in northeast Georgia, is a dry county except in the city limits of Helen, Georgia. In Helen alcohol can be served and sold, and is known to be a DUI trap, as there is only a single route into and out of town, along Georgia State Route 75.
* Dawson County, was historically noted for being a heavy Moonshine county but was a dry county until recently with the first package store opening on July 27, 2007.
* Bulloch County was previously a partially dry county, but a referendum in [2008] removed the ban on alcoholic beverages.
* Coweta County is a partially dry county.
* Union County is a dry county
* Brooks County prohibits the sale of alcohol except beer and wine, with no sales on Sunday. The city of Quitman, within Brooks County, has allowed the sale of alcohol other than beer and wine in restaurants only since 2005. The new law was passed by Quitman voters despite fierce opposition from local religious and community leaders.
* Georgia prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sundays at retail locations, and has limits on the sale of alcohol at bars/restaurants.
Alabama
Of the 67 counties in Alabama, 14 are completely dry, 12 are partially dry or "moist" (these counties contain cities that have voted to allow alcohol sales), and 41 are completely wet.[5] Within those 12 "moist" counties, 16 city governments have legalized alcohol sales inside their city limits.
* In order for an Alabama city or county to hold a wet-dry vote, 25% of the voters in the preceding general election must sign a petition requesting a vote.[6] Petitions can be made to go from dry to wet or wet to dry.
* In dry counties, it is illegal to transport more than one case of beer and three quarts of liquor.[7]
Kentucky
Main article: Alcohol laws of Kentucky
Of the 120 counties in Kentucky, 53 are completely dry, 37 are considered partially dry or "moist", 29 are entirely wet, and one is classified as wet but is actually closer to "moist".[13]
North Carolina
* The following counties in North Carolina are dry: Yancey County, Clay County, Graham County, and Mitchell County. Johnston County allows sale of alcohol inside city limits.
* North Carolina does not allow alcohol sales before noon on Sundays.
Tennessee
* The consolidated city-county government of Lynchburg and Moore County, Tennessee, is a dry county, notwithstanding that it is home to the Jack Daniel's distillery. (A special state law allows the distillery to sell small, commemorative bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey to tourists, but not on Sundays.)
* Putnam, Campbell, Cumberland, Hancock, Sevier, and White are also dry counties.
(All from Wikipedia)
Why is the region of lower appalachia important? Rainfall, not too hot or cold, and See below:
The Great Smoky Mountains stretch from the Pigeon River in the northeast to the Little Tennessee River to the southwest. The northwestern half of the range gives way to a series of elongate ridges known as the "Foothills," the outermost of which include Chilhowee Mountain and English Mountain. The range is roughly bounded on the south by the Tuckasegee River and to the southeast by Soco Creek and Jonathan Creek. The Great Smokies comprise parts of Blount County, Sevier County, and Cocke County in Tennessee and Swain County and Haywood County in North Carolina.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and an International Biosphere Reserve that straddles the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. Because of its substantial size, its location within a few hundred miles of several large cities, its year-round accessibility, and of course its general appeal to a wide variety of people, it consistently ranks the most-visited national park in the United States of America, with 9-10 million visits per year.
Also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indians_and_settlers_of_the_Smoky_Mountains
* Murray County, in northwest Georgia, is a dry county, although the city of Eton allows the sale of liquor at a local level. Hart County in northeast Georgia is currently a dry county which prohibits the sale of liquor, yet a referendum was voted on in the general election on November 6, 2007 to allow the sale of liquor by the drink.
* White County, in northeast Georgia, is a dry county except in the city limits of Helen, Georgia. In Helen alcohol can be served and sold, and is known to be a DUI trap, as there is only a single route into and out of town, along Georgia State Route 75.
* Dawson County, was historically noted for being a heavy Moonshine county but was a dry county until recently with the first package store opening on July 27, 2007.
* Bulloch County was previously a partially dry county, but a referendum in [2008] removed the ban on alcoholic beverages.
* Coweta County is a partially dry county.
* Union County is a dry county
* Brooks County prohibits the sale of alcohol except beer and wine, with no sales on Sunday. The city of Quitman, within Brooks County, has allowed the sale of alcohol other than beer and wine in restaurants only since 2005. The new law was passed by Quitman voters despite fierce opposition from local religious and community leaders.
