Old Industrial Cities Give Rise to Urban Ecovillages
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio 
on 08.27.07
Maybe we have finally found a positive result of urban sprawl. When population flight left the urban cores of many mid-sized U.S. cities empty, good housing stock, central location, and access to jobs and transportation remained in these old urban communities. Thankfully, a trend is in place to not only bring people back to these areas, but to do it with urban sustainability in mind - urban ecovillages. Now, we have covered ecovillage concepts before (read more here and here), but these ecovillages are usually in more rural or even suburban landscapes. Urban ecovillages are able to focus these same eco-principals into city neighborhoods to bring like-minded urbanists together. Here in Ohio, urban ecovillages in Cleveland and Cincinnati, cities notoriously affected by sprawl, are leading the way.
The Cleveland EcoVillage project is located about 3.5 miles west of downtown Cleveland. The aim here is to use green design and a revitalized mass transit center to create an local ecovillage with all the benefits of living in an urban area.
The Cleveland EcoVillage is a great place to live. It is a diverse neighborhood that is pedestrian-friendly and community-oriented. Residents are within walking distance of the Rapid Transit Station and the Zone Recreation Center. The area has older and newer homes, including some of the city's finest examples of green building. The area also includes numerous schools, historic churches, and communtiy gardens. Residents can participate in block clubs, recreation groups, annual workshops, and celebrations.
Cincinnati's urban ecovillage, The Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage, is located about 4 miles west of downtown Cincinnati.
The community's active members work mainly through the four committees that residents created. These committees focus on various relevant issues, from how to renovate and resell homes to the best ways to install solar water heating and provide organic produce. The Enright Ridge Urban Eco-Village is always looking for people interested in moving to the neighborhood as well as organizations interested in assisting us in our goals. Specifically, we are looking for those willing to join a group of caring, energetic people and help to:* deepen a sense of community
* build a neighborhood of choice
* model a new experience in urban living
* explore alternative energy technologies
* form a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
* Experience oneness with nature in the heart of the city
The best part about these urban ecovillages? They are situated in real neighborhoods with a plethora of services at hand at a price that not just the wealthy among us can afford.
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Look on the Remax.com in Buffalo or Rochester NY. You can get fixer uppers for less than 15k. Probably need a lot of work, but Lord that's cheap.
It's great that Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an objective of the scheme in Cincinnatti.
Tho it beats me why in Cleveland if you want "all of the benefits of living in an urban area", you'd choose to do it 3.5mls outside the urban area!
Be brave! Be bold! Occupy your city!
Actually, the Cleveland EcoVillage is still within the urban fabric. And actually I have been involved with the EcoCity village as they are going to be building 3 new homes right across the street from the original project in a vacant lot.
There are a number of urban ecovillage projects in other cities - LA, Detroit, Albuquerque, etc.
You can serach for them on the Online Communities Directory at http://directory.ic.org
Here's a sample search:
http://directory.ic.org/records/index.php?action=search_results&conjunction=and&full_text_search=ecovillage&find_nulls=false&find_nulls=true&trait%5B2%5D%5Bvalue_id%5D%5B%5D=21
Tony
The Cleveland EcoVillage is in a neighborhood of the City of
Cleveland proper that happens to be 2 or so miles from downtown Cleveland. This is the real deal urban ecovillage, one of the first in the country. It started with a great vision and has since seen the development of 20 green built townhomes, within walking distance of the intercity train station which was redeveloped. The latest news in the Cleveland EcoVillage is the green built cottages -- showing how to leave comfortably in a smaller house. Plans for Zone Rec. are still happening and call for outdoor environmental education for a neighborhood that doesn't get a whole lot of this sort of training (building bioswales, planting butterfly gardens). For more information, go here:
http://www.gcbl.org/planning/ecovillage