One Tree Orchard Sustainable Community

“Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.”
- Bill Vaughn

If I were to set up a mandate for myself at this stage it would be a list of do’s and don’ts. It would probably look something like this:

I don’t want to be a part of a system that helps people become more disconnected from their natural environment.

I don’t want to push wild animals into smaller and smaller living areas.

I don’t want to build anything that is disposable.

I don’t want to build with poisonous materials.

I don’t want to transport materials that can be sourced locally.

I DO want to build houses that are extremely energy efficient.

I DO want to foster a greater sense of community.

I DO want to make available the opportunity for shared agriculture space.

I DO want to prove that this new model of community design is both profitable and beneficial.

…

Not a bad list of criteria to live up to. As you can see I’ve turned a ’simple’ subdivision plan into an epic. The old fashioned way is simply not cool anymore. I hate seeing subdivisions that don’t even have a playground. This is the bare minimum. On the most selfish creep would build a place for people to live and not think about the needs of children to socialise.

So to get to the point at hand, what is next? On June 19th Tegan Wong-Daugherty of Falls Brook Centre will be leading a workshop on sustainable community design with Daniel Savard (head planner from the Department of Environment.) This workshop will be held at Renaissance College in Fredericton and will focus specifically on my little plan but will have practical aspects that would apply to any development. I’m so excited about this workshop. I can’t speak highly enough about the work that they are doing at Falls Brook Centre! If you haven’t been. It’s a must! Anyone who is interested in being a part of the workshop, it’s free, should contact Tegan to register. It is free and promises to be very exciting!