* Georgia prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sundays at retail locations, and has limits on the sale of alcohol at bars/restaurants.
Alabama
Of the 67 counties in Alabama, 14 are completely dry, 12 are partially dry or "moist" (these counties contain cities that have voted to allow alcohol sales), and 41 are completely wet.[5] Within those 12 "moist" counties, 16 city governments have legalized alcohol sales inside their city limits.
* In order for an Alabama city or county to hold a wet-dry vote, 25% of the voters in the preceding general election must sign a petition requesting a vote.[6] Petitions can be made to go from dry to wet or wet to dry.
* In dry counties, it is illegal to transport more than one case of beer and three quarts of liquor.[7]
Kentucky
Main article: Alcohol laws of Kentucky
Of the 120 counties in Kentucky, 53 are completely dry, 37 are considered partially dry or "moist", 29 are entirely wet, and one is classified as wet but is actually closer to "moist".[13]
North Carolina
* The following counties in North Carolina are dry: Yancey County, Clay County, Graham County, and Mitchell County. Johnston County allows sale of alcohol inside city limits.
* North Carolina does not allow alcohol sales before noon on Sundays.
Tennessee
* The consolidated city-county government of Lynchburg and Moore County, Tennessee, is a dry county, notwithstanding that it is home to the Jack Daniel's distillery. (A special state law allows the distillery to sell small, commemorative bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey to tourists, but not on Sundays.)
* Putnam, Campbell, Cumberland, Hancock, Sevier, and White are also dry counties.
(All from Wikipedia)
Why is the region of lower appalachia important? Rainfall, not too hot or cold, and See below:
The Great Smoky Mountains stretch from the Pigeon River in the northeast to the Little Tennessee River to the southwest. The northwestern half of the range gives way to a series of elongate ridges known as the "Foothills," the outermost of which include Chilhowee Mountain and English Mountain. The range is roughly bounded on the south by the Tuckasegee River and to the southeast by Soco Creek and Jonathan Creek. The Great Smokies comprise parts of Blount County, Sevier County, and Cocke County in Tennessee and Swain County and Haywood County in North Carolina.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and an International Biosphere Reserve that straddles the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. Because of its substantial size, its location within a few hundred miles of several large cities, its year-round accessibility, and of course its general appeal to a wide variety of people, it consistently ranks the most-visited national park in the United States of America, with 9-10 million visits per year.
Also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indians_and_settlers_of_the_Smoky_Mountains
Friday, April 17, 2009
Printing Money, Making Change
Very cool and well written article on the possibilities of local currencies for empowering folks in community, sell coupons for cheese maybe to be redeemed?
Hmmm, tasty and fertile ideas.
lov
thom
http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/publications/essay_orion.html
PRINTING MONEY, MAKING CHANGE:
The Future of Local Currencies
by Susan Witt
Published in Autumn 1998 issue of Orion Afield, 195 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230, www.oriononline.org
On May 30, 1998, the New York Times Metro Section carried a front page story about Thread City Bread, a local currency issued in Willimantic, Connecticut. Within a few days CNBC, ABC World News Tonight, Voice of America, Fox News in Boston, Northeast Magazine, as well as several regional papers, TV and radio stations had swooped into Willimantic to interview selectpersons, bankers, and shop owners about their homemade money.
Popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s when federal dollars were in short supply, local currencies are experiencing a revival in North America, but for new reasons. In the 1990s small towns and inner city neighborhoods are discovering that local scrip helps to define regional trading areas, educate consumers about local resources, and build community. Willimantic joins the more than 65 different communities in the United States and Canada where you can use colorful bills with names like Dillo Hours and Barter Bucks for anything from buying groceries to having your hair cut or your computer repaired.
