Conservation Communities and 21st Century Living
What the world needs now—smart living and smart growing, say award-winning developers, designers and builders

            In the year 2000, the East Lake Commons Conservation Community clicked on like a light bulb—almost simultaneously winning a World Habitat Award and closing sales on all of its 67 units. It could hardly be said there wasn’t interest or demand for the project. The 20-acre community located in a “reemerging” area of Atlanta, was originally zoned for 35 duplexes. The nonprofit developer, East Lake Commons Inc., petitioned for and received permission to create a sustainable plan for the community which would feature land preservation, improved pedestrian layout, shared resources, storm-water filtration and retention, consolidated parking, alternative transportation options, and organic gardens. Home prices ranged from $90,000 to $225,000, fairly modest for Atlanta.

The community’s generous courtyards and plazas provide space for recreation and gathering places for a broad range of ages. Around 60 percent of the land has been preserved to provide a good-sized village green adjacent to a small lake, with tree-lined pathways and four to six acres of organic gardens beyond. Residents pay a farmer $400 each year for producing a variety of vegetables that he supplies for almost 40 weeks of the year. The absence of driveways allow for usable common space, for gardens and recreation areas.

The philosophy of keeping the cars on the outside and the people on the inside has also increased the safety and general security of both people and possessions. Visitors to the community are highly visible. Traffic does not threaten children at play, freeing them to discover the environment and gifting them with a greater sense of community, attributes that were almost completely lost in the suburbia of the 80s. The village is on the metro bus line and one mile from a commuter train.

Underused spaces such as workshops, dining/meeting halls, guestrooms and libraries are housed in two common buildings on the property and the creative designs of the homes themselves provide more privacy than might be expected, clustered as they are on the southwest side of the site. The residual effects of enhanced lifestyles through beauty and traditional community are powerful, say residents.

“Living at East Lake Commons has completely changed my mind about what everyday reality can be. I used to live in Dunwoody, one of Atlanta’s most desirable neighborhoods,” says resident Pam Wiloughby. “But East Lake Commons, despite being in an inner-city location, feels a hundred times more like a real community than Dunwoody. It is more attractive physically and provides my children with better opportunities for safe play and exploration. I wouldn’t trade it for anything!”

This design equity is a direct result of the enlightened work of an architectural firm called Village Habitat Design. The firm combines the impressive talents of Clayton Preston, Greg Ramsey and Robert Reed, known for designing residential communities such as Lake Claire Commons, East Lake Commons and the Arizona Avenue Co-Housing Community in Atlanta, and the Bik Farm Preservation in Bogart, Georgia. Featured in USA Today, the Lake Claire Community Plan was the first to win an award in the late 90s from the Georgia chapter of the American Institute of Architects for sustainable design, with the other two communities collecting more awards soon afterward. The East Lake Commons project won the AIA Georgia/HUD Mixed-Use/Mixed-Income Development Award in 2001 before going on to win the World Habitat Award.

Much of the work being done today by Village Habitat is based on the visionary ideas of George Ramsey, Greg’s father, professor of architecture at Georgia Tech. In the 1970s he formulated solid principles of sustainable living, through an intensive study of European, African and Asian villages, communities that had successfully sustained themselves for centuries. The goal was to create a high quality of life without degrading the natural resources of the region. Professor Ramsey believed that the design of a sustainable community was intertwined with social issues. The Village Habitat team has actively sought to enlighten people about the rewards of living in a conservation community—the new American Village—and has effectively defined a market for the concept.

For more information see www.villagehabitat.com.

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