Livability and Sustainable Communities:

In order for sustainable communities, big or small, to maintain themselves, its members must be committed to the overall concepts and processes of sustainability. Sustainable communities, more often then not, are not kept by government parties or officials, but by the people who care about living sustainable lives. Having asperations of living better lives for their own general welfare and environment is what holds the bond between community members together. Sustainable communities provide a place for people to live enjoyable lifestyles. The degree to which a community affords such an environment is dependent on many factors, most essentially safety & health, environmental cleanliness, quality of social interactions, and rich culture. Developing each component of a livable community requires both a broad understanding of sustainability and an effective strategy.

Such communities need a healthy environment. The key is planning. A common practice in green development is to build with accessibility in mind. Places of work, education, recreation, and commodities of goods and services are positioned so that they can be reached easily by way of public transportation, walking, bicycling, or other non-motorized means. This practice alone has a significant impact on both the local environment and the entire biosphere.

Having goods and services within close proximity to residential hubs greatly reduces the need for vehicular travel. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American drives 12,000 miles a year with a car that averages 20 miles per gallon. This adds up to a whopping 600 gallons of gas consumed on average, per person, per year. Based on these statistics, the average person emits 11,738 lbs of carbon into the air that we all breathe every moment of every day. If a community could successfully encourage its residents to ditch their cars, or at least use them half as often, think about how much cleaner their air would be. How great would it feel to breathe in air that was half as polluted as our atmosphere is today?

Consequently, as the need for vehicle travel decreases, so does the need for major roadways. With less environment consumed by asphalt and other impervious surfaces for transportation, the condition of local water improves significantly. On an impervious surface, or surface that does not allow seepage, water is forced to travel downhill until it finds some place to runoff, such as sand or soil. Along its path, this runoff water picks up numerous toxins, like oil, salt and fertilizer that coat roads. These chemicals are then carried directly into our water sources. With practices of sustainable development, roadways and walkways are constructed with permeable materials such as gravel or interlocking pavers that allow water to filter directly into the surface beneath, or soil layer of the Earth. This process of infiltration through the layer of top soil naturally filters out pollutants such as E. Coli and copper that would otherwise find their way into our water sources (WERF). If we could trust our natural water supply, as we did years ago, we wouldn’t feel the need to purchase so much bottled water. Clearly, reducing the area of paved land, in addition to other efforts, would keep the amount of pollutants introduced into the surrounding environment within the land’s natural capacity to recycle them.

Equally essential to livability, is the for community safety and security. Without safety and security, we sacrifice the opportunity to truly enjoy the places we live. Most people in the world live in some state of fear, whether it’s from civil war, organized crime or common criminals. In addition, the health of many people throughout the world is threatened by pollutants in the environment and everyday hazards. Whether in a war torn nation or the streets of Los Angeles, the presence of crime, pollution and other safety hazards poses a direct threat to the people living in those areas.

It’s fair to say that the most immediate threat to the safety of individuals within a community is crime. A community is not livable if it is not safe. Sustainable communities address crime from the bottom up, rather than the other way around. Crime is a systemic problem (encompassing discrimination, education, mental health, politics, war, etc.), and being such must be addressed in a holistic manner. First and foremost is education, which treats the root cause of poverty. Nearly as important are community activities and programs that give youth the opportunity to grow up in an environment where they can learn to interact well with others and feel a sense of inclusion. Communities that offer active, wholesome lifestyles for families see the development of children into responsible, law abiding adults (notice that in order for such lifestyles to be feasible, sustainable communities must have adequate recreational space for such activities to take place).

Less apparent than crime, but just as dangerous, are everyday hazards. The greatest threat to individuals in the developed world is car accidents. An unintentional yet very desirable benefit of expanding public transportation and encouraging walking and biking is lowered public risk for vehicular fatalities. As driving has become a greater part of the American lifestyle, so has the risk for death or injury. Less traffic, fewer roads and lower speed limits not only make communities safer, it makes them nicer places to live.

A silent safety threat that has become increasingly pervasive is pollution. When you breather polluted air, drink contaminated water or eat food grown with chemicals, you are risking your health without even knowing. Our communities are saturated with chemicals. We use untold amounts of synthetic pesticides both indoors and out, the household cleaners that we touch and breathe contain toxic chemicals, and nearly every manufactured good imaginable has been treated with flame retardant, preserving agents or other materials that pose potential threats to public health. Sustainable communities, in order to ensure health and safety, use materials that are known to be both environmentally benign and harmless to living things. Sustainable communities must be both healthy and safe if they are to be livable.