It started in 1989 when Frank Tortoriello, the owner of a popular restaurant in the Southern Berkshire region of Massachusetts, was rejected for a bank loan to finance a move to a new location. In a small community word spreads quickly. The Berkshires are also home to the E. F. Schumacher Society. All of us in the office knew the Deli; we ate lunch there and recognized that Frank had a committed clientele who could afford to take a risk to keep the cherished luncheon spot in business. We suggested that Frank issue Deli Dollars as a self-financing technique. Customers could purchase the notes during a month of sale and redeem them over a year’s period after The Deli had moved to its new location. Martha Shaw, a local artist, donated the design for the notes which were dated and read “redeemable for meals up to a value of ten dollars.” Frank sold ten-dollar notes for eight dollars and in thirty days had raised $5,000. Over the next year, Frank repaid the loan, in sandwiches and soup, rather than hard to come by federal dollars. Berkshire Farm Preserve Notes, Monterey General Store Notes, and Kintaro Notes soon followed in what looked like a movement.
Paul Glover of Ithaca, New York, saw the media coverage of the Berkshire notes and liked the idea of hand-to-hand currency that let consumers support local business through pre-purchase of products, but he wanted to broaden the concept. Instead of each business issuing its own notes, why couldn’t the community as a whole issue a local scrip? To learn how this might be done, he spent a week doing research on the history and theory of regional issue of scrip at the E. F. Schumacher Library, and had long discussions with one of its founders, Robert Swann, who has spent a lifetime promoting local currencies.
[...etc. More on the weblink! ]
Hmmm, tasty and fertile ideas.
lov
thom
http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/publications/essay_orion.html
PRINTING MONEY, MAKING CHANGE:
The Future of Local Currencies
by Susan Witt
Published in Autumn 1998 issue of Orion Afield, 195 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230, www.oriononline.org
On May 30, 1998, the New York Times Metro Section carried a front page story about Thread City Bread, a local currency issued in Willimantic, Connecticut. Within a few days CNBC, ABC World News Tonight, Voice of America, Fox News in Boston, Northeast Magazine, as well as several regional papers, TV and radio stations had swooped into Willimantic to interview selectpersons, bankers, and shop owners about their homemade money.
Popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s when federal dollars were in short supply, local currencies are experiencing a revival in North America, but for new reasons. In the 1990s small towns and inner city neighborhoods are discovering that local scrip helps to define regional trading areas, educate consumers about local resources, and build community. Willimantic joins the more than 65 different communities in the United States and Canada where you can use colorful bills with names like Dillo Hours and Barter Bucks for anything from buying groceries to having your hair cut or your computer repaired.
It started in 1989 when Frank Tortoriello, the owner of a popular restaurant in the Southern Berkshire region of Massachusetts, was rejected for a bank loan to finance a move to a new location. In a small community word spreads quickly. The Berkshires are also home to the E. F. Schumacher Society. All of us in the office knew the Deli; we ate lunch there and recognized that Frank had a committed clientele who could afford to take a risk to keep the cherished luncheon spot in business. We suggested that Frank issue Deli Dollars as a self-financing technique. Customers could purchase the notes during a month of sale and redeem them over a year’s period after The Deli had moved to its new location. Martha Shaw, a local artist, donated the design for the notes which were dated and read “redeemable for meals up to a value of ten dollars.” Frank sold ten-dollar notes for eight dollars and in thirty days had raised $5,000. Over the next year, Frank repaid the loan, in sandwiches and soup, rather than hard to come by federal dollars. Berkshire Farm Preserve Notes, Monterey General Store Notes, and Kintaro Notes soon followed in what looked like a movement.
Paul Glover of Ithaca, New York, saw the media coverage of the Berkshire notes and liked the idea of hand-to-hand currency that let consumers support local business through pre-purchase of products, but he wanted to broaden the concept. Instead of each business issuing its own notes, why couldn’t the community as a whole issue a local scrip? To learn how this might be done, he spent a week doing research on the history and theory of regional issue of scrip at the E. F. Schumacher Library, and had long discussions with one of its founders, Robert Swann, who has spent a lifetime promoting local currencies.
[...etc. More on the weblink! ]
Friday, February 20, 2009
Why I Love the Mountains...
Reading: Belonging: and the Culture of Place-- bell hooks-
and Botany of Desire-- Michael Pollan -
I love the mountains because they are many. The mountains are old, and the mountains are various. Full of surprises, they capture the age and wisdom of Apollo and the playfulness of Coyote.
Reading these two books today gave me further insight into the mountains attractive nature.
Mountains are full of micro-climates-- giving zones quite close to each other very different climates in precipitation and in temperature. The benefits to the gardener are immediately apparant: A much greater variety of plants may be grown for beauty, food, and lumber.
