ElderFire: The Next Step: Making Sustainable Communities a Reality March 6, 2008

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.

Official Website: http://www.elderfirecommunities.com/