Our Vision of Community

A primary consideration in the ‘new urbanism’ movement is designing communities that are oriented to humans rather than automobiles. There are countless reasons that make this a good idea but among the most important is simply this: people on foot, living in a walkable neighborhood, will greet, meet, and get to know each other in a very short period of time. When most every life event requires driving an automobile, those chance, informal, daily interactions with others, which form the very fabric of a community, are completely lost. As a result, it is common in many places in America, that people barely know their neighbors, though they may have lived near to each other for decades!

Harvesting blackberries from our urban garden

Our recent Family Camp in the Rockies demonstrated this phenomenon perfectly. Many of us were unknown to each other beforehand but within just 3 days on a walkable campus and with plenty of shared fun, sadhana (spiritual practice), meals, and adventures, we felt such connection and cohesion with each other it was hard to leave. Beyond the health, aesthetic, safety, and environmental benefits, which are just the tip of the iceberg,
we are committed to breaking the mold of so much dependence on our cars. Here’s how we can do it:

  • Our community is compact. All essential features of life: work, play, sacred space, socializing, dining, gardening and even shopping are well within walking or biking distance from each residence. Even downtown Fort Collins is only 3 miles away!
  • Public transportation, which can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go, is only a half block away.
  • Fort Collins is a “Platinum Rated” Bicycle Friendly Community and maintains more than 200 miles of bike lanes and over 50 miles of dedicated bike routes. The adjoining natural areas just to the west of us are full of mountain bike trails as well.
  • Personal Electric Vehicles (glorified golf carts) are all the rage right now and provide easy, affordable alternatives to the traditional automobile. These can be used within the community and some of them are also approved for lower-speed city roads: a very practical alternative for any normal town trip.
  • Car and bike share coops are an obvious choice for a community wanting to simplify and economize their lifestyle and we plan on making these available to all members.
  • Finally, the advent of the self-driving car is likely, in the coming years, to seriously disrupt our ‘one car per person’ mentality of the last many decades. With so much paved real estate for parking required by law, when the day comes that it just makes more sense to temporarily rent the exact type of vehicle you need (rather than owning several different types and storing them on paved earth), parking lots may become a thing of the past; and we will hope to add many more pickleball courts and gardens to our community!