A Pollan points out: the Andean peoples used what would have come as a great difficulty to the modern industrial monoculturalist to their advantage; they bred thousands of varieties of potatoes, of different sweetness, size, color, of texture, for the animals, etc. This incredible diversity also enabled them to prevent the possibility that a particular disease (or other susceptibility) could wipe out their crop. This was made possible- basically demanded-- by their topography. Each side and elevation of a mountain recieved different amounts of rainfall, different amounts of light, and different temperature ranges.
As a side note, linguistic research shows also how diverse dialects can be due to the effects of mountainous geography on human culture. I remember reading/hearing that New Guinea had a greater density of different tongues than anywhere else in the world due to this: cultures at different elevations had different diets and different tongues-- despite having trade between the cultures. !
bell hooks, in the introductory chapter of her latest book, speaks about how mountain people have a fierce self-determination and anarchist principles in her native state of Kentucky. Despite being acutely aware of the racial strife going on in most of the united states, country life in Kentucky was a world basically free of white supremecist imperialist.
Besides their beauty, i think this summarizes well why the mountains have so much draw: They engender so much diversity within all life forms- animals and plants-- They grant a huge diversity of opportunities to any community appreciative of the natural world.
They also give a sort of natural otherworldly quality to living. Being surrounded by such immense, old and strong beings in their own environment such as mountains, gives one the feeling that they're in a blessed and special place being there, and wondering what peculiarities exist for this particular being.
Their only drawback for such a human community is their possible isolation. However, along the Appalacians in the East and the Cascades in the West there is enough population surrounding them in order to find a way to pay off a lease and sell some cheese.
-the dancing goda
and Botany of Desire-- Michael Pollan -
I love the mountains because they are many. The mountains are old, and the mountains are various. Full of surprises, they capture the age and wisdom of Apollo and the playfulness of Coyote.
Reading these two books today gave me further insight into the mountains attractive nature.
Mountains are full of micro-climates-- giving zones quite close to each other very different climates in precipitation and in temperature. The benefits to the gardener are immediately apparant: A much greater variety of plants may be grown for beauty, food, and lumber.
A Pollan points out: the Andean peoples used what would have come as a great difficulty to the modern industrial monoculturalist to their advantage; they bred thousands of varieties of potatoes, of different sweetness, size, color, of texture, for the animals, etc. This incredible diversity also enabled them to prevent the possibility that a particular disease (or other susceptibility) could wipe out their crop. This was made possible- basically demanded-- by their topography. Each side and elevation of a mountain recieved different amounts of rainfall, different amounts of light, and different temperature ranges.
As a side note, linguistic research shows also how diverse dialects can be due to the effects of mountainous geography on human culture. I remember reading/hearing that New Guinea had a greater density of different tongues than anywhere else in the world due to this: cultures at different elevations had different diets and different tongues-- despite having trade between the cultures. !
bell hooks, in the introductory chapter of her latest book, speaks about how mountain people have a fierce self-determination and anarchist principles in her native state of Kentucky. Despite being acutely aware of the racial strife going on in most of the united states, country life in Kentucky was a world basically free of white supremecist imperialist.
Besides their beauty, i think this summarizes well why the mountains have so much draw: They engender so much diversity within all life forms- animals and plants-- They grant a huge diversity of opportunities to any community appreciative of the natural world.
They also give a sort of natural otherworldly quality to living. Being surrounded by such immense, old and strong beings in their own environment such as mountains, gives one the feeling that they're in a blessed and special place being there, and wondering what peculiarities exist for this particular being.
Their only drawback for such a human community is their possible isolation. However, along the Appalacians in the East and the Cascades in the West there is enough population surrounding them in order to find a way to pay off a lease and sell some cheese.
-the dancing goda
Friday, February 13, 2009
Take a Gander...
Here are some interesting links found on ecoforest.org- the page has a large directory of information on sustainable living, natural health and related topics.
http://ecoforest.org/links.shtml#ECO
a peek:
Links/resources
This page contains a large directory of information on sustainable living, natural health and related topics - we hope you will find it useful!
