THE ORIGINAL LAEV VISION

The Los Angeles Eco-Village was initially envisioned as a demonstration of lower impact, higher quality living patterns within the city.  We sought to effectively integrate the social, economic and ecological systems of our two block neighborhood, working with one another, our neighbors and the city at large.

The current LAEV Intentional Community met in a vision retreat during the summer of 2005, and is still honing the vision statement that emerged from that retreat.  It will be included here as soon as there is a go-ahead from the LAEV Community Meeting.

ONE LOS ANGELES ECO-VILLAGE VISION: WORKING TOWARD THE POSSIBILITIES

This is ONE approach to the vision for Eco-Village. It was prepared for a proposal in 1994. In some respects, we're ahead of this. In most, we have a VERY long way to go! We invite doer-dreamers to explore being our neighbors and work with us.

In reading the following narrative, look for the integration of social, physical and economic systems woven throughout.

Children from many different backgrounds play regularly in the streets together now that the traffic has slowed down and most of their parents have gotten to know and trust one another. The new plaza at the intersection of Bimini and White House Place helps a lot as many neighbors wander out each day to get something from the flea market or the pretty little kiosks along Bimini Place owned and operated by other neighbors. When youngsters are not playing, they're generally engaged in a variety of neighborhood projects and small eco-businesses that most kids over 8 are part owners of: from recycling, and vegetable and fruit gardening and harvesting, to tutoring and kiosk management. 15% of the neighborhood's food supply is now grown organically in local community gardens and orchards. We have a weekly neighborhood owned and managed organic food buyers club and a teenager managed weekly organic farmers' market in which 60% of the residents participate. It was really great when the whole neighborhood got out a few weeks ago to put up the arbors along a portion of the sidewalks on Bimini Place--all out of local recycled materials! Now the kids' farming co-op has planted wonderful little grape and bougainvillea plants all along the base of the arbor. The kids' farming co-op also started their first rooftop garden--they love the adventure of rooftop gardening, and they've been getting a lot of help lately from neighborhood folks visiting from New York City who have been doing this for years. The youngsters have now started to talk about extending our rooftop organic gardens to Vons down the block, because they are feeling badly about all the people in the adjacent neighborhoods who still eat toxic foods from the market, and, of course, it could be an expansion of their own small business. It is so beautiful to hear these youngsters from so many different backgrounds work out these problems of how we can live more healthy lives in our city, and so wanting to share the information. They've really gotten their folks to come round on many issues that no one even talked about two years ago.

The Neighborhood Energy and Water Conservation Co-op has done a really great job getting the whole neighborhood switched over to water and energy saving devices. The Co-op has four languages amongst its members, and they've gone out about three nights a week for the past two months talking to small groups of households throughout Eco-Village about conservation and the new devices and our neighborhood grey water demonstration system. For some of the neighbors, it's the first social contact they've had with persons of different backgrounds. It was pretty exciting to see some of these barriers come down. Neighbors are readily agreeing to share one-half the savings from these new efficiences with the neighborhood association which is going to use these monies to hire a half-time energy coordinator who lives in the neighborhood.

With the combination of the new electric vehicle car co-op, the conversion of the old auto repair shop at the end of the block for neighborhood parking, the one way street on Bimini Place, the speed humps and so many more people working close to home so they don't have to have so many cars, we've really been able to reclaim our streets. Now neighbors have started talking about taking one of the street lanes out on Bimini Place for a new row of fruit trees. The children are very excited about this expansion of the orchard and their business.

The Los Angeles Mutual Housing Association, our housing and business development organization, has now purchased 40 units of housing and the residents are meeting regularly to organize the housing co-op. They have all been saving between $25 and $50 each month for about a year and a half for the purchase of their co-op share. Three other buildings are organizing for their buyouts.