Bitternut Collective on Otisco St :: Communities Directory

Formed: 2010 Established: 2013

This page last updated:1/13/2013

Bitternut Collective on Otisco St

Syracuse, New York,

United States

The Bitternut Collective (named after the Native American Iroquois word Otisco, or Us-te-ke, meaning "bitter-nut-hickory") is a 4 bedroom home in Syracuse's Near West Side (NWS) just off of downtown. Syracuse is a city of 145,000 people, and the NWS is an urban community with high racial, but low economic, diversity - a median income of $25,653 exists in the bottom 3.5% of national zip codes.

The house at 717 Otisco St is a 100-year old renovated Victorian purchased in 2010 for $1 from Home Headquarters (HHQ), a local quasi-governmental/non-profit housing agency. The house had been vacant for 3-4 years at the time of purchase, and required new plumbing, electric, heating, hot water, structural repairs from water and animal damage, and major interior and exterior finish work. For instance, all window glass was broken and would be replaced while preserving the original wooden frames and sills. There was also no front porch, it having rotted away and been demolished by HHQ during holding of the property.

Residents of the Collective live and "act" together, a primary strategy for creating community. Shared chores include cooking, shopping, cleaning, trash/recycling, gardening, and other tasks including a spring and fall cleaning day, and a spring and fall gardening day. The grounds are landscaped acording to Permaculture principles & design, the original owner Frank Cetera beinig a local Permaculture educator and designer. The Collective also houses the operations desk/office of The Alchemical Nursery, a non-profit organization working to create "Regenerative Landscapes and LIfestyles" utilizing strategies from the realms of Permaculture, mutual aid, eco-socialism, social justice, & ecovillage philosophies & methodologies.

Natural building & simple living are also strategies being utilized. Heating is currently through electric baseboard heating for instance. Although electric heating is initially more expensive from the supply side, it was chosen because it is less expensive to install, allows zoned control in each room, can be supplied by solar panels in the future, can be secondary/supplementary only when wood burning appliance is installed, and to keep natural gas out of this "Anti-Fracking House". Other techniques include interior natural clay plastering and homemade paints, hugelkultur garden beds made from downed woody debris, hand finished floors (scraping, sanding, treating with linseed oil & beeswax).

Contact:

Frank Raymond Cetera
717 Otisco St
Syracuse, New York 13204 United States
Phone: 315-380-6161

Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses)

This page last updated:1/13/2013

Visitors Accepted

Visitor Process: Contact us through IC.org or listed contact individuals to arrange for a visit. Walk-ins are welcome, but cannot always be expected to be accommodated if residents are busy with life. Visitors are also encouraged to come to regularly scheduled events for visiting such as our monthly potlucks or Permaculture/Natural Building educational workshops and hands-on work days.

Affiliations: Bread and Roses Collective House

:: Celowy Home

:: Common Place Land Cooperative

Statement of Housing Non-discrimination:

Because our housing is a single housing unit and requires the sharing of bathroom, kitchen and common space membership/residency may be restricted based on sex/gender in accordance with the law. Our community does not discriminate based on race/color, national origin, religion, family status (i.e. having children, not having children, or being pregnant), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, source of income, age, creed, personal appearance, political affiliation, HIV infection, military/veteran status, unfavorable military discharge, gender identity or expression, receiving public assistance, or domestic abuse.

Population Members(adults and children): 4 Non-member Residents: 0 Open to new members: Yes	Government Decision Making: By consensus Identified Leader: No Leadership Core Group: Yes (The residents of the Collective are considered the core leadership.)	Labor and Money Financial Style: Members have independent finances Open to Members with Pre-existing Debt: Yes Labor Contribution: Expected (Shared chores, and quarterly work days.) Join Fee: No Regular Fees: No
Land and Buildings Urban Area: 0.1 acres (0.0 hectares) Land Owned By: Individual community member(s) Number of Residences: 1 Cohousing: No	Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: 6-20% Share Community Meals: 1 time/week Dietary Choice or Restrictions: There are some dietary restrictions (The kitchen is considered to be meat-free. Potluck dishes are encouraged to be vegan.) Dietary Practice: Primarily vegan Alcohol Use: Used Often Tobacco Use: Seldom used	Social Factors Common Spiritual Practices: No (There is one common room that is set aside for spiritual and holistic practices such as yoga, meditation, music/drumming, and chanting.) Which Spiritual Traditions(s): Eclectic (integrates pieces from many religions)

Click an image to see it full size.

Become an Editor Current editor(s): franklen

Comments from Directory Readers This community selects which reader comments to display (more info). You can add yours below.

There are no Reader Comments on this community.

Add Your Comment on Bitternut Collective on Otisco St

We encourage comments from those who have first hand experience with a community so that others may benefit from your experience. Please share information you think will be useful to other users of this site, in a clear, concise, and polite manner. Each community can choose to display all comments, display selected comments, or not to display comments (more info). Communities will be shown email addresses of those who comment so that they might communicate with you if they choose.

We reserve the right to edit or delete any comment.

You must be logged in to add a comment. Login here or if you have not yet registered on our site Register here.

More Info on Display Options

Communities can choose one of three options for how reader comments are displayed.