Index to this page
Permaculture and sustainable living
Raw food and fruitarian related sites
Holistic health
Biodiversity
Appropriate technology
Eco-villages
General environment
Consciousness
News
Positive Campaigns
Practical Steps to Change Your Life
HOLISTIC HEALTH
NEWS/MEDIA
http://ecoforest.org/links.shtml#ECO
a peek:
Links/resources
This page contains a large directory of information on sustainable living, natural health and related topics - we hope you will find it useful!
Index to this page
Permaculture and sustainable living
Raw food and fruitarian related sites
Holistic health
Biodiversity
Appropriate technology
Eco-villages
General environment
Consciousness
News
Positive Campaigns
Practical Steps to Change Your Life
PERMACULTURE RESOURCES
Permaculture Research Institute A Brilliant site. (Thanks for the list of links!)
Pangaia - A Raw Food Permaculture Homestead and Resource Center in Hawaii
The Big Picture, by Steve Charter
Permaculture International Journal Home Page
Permaculture Magazine UK Information Service
Introduction to Permaculture
Permaculture Institute of Northern California
Permaculture Global Assistance Network
EcoDesign Resource Society
ThePermaculture Information Service - What is Permaculture?
InterGarden(c) - Organic Agriculture, Farmscaping, Permaculture and Bioregionalism
Index of /london/permaculture
Permaculture Association Of Western Australia
Permaculture Pages Worldwide
Cross Timbers Permaculture Institute
Instituto de Permacultura Cerrado-Pantanal
Permaculture The Earth
Introduction to Permaculture by Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)
Funky Raw - radical earth based spiritual site, dedicated to restoring connection and re-creating paradise on earth… including a quarterly magazine, anual festival and online shop
Sura Detox Retreats, Devon - includes twice daily colonics, morning meditation, afternoon yoga, therapeutic massage, homoeopathic counselling and daily nutritional talks.
www.TheGardenDiet.com - Ekaya Institute of Living Food Education (E.I.L.F.E.)
Kristen's Raw - information, products, services, advice, and recommendations that make it easy for anybody to adopt the raw, vegan lifestyle.
www.artisticliving.com/ - Info about vegan a raw food diet
Living and Raw Foods web site A Great web site, (Thanks for the list of links!)
The Raw Gourmet - Awesome site promoting excellent book! MUST SEE
Living Nutrition Magazine - The #1 Living foods Magazine.
Rawtimes - probably the 1st site on the web for raw foods
Nature's First Law - Published great book on raw foods
David Wolfe's own website
Dr Douglas Graham's website
Harmonious Living
Premier Raw Fooders of the World - Some of the leading people in raw foods.
Ann Wigmore Foundation - Teaching Living foods in New Mexico.
Hippocrates Health Institute - In Florida, promotes living foods
Tree of Live Rejuvenation Center - In Arizona run by Dr. Gabriel Cousens
Optimum Health Institute - In San Diego, CA and Austin,TX
Living Food Institute in Finland - Christian healing center
Roe Gallo - Find out how to have a Perfect Body
ChetDay.com - Chet has many informative articles about health & raw foods.
Hacres.com - Living foods as related to Christianity and Living and Raw Foods.
New Veg - A commercial site with some raw food articles.
Loving-Foods - Restaurant in Hawaii, good information.
San Francisco Living Foods Enthusiasts - Oldest Living Food Support Group
The Fresh Network - Leading Raw Food Network based in the U.K.
Rawfood club on yahoo - Discussions, sharing of info and tips on raw food diet.
Raw Food for your Animals -Learn about feeding domestic animals in the raw!
Fruitarian Universal Network - Excellent resources for fruitarians.
Soil and Health Library - Natural Hygiene books on-line (Bieler, Tilden, Shelton etc)
Teach Them Raw Eating - Aterhov speaks his piece!
FredericPatenaude.com
Raw Gourmet
HOLISTIC HEALTH
Casa Alborada - Relax, Unwind and Rejuvenate with massage, yoga, meditation, permaculture courses, etc
Shirley's Wellness Cafe - Nicely done site with many more links
Natural Hygiene Online - Pure, Raw, Natural Hygiene
HealSelf - Teaches people how to heal themselvses naturally
Natural Hygiene WEBRING - linking Natural Hygiene Websites
Strategies for True Health - Natural Hygiene website with excellent information
Stanley Bass - Super nutrition and superior health (natural hygiene oriented)
PLANTS, BIODIVERSITY, FOOD
Vegan-Organic Network
Plants for a Future
The Seed Savers' Network
Compost Guide
Universtity of Texas Botanical Gardens
Friends of the Trees Society
Plants of the Southwest USA
City Farming Canada
Indigenous Agricultural and Environmental Knowledge Systems
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
Center for Alternative Technology
Planet Ark
International Institute for Sustainable Development
Ecological Design Institute
Rainbow Power Company
Rocky Mountain Institute
Natural Power Company
Alternative Energy Directory
Wind Tech International Co.
