A GREEN SUBDIVISION IN OMAHA

THE PROBLEM WITH SUBDIVISIONS:

Have you driven through West Omaha lately? If you have, you may have noticed miles and miles of homogenous subdivisions filled with cookie-cutter houses. Uninspiring. Environmentally unfriendly. Scary in a way. Sprawl.

When Andre Duany (one of the founders of New Urbanism) spoke in Omaha a few years ago, he made the point that environmentalists should care as much about the human environment as they do for the natural one.

Sara Susanka (author of the Not So Big House series of books) wrote: "So many houses, so big with so little soul."

Do our subdivisions have to be the way they are?

GREEN SUBDIVISIONS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES:

As you may be aware, across the United States there are a number of green subdivisions which have been very successful. Following are several prominent examples and unique attributes which make them special:

(1) Village Homes, Davis, California...When Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute visited Omaha several years ago, he presented Village Homes as an example of a subdivision that was environmentally friendly, beloved by residents, and financial successful. This green subdivision has these attributes:
* east/west orientation of houses to take advantage of passive and active solar energy.
* natural drainage "swales" and creek beds to take away storm water (rather than underground pipes).
* narrow streets to "calm" traffic and emphasize the pedestrian.
* edible landscaping.
* and more...additional information may be found at www.villagehomesdavis.com or www.rmi.org

(2) Prairie Crossing, Grayslake, Illinois...This environmentally friendly subdivision was featured in the Rocky Mountain Institute's book "Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate" and has these attributes:
* 150 acres of farmland plus a 10 acre organic farm in production.
* restoration of native habitats and historic buildings.
* "green" houses (energy efficient, minimization of harmful chemicals).
* and more...additional information may be found at www.prairiecrossing.com

(3) Living Neighborhoods...The work of Christopher Alexander and The Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, California...Especially through the influential book "A Pattern Language", Christopher Alexander has inspired thousands of architects, planners, and everyday people. His work has these attributes related to subdivisions:
* sequences for ensuring proper formation of public "positive" space.
* innovative ways to de-emphasize the car and bring back the human.
* patterns successful houses must have in order to be loved.
* and more...additional information may be found at www.livingneighborhoods.com or www.patternlanguage.com .

There are many, many more examples and ideas. Wouldn't it seem easy to select some combination of the above (or other) attributes and develop a green subdivision in Omaha?

I personally have spoken with many people from the Omaha area who would support a green subdivision. And you probably have as well.

OUR OWN GREEN SUBDIVISION

There has been a tremendous amount of groundwork done in Omaha to prepare for a green subdivision. Extremely high quality civic, academic, and private work has been done. It's frustrating to me there is very little tangible in Omaha's built environment to show for all this groundwork.

I would like to explore whether a small group of committed people can develop our own green subdivision in Omaha in the near future. If you are interested, please call or e-mail Jack Round: (402) 630-5492; round@cox.net. Thank you!