By Brian Skeele, on May 23rd, 2011 Enjoyable and affordable. “In a retirement community, things are done for you and to you. In a cohousing community things are done by you.”  Sharing caregivers….having fun.  How’s this compare to your envisioned retirement? Mountain View Cohousing Community from David Burwen on Vimeo. Sounds good to me! Charles Durrett’s Senior Cohousing is an …

By Brian Skeele, on July 12th, 2011 Restorative justice programme Pollsmoor Prison Cape Town I’ve heard the term “Restorative Justice” before.  Probably in the context of the community meetings held in South Africa to heal the wounds of apartheid. I also once read a story about a tribe in the South Pacific, as I remember the story,  whose members look inside …

By Brian Skeele, on May 25th, 2011 Imagine. An elementary school and the surrounding neighborhoods joining  together to become  a sustainable community with the school at its heart. Biologies on the roots, detoxify water! Science Rules! Tapping into the Power of Biologies; Community Composting and Recycling Water – Part 5 Throughout the neighborhood, attached greenhouses provide essential composting, soil studies …

By Brian Skeele, on March 8th, 2011 1/3 of the Boomers want to move in.  88% of the Millennials want to move in. The problem is, Sustainable Urban Villages don’t exist! Building Your Neighborhood Sustainable Well they do, between my ears and in my heart, but we need a great modeling tool so all the future residents, landowners, finance people, city planners, …

By Brian Skeele, on May 18th, 2011 Imagine. An elementary school and the surrounding neighborhoods joining  together to become  a sustainable community with the school at its heart. Part 4 “If it Ain’t Fun, it Ain’t Sustainable” If it ain’t fun, it ain’t sustainable! Students of all ages have learned that working together with the whole community, coming up with inspired …

By Brian Skeele, on June 27th, 2011 Just after I sent out the Sustainable Urban Village in Santa Fe invitation, I got this email from a friend. Hi Brian, Great cause…what are you doing for financing? L&L, Peter Hello Peter, the game plan of this first phase, of gathering input from the unmet market’s demand,… is to create momentum and …

By Brian Skeele, on September 19th, 2011 I came across this article on Retrofitting the Burbs.  Nice round up of ideas. Click here for the entire article by Aron Chang.  Also, see my earlier post on home-made services and home occupation in OPEN HOUSE, a  one weekend “happening” in Levittown. New Opportunities I believe that as designers we cannot accept as inevitable …

By Brian Skeele, on April 14th, 2011 I’ve started a list of good ideas that come about if we rethink the functions and interplay of our home and its neighborhood.  So far I’ve got 29 killer (If I do say so myself)  ideas.  The first 7 are home oriented, the last 22 are more neighborhood oriented. Add to the list …

By Brian Skeele, on April 8th, 2011 We might as well have some fun while we deal with the Paradigm Shift. I’ve been kind of anxious as long as I can remember, biting my fingernails, a perfectionist, worried if I’m enough, if I’m doing it right.  Things usually turn out really well, and yet before that, I can find myself …

By Brian Skeele, on July 11th, 2011 AARP’s July-August 2011 issue highlights a newly constructed attached units community within a program called Soldier On. With solar panels on the roof, and economic and social support systems, 39 veterans are experiencing their lives transformed. This is a great example of  the kinds of qualities found in what I call a Sustainable …