Real Goods Home Page
Sustainable Construction
Potok - Vegetarian Centre in Croatia
Raw Communities.com - A website database of Raw Communities around the world
Global Eco-Village Network (GEN)
Eco-Village Network UK
Eco-Village Network of the Americas
Steward Community Woodland - A great resource for low impact living
Urban Ecology Australia
French 'natural living community' link
Dancing Rabbit, an ecovillage in progress in northeast Missouri
Findhorn community in Scotland
New vegan Eco-Village in Hawaii being set up (Garden of Vegan)
economads - An amazing young family journey to European and North American Ecovillages
Eurotopia - a guide to european eco-communities.
Project Fruitopia / The Happy Healing House
Raw Paradise - Hawai'i Island Sanctuary
ENVIRONMENT ECOLOGY - (GENERAL)
Mother nature fan club
Earthlink- Australia's Environmentally Friendly Directory
EnviroLink Pre Home Page
Friends of the Earth - UK
NewHeavenNewEarth
Greenpeace International Home Page
The Nature Conservancy
EcoNet
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
My Virtual Reference Desk - Environment and Nature - Links
Global Ideas Bank
CONSCIOUSNESS
NEWS/MEDIA
Independent Media Center
Earthweek
NPR news and cultural programs
New Scientist Home Page
E / The Environmental Magazine
POSITIVE CAMPAIGNS
Baby Milk Action to promote breast feeding and campaign against unethical and inappropriate marketing of breast milk substitutes.
PRACTICAL WAYS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
economads Library of Awareness
Freewheelers - UK and International lift share schemes
Rawganicue - webshop for hemp clothing
OTHER
Meta Physicality - Paz's poetry on the subjects of raw, awakening and raising of consciousness
Monday, February 2, 2009
Metal in my sweetener...what's next?
It is a little disturbing to see that the issue of mercury in corn syrup has flown under the radar for so long. What is becoming a media sensation, or should I say--quickly being drug out from under the rug while simultaneously being swept under the rug- is yet another issue with highly processed products. How long will people stand idly by and let their food be contaminated? How many articles on salmonella outbreaks, genetically modified food,etc will it take before people wake up and smell the organic coffee?! (And don't get me on the lack of regulation and policy concerning organics in supermarkets). What could be more important than knowing what's in your food? Seriously. Ignorance is not bliss--it's future medical bills that you can't possibly afford. We must get back to growing our own foods (or at least buying foods from local,organic farms) for our children and grandchildren's sake. It is time to focus on responsibility through sustainability.
Other websites:
http://www.physorg.com/news152264729.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28877253/
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=96029
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/136879.php
A detailed explanation of how it got there:
http://www.sailhome.org/Concerns/BodyBurden/Sources3/CornSyrup.html
Mercury Found in High Fructose Corn Syrup
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/fresh-greens/2009/01/28/mercury-found-in-high-fructose-corn-syrup.htmlQuantities of mercury have been found in high fructose corn syrup, the ingredient that has replaced sugar in many of our processed foods. Reports have also come out that the FDA knew about traces of the toxic substance in food, and sat on the information. This news comes out just as we've learned that the peanut butter factory responsible for the salmonella outbreak has a storied history of health violations. What a week for food safety.
Mercury in high fructose corn syrup affects many of the most popular foods in America, including yogurt, soda, candy, juice and jelly. Even a small amount of it can be seriously unhealthy.
"Mercury is toxic in all its forms,� said IATP�s David Wallinga, M.D., and a co-author in both studies. �Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the FDA to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply."
