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Village Development of America LLC (ViDA!) is a for-profit development company that facilitates the establishment of sustainable and empowering mixed-used, mixed-income neighborhoods, so that we can all live in vibrant, alive communities, and prosper.
Brian Skeele, Village Development of America, LLC
December 18, 2006
Out of the 2002 International Making Cities Livable Conference, held at the Santa Fe Hilton, Ken Hughes, Jan Kindel and I began meeting on a monthly basis, to figure out how we could create a much more Livable Santa Fe. After a year of brainstorming amongst ourselves, and with various community members, Bob Sarr and Carol Raymond, Sandra Aguliar, Ed Romero, Hank Hughes, and Ed Archuleta, we went on to our individual projects; Ken to 5 Flows, Jan moved to Knob Hill, and I began meeting with Roy Wroth.
Roy and I began the quest for a demonstration project, a place where people could go and experience a Mixed-Use, Mixed-Income Neighborhood. We explored a couple of possible locations, and settled on what has become known as the “Triangle”, the area bordered by Cerrillos Rd., St Francis Drive, and St. Michael’s Drive, which centers on the railroad tracks, as an area we felt could be open to a transformation into a Mixed-use Community.
We obtained two small grants, one from the Sierra Club, another from the McKune Foundation, and proceeded with a two-pronged approach. One, I interviewed neighbors, both residential and commercial, about their needs and got their feedback on Mixed-use redevelopment. Roy contributed site plans showing possible redevelopment strategies for the Alta Vista Taxation/Department of Transportation Rail Stop Site, and a second site along the tracks, from 2nd street to St. Michaels. We presented our findings at the 2nd Annual 2nd Street Faire.
In the Spring of 2005, we initiated a Sustainable Neighborhood Brainstorming and Focus Group. Roy and I facilitated 8 meetings over the course of the next 7 months, with the outcome of identifying needs that are currently unmet in our car-dominated lifestyle. We also came up with neighborhood design solutions that address those needs, what has come to be called “Clusters of Affinity”. We also discovered design solutions where new infill development would bring a much more abundant life to the surrounding, existing neighborhoods, in contrast to the “more traffic and loss of views infill” that is usual outcome of current infill projects.
The Quest for a Sustainable Lifestyle Continues
In 2006, I’ve shifted my attention onto an opportunity to build a more sustainable neighborhood in a more sustainable community, namely, 10 Live/Work in Oshara Village. For lack of sufficent financial backing, I wasn’t able to go forward with the live/work project, but the flexible floor plans we created have been incorporated into our workshop.
Along with my wife, Rebecca Skeele, we have created a workshop called “Designing Sustainable Neighborhoods; Building community from the inside out.”
The ½ day workshop begins with Rebecca guiding the exploration of the inner stories we tell ourselves about community and cooperation. The tools presented allow a neighborhood to move beyond isolation, not even knowing one’s neighbor.
I present, in the middle part of the workshop, the elements that make for a more sustainable community, from mixed-use, mixed-income, lifelong learning, aging in place, and shared amenities, to profit sharing.
I also present a Flexible, Live/Work Floor plan that demonstrates how a well designed home can support the residents throughout their lives.
After a break, the workshop then breaks out into small design teams, and proceeds, with markers and large pieces of paper, to design solutions that meet participants needs, as well as ties into the needs of the surrounding “clusters”.
Nearing the end, the workshop participants reflect on their experience, a sharing of awarenesses of inner shifts that may have occurred.
The workshop concludes with a short discussion on possible next steps.
Future Steps
In the future, I would like to be able to enter the neighborhood solutions of the various design teams into an economic proforma, and give them the feedback as to how their design would fare financially. In this way, the ideas, coupled with a specific site, and the “presolds” in the room, could “go to the bank”, moving from theory into reality.
2010 Turnaround Challenge
We given the workshop twice in Austin Tx, and twice in Santa Fe, NM. We have realized quite a few of our current zoning, finanical, and social systems are a roadblock to the great ideas that come out of our design sessions, and so we have instigated the 2010 Turnaround Challenge. We intend to have in place the support mechanisms that will allow suburban neighborhoods to transform into socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable communities.
Santa Fe Design Week
At the Design Week presentation (Oct 22-29, 2006), we connected with Jeremy Harris, former Mayor of Honolulu, who presented the “bottom up approach” to redeveloping sustainable neighborhoods, which proved to be successful (in contrast to the failure of their top down attempts). Jeremy has enthusiatically joined our team in our endeavor, the “2010 Turnaround Challenge.”