ElderFire: The Next Step: Making Sustainable Communities a R...

2008-03-06 19:00:00 - 2008-03-06 21:00:00

The next step – Making Sustainable Communities a Realit

On Thursday, January 31st, an evening discussion co-sponsored by

ElderFire Communities and Ventura Co-Housing was held to explore how

we can work in partnership with local government to promote a more

collaborative and community-oriented culture, and how can we enlist

and work with local government as a partner in this process.

That meeting was just the beginning of what promises to be a fruitful

journey. We all know that real change can start with a small group of

committed citizens. Further, Rick Cole, the City Manager of Ventura

made the point at this meeting that the city fathers desire to make

their city a model for sustainable living and will be supportive of

citizen originated sustainable initiatives. This does not suggest that

the focus of any group's action should be limited to Ventura, but it

does suggest a specific openness and an attitude that may be

permeating the county.

The enthusiastic response to that evening was the affirmative

confirmation that there is significant interest in creating

sustainable communities and neighborhood initiatives among those in

attendance. There was considerable enthusiasm for a follow-up meeting

to explore a range of possibilities and to start to formulate action

agendas. The one constant that seemed to prevail, and, that was

verified by a show of hands at the conclusion of the meeting, was that

the over whelming majority of those attending were interested in

either a) being part of an sustainable community or, b) actively

supporting the creation of sustainable housing and community

initiatives.

On Thursday March 6th we will have the next in a series of meetings. At this event, we will further explore sustainable community

opportunities and start to bring our discussion into a framework of

common understanding and action.