The Corn Refiners Association is disputing the results of the study, but a watchdog group's study turned up similar results. More research is needed to determine exactly which foods are affected, but some of the foods tested were from the brands Hershey's, Quaker, Hunt's, Manwich, Smucker's, Kraft, Nutri-Grain, and Yoplait. We've already read that high fructose corn syrup can contribute to obesity and diabetes. With this recent scare, will people take a turn away from processed foods to more natural eating habits? Or have processed foods become an irreplacable part of the American diet?
http://www.physorg.com/news152264729.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28877253/
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=96029
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/136879.php
A detailed explanation of how it got there:
http://www.sailhome.org/Concerns/BodyBurden/Sources3/CornSyrup.html
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Some notes from today....
Cities and Their Business
Sources:
Wikipedia
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/precip.html
http://maps.howstuffworks.com/united-states-annual-rainfall-map.htm
Familiar Examples:
Austin, TX ------- 33.6 inches (853.4 mm) of rain per year - May and Oct. 88 days below 45 °F (7 °C) and 24 days when the minimum temperature falls below freezing
New Orleans, LA ---------- 64.2 inches (1,630 mm) annually Summer wettest, Oct Driest
Washington DC ---------- 39.1 inches per year
Albuquerque, NM -------- ~ 12 inches/yr
Houston, TX ------------ ~ 52 inches/yr
Pittsburgh, PA --------- ~37 inches/yr in May/June
Philadelphia, PA --------- 42.5 inches/yr all year (esp may-sept)
Los Angeles, CA ------------ 15 inches /yr in winter
Santa Cruz, CA ------------- 30.5 inches/yr
Sacramento, CA ------------- 19.9 inches/yr Winter
San Francisco, CA ---------- 20.4 winter
Portland, OR ------------- 42.7 inches/yr winter
Eugene, OR ---------------- 50.9 inches/yr winter
Seattle, WA ------------ 37.1 inches/yr winter
Bellingham, WA -------------- 34.8 inches/yr winter
Olympia, WA -------------- 50.9 inches/yr 151 days of rain/yr
Walla Walla, WA ------------ 20 inches/yr
Denver, CO --------------- 15.81 inches/yr
New York, NY ------------- 49.7 inches, yr
Boston, MA The city averages about 43 in (108 cm) of precipitation a year, with 40.9 in (104 cm) of snowfall a year.
Albany, NY -------------- 38.6 inches/yr rain 63 inches/yr snow
Portland, ME ------------ ~42 inches/yr
Louisville, KY
Nashville, TN
Memphis, TN
Little Rock , AR
Fayetteville, AR
St. Louis, MO
Asheville, NC
Atlanta, GA
Savannah, GA
Montreal, Quebec 80 inches of snow, 35 inches of Rain/yr
Vancouver, British Colombia daily minimum temperatures falling below 0 °C (32 °F) on an average of 46 days per year and below −10 °C (14.0 °F) on only two days per year. The average annual precipitation is about 1,219 millimetres (48.0 in), though this varies dramatically throughout the city due to the topography. Avg 2.4 inches snow/yr
Vancouver Island, British Colombia
The climate is the mildest in Canada, with temperatures on the coast even in January being usually above 0 °C (32 °F). In summer, the warmest days usually achieve a maximum of 28-33 degrees celcius. However, the rain shadow effect of the island's mountains, as well as the mountains of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, creates wide variation in precipitation. The west coast is considerably wetter than the east coast. Average annual precipitation ranges from 665 centimetres (260 in) at Henderson Lake on the west coast (making it the wettest place in North America) to only 64 centimetres (25 in) at the driest recording station in the provincial capital of Victoria on the southeast coast's Saanich Peninsula
Sources:
Wikipedia
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/precip.html
http://maps.howstuffworks.com/united-states-annual-rainfall-map.htm
Familiar Examples:
Austin, TX ------- 33.6 inches (853.4 mm) of rain per year - May and Oct. 88 days below 45 °F (7 °C) and 24 days when the minimum temperature falls below freezing
New Orleans, LA ---------- 64.2 inches (1,630 mm) annually Summer wettest, Oct Driest
Washington DC ---------- 39.1 inches per year
Albuquerque, NM -------- ~ 12 inches/yr
Houston, TX ------------ ~ 52 inches/yr
Pittsburgh, PA --------- ~37 inches/yr in May/June
Philadelphia, PA --------- 42.5 inches/yr all year (esp may-sept)
Los Angeles, CA ------------ 15 inches /yr in winter
Santa Cruz, CA ------------- 30.5 inches/yr
Sacramento, CA ------------- 19.9 inches/yr Winter
San Francisco, CA ---------- 20.4 winter
Portland, OR ------------- 42.7 inches/yr winter
Eugene, OR ---------------- 50.9 inches/yr winter
Seattle, WA ------------ 37.1 inches/yr winter
Bellingham, WA -------------- 34.8 inches/yr winter
Olympia, WA -------------- 50.9 inches/yr 151 days of rain/yr
Walla Walla, WA ------------ 20 inches/yr
Denver, CO --------------- 15.81 inches/yr
New York, NY ------------- 49.7 inches, yr
Boston, MA The city averages about 43 in (108 cm) of precipitation a year, with 40.9 in (104 cm) of snowfall a year.