Social unity is a cornerstone of sustainable communities. People who work together toward a common goal feel invested into their community and have reason to thrive within it. Exemplified is the small eco-community of Finca Las Brisas, Costa Rica. “Currently the membership of Finca Las Brisas is comprised of family, friends and other like-minded parties that share a common interest in developing a sustainable community that makes a positive contribution to surrounding local residents and the environment. We have no guiding social, political, or spiritual philosophy driving the development of the community, other than the desire to do it the right way. To develop Costa Rica real estate in a way that is beneficial to the environment, the wildlife and the local people(Community).”

This small community is lead by experienced and educated professionals, from different fields, and they collaborated to build a new system with old demeanor. “We think the term Eco-Community best describes us. We are a small development with 25 lots. We are striving to be genuine, we work with the locals, part of the finances are budgeted for the local community and we work hard to employ the people in the immediate area. We have shared environmentally sensitive and protected areas that we all maintain. We are starting a reforestation project to strengthen the fragile and disappearing dry forests. We are protecting the watershed for all of the people that live down river. We are building a place for people who care more about an authentic experience with the local people, culture and nature than they do about flat screen TVs, profit/cost ratios, security lights, quads, privacy, or air conditioning (Community).”

Instructional seminars and community service projects are just a few ways members of a sustainable community can work together to achieve a common goal. Not only will these events create tighter bonds between members, but they often result in a beneficial outcome. Examples could include community gardens, recycling initiatives, eco-education classes (e.i. bio-fuel, solar energy, etc.), and/or fund raisers. Working on community projects not only builds strong bonds, but increases education toward sustainable living where outsiders are also encouraged to participate. This practice not only educates members of isolated communities, it sparks new interests towards sustainable living in the minds of their neighbors.

For a community to be livable, the citizens must feel an attachment and a sense of place in their town. In the most livable communities, citizens have a neighborhood identity, meaning they feel a bond to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of where they live. It is important for builders of communities to understand that people feel more at home when they are surrounded by places and things they recognize as they go through their daily routines. Contractors can also keep the idea of a livable community in mind when remodeling or building new structures by reusing existing buildings and designing architecture that is familiar to the citizens (Livability 101). Urban sprawl is a growing problem around metropolitan areas; an easy way to slow or halt this problem is to set aside protected land in communities for conservation. Whether shopping, eating out or spending the day at the park, citizens of more livable communities live more enjoyable lives than those in the average community.

By building and preserving unique man-made and natural structures, citizens can identify with these places and associate them as part of their culture. Livable communities are easily identified by their citizens because the architecture and landmarks of their towns are unique. In order to create a neighborhood identity a community needs landmarks and structures that give its citizens a sense of place. Rather than having cookie cutter houses, livable communities would contain structures that are either designed by the user or with the user’s interests in mind. Probably just as important in architecture as functionality is aesthetics. It is important for the style of the buildings throughout a community to be pleasing to the people who live and interact among them. Many companies are already aware of the benefits of the benefits of this unique and pleasing architecture and are taking advantage of this. In the Washinton towns of Redmond, Bellevue ans Seattle the waste water managment buildings bled into the rest of the landscape instead of being an eye sore, like most other waste water facilites (King County). It only takes an improvment to one building for a community to become more livable.

Life in a livable community is the ultimate goal for most people in the world. Creating more livable communities would make that goal possible for more people. Sustainability is the most vital aspect of a livable community. An easy and obvious way to make a community more sustainable is to take advantage of existing structures. This means that instead of buying out a huge empty lot to build the local grocery store on, companies should look for abandoned buildings that they can renovate and reuse. When talking about a livable community it is important to remember that a community is not only comprised of man-made structures, but also of natural places. Setting aside a substantial amount of land in or near a community that is free of houses and businesses will help the citizens feel more in tune with nature. Parks and recreation areas are great for making a community livable because it gives people a place to exercise and be active outdoors. Providing unique, rich cultural resources through parks, outdoor venues, and other enjoyable public places is the last crucial element in creating a livable community.

The many tasks that must be undertaken to develop a livable community must be part of a broad vision. Communities where people truly want to live don’t appear without great efforts by citizens and community leaders. The main idea is planning. Safe, clean, friendly, vibrant communities are very much achievable with adequate planning, leadership and collaboration.