Super Eco

Photo credit: qwrrty, flickr

For all the talk of globalization in recent years, rewinding daily life back to the local level may prove to be the real key in making our world a more livable place. From social issues ("it takes a village"), to healthier, more Earth-friendly locally grown food, to more sustainable cities and towns, living in relationship to like-minded groups of fellow citizens seems to be the next wave for a sustainable society.

It's not just eco-hippies who are moving closer together. CNN is profiling a well-to-do eco-town in Georgia that's flush with development despite the down economy. Serenbe, a posh community founded on principles of farm-to-table cooking and environmentally conscious building techniques, is proving that the old-fashioned "village model" is not only attractive to families hungry for a real sense of community and quality of life but is economically viable. According to the National Association of Realtors, new home sales in 2008 were down nearly 37 percent and are projected to fall as much as another 39 percent in 2009. Despite that, sales in Serenbe are holding steady.

Indeed, the ideas of cohousing, ecovillages and other forms of intentional communities are very much on the upswing. Strategies as as simple as sharing a larger home among several housemates or connecting backyards with your neighbors to create communal gardens and green spaces are bringing people together in greener, friendlier, more economical living configurations. Americans are groping beyond their fiercely independent traditions to rediscover closer, more connected ways of living that have long been a matter of course for more space-challenged Europeans. That the concept is turning out to be as green for the economy as it is for the Earth is welcome encouragement, indeed.