Albany, NY -------------- 38.6 inches/yr rain 63 inches/yr snow
Portland, ME ------------ ~42 inches/yr
Louisville, KY
Nashville, TN
Memphis, TN
Little Rock , AR
Fayetteville, AR
St. Louis, MO
Asheville, NC
Atlanta, GA
Savannah, GA
Montreal, Quebec 80 inches of snow, 35 inches of Rain/yr
Vancouver, British Colombia daily minimum temperatures falling below 0 °C (32 °F) on an average of 46 days per year and below −10 °C (14.0 °F) on only two days per year. The average annual precipitation is about 1,219 millimetres (48.0 in), though this varies dramatically throughout the city due to the topography. Avg 2.4 inches snow/yr
Vancouver Island, British Colombia
The climate is the mildest in Canada, with temperatures on the coast even in January being usually above 0 °C (32 °F). In summer, the warmest days usually achieve a maximum of 28-33 degrees celcius. However, the rain shadow effect of the island's mountains, as well as the mountains of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, creates wide variation in precipitation. The west coast is considerably wetter than the east coast. Average annual precipitation ranges from 665 centimetres (260 in) at Henderson Lake on the west coast (making it the wettest place in North America) to only 64 centimetres (25 in) at the driest recording station in the provincial capital of Victoria on the southeast coast's Saanich Peninsula
Plans for 2009
Hello!!
My plans for the 2009:
Make a diagnosis and series of maps for different regions in the US
including:
- cities and their historical populations and incomes/industries
- property taxes
- soils
- historical annual and monthly rainfall (summer rain much more important, but too much IS too much)
- water sources- aquifers/ creeks etc
- available properties and prices (to inform bargaining)
- looking for farms in transition- better terms perhaps
- research non-profits and corporations more.
- look for possible grants for a non-profit within the "Eco-village"
- Asses financial situation (savings/ availability to initially invest- loans and support from family- and from banks etc...)
-
Found out that any property may become a land trust--
!!!
With the economy what it is , I'm not as concerned about building codes inhibiting us, but its still an important topic--
:to be continued....
Oh!
And I also recommend everyone to do their astrological forecast for the coming year
go to astro.com
enter free charts
go to forecast
enter your info
and off you go, something to think about!
if you'd like me to do it for you , just ask!
just send me your birthdate, place and time. if you don't have the time, we can approximate.
-thms
My plans for the 2009:
Make a diagnosis and series of maps for different regions in the US
including:
- cities and their historical populations and incomes/industries
- property taxes
- soils
- historical annual and monthly rainfall (summer rain much more important, but too much IS too much)
- water sources- aquifers/ creeks etc
- available properties and prices (to inform bargaining)
- looking for farms in transition- better terms perhaps
- research non-profits and corporations more.
- look for possible grants for a non-profit within the "Eco-village"
- Asses financial situation (savings/ availability to initially invest- loans and support from family- and from banks etc...)
-
Found out that any property may become a land trust--
!!!
With the economy what it is , I'm not as concerned about building codes inhibiting us, but its still an important topic--
:to be continued....
Oh!
And I also recommend everyone to do their astrological forecast for the coming year
go to astro.com
enter free charts
go to forecast
enter your info
and off you go, something to think about!
if you'd like me to do it for you , just ask!
just send me your birthdate, place and time. if you don't have the time, we can approximate.
-thms
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