| The Los Angeles Eco-Village Intentional Community (LAEV-IC) is a 40-member group within a two-block neighborhood of about 500 people in central Los Angeles. Started as a project of the nonprofit Cooperative Resources & Services Project (CRSP) after the 1992 civil uprisings, our purpose is to demonstrate a high quality of life with a lower environmental impact.
Those interested in becoming members are requested to demonstrate their commitment to more ecological and cooperative living patterns over time. We are a diverse and activist community.
CRSP has purchased two apartment buildings (48 units of housing, including two common units) that we are eco-retrofitting. CRSP, the LAEV-IC, and a sister organization (Cultivating Sustainable Communities) have developed the Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust, which will own land in and around the LAEV neighborhood. About half the members of the intentional community are developing Urban Soil/Tierra Urbana, a limited-equity housing cooperative. The community has a weekly organic-food-buying co-op that also serves the broader neighborhood.
The LAEV-IC meets weekly and establishes priorities and policies for the buildings, the intentional community, and the neighborhood. Several organic gardens are contained within the two CRSP-owned properties. Regular community dinners and work parties open to other neighbors, friends, and relatives help glue the community together.
The very dense neighborhood is three miles from downtown, with many public and private schools, colleges, and universities nearby. We are also rich in public transit and bicycle culture, with many green-business development opportunities for those with entrepreneurial spirit. Several members live and work in the neighborhood, though not all in community-controlled businesses. Many are actively involved in social, ecological, and planning issues in the city.
Eco-Villagers are child-friendly and we are open to children, but we don’t have any children right now. Several non-intentional neighborhood children have been regularly included in LAEV activities through the years. Many children live in the neighborhood or come through the neighborhood daily, since there are many schools in and adjacent to the neighborhood.
The downside of the neighborhood is that there is still way too much traffic and pollution.
We provide regular tours, urban-sustainable-community workshops, public talks on a variety of related topics, and affordable accommodations for short stays. | Contact: Links: Urban Soil: Meeting notes, food co-op, land trust, bylaws, policies, procedures, nuts and bolts of our community |
Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses) |
Population Members(adults and children): 40 Non-member Residents: 25 (These people live in bldgs. owned by the nonprofit sponsor. More than 400 others live in other properties in the two block LAEV neighborhood.) Open to new members: Yes (See www.urbansoil.net/wiki.cgi) | Government Decision Making: By consensus Identified Leader: No (There is leadership and leadership groups. We're trying to make process our leader,) Leadership Core Group: Yes (We do but, it is informal and permeable) | Labor and Money Financial Style: Members have independent finances Open to Members with Pre-existing Debt: No Answer (Prefer debt free people) Labor Contribution: Expected (Minimum of 4 hrs/mo., but actual contributions vary a great deal. We expect much more than 4 hrs per month.) Join Fee: Yes (If moving into CRSP-owned buildings, application fee of $25, security deposit of $300, and first month's rent (between $450 and $750 depending on unit); If joining the USTU housing co-op, inquire about share purchases and vesting) Regular Fees: Yes (In the way of monthly rent, though when the community has transitioned to a limited equity housing co-op, there will be monthly housing costs) | Land and Buildings Urban (Intensely urban, a neighborhood as dense as many parts of Manhattan) Area: 0.5 acres (0.2 hectares) (Though this is how much land that is owned by the nonprofit sponsor, the two block neighborhood which we envision coming under community control is about 11 acres) Land Owned By: Another form of Non-profit (The current nonprofit sponsors intends to transition ownership to a limited equity housing co-op in 2009) Number of Residences: 46 (46 apartment units in two apartment buildings) Cohousing: Yes (We have a common apt. unit and a carfree courtyard, weekly shared meals and meetings, but we are quite a long ways from having a carfree street. Our properties are currently owned by a nonprofit corp., but we are working toward becoming a community land trust and limited equity housing co-op.) | Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: 1-5% (We are working at optimizing food production, but have a long way to go) Share Community Meals: 2-5 times/week (From time to time, others organize community meals.) Dietary Choice or Restrictions: Diet is up to each individual (Community meals are generally vegetarian only) Dietary Practice: Primarily vegetarian (Most are primarily vegetarian. Community dinners are generally vegetarian only.) Alcohol Use: Used occasionally (Wine at community dinners; some members drink a lot of beer socially) Tobacco Use: Prohibited (A few smokers who lived in the buildings when we bought them were grandfathered in; we do not accept any new residents who smoke.) | Social Factors Common Spiritual Practices: No (Community is very eclectic spiritually and religiously) Educational Style(s): Public schooled (A few of us are interested in the potential of home schooling, a community or charter school: some plans but no action.) | |
