A MIDWESTERN FANTASY STORY
All persons in this story are fictional, as is the neighborhood entity, “Presidents Park”
A new type of housing development will soon appear on Blooming Grove’s southeast side. The residents of President’s Park, a three-block residential parcel of twelve single-family homes, mostly frame bungalows built between 1913 and 1930, have formed a cohousing association in order to strengthen the neighborly ties between current households. This type of residential association reflects a growing enthusiasm for tightly-knit “intentional communities” in which residents share not only common facilities and amenities such as those found in condominium developments, but also closer ties with their neighbors.
The Cohousing Association of the United States Directory lists 219 cohousing communities across the country, including three in Indiana. Presidents’ Park Cohousing Association is unusual in that it has been formed between people who are already neighbors and the owners of existing single-family homes. By contrast, most cohousing communities are established as new developments of attached homes. Typically, a group of future residents evolves over several years before anything is built in order to establish common social and environmental goals. A group will typically conduct substantial planning with architects, lawyers, municipal zoning boards, and lending institutions. Once the various hurdles are overcome, suitable land is purchased for construction of residential units and common facilities. The latter may include a community building for community potlucks and parties and garden plots.
After spending years as active members of the Byron Park Neighborhood Association, a group of residents living along and between Washington, Lincoln and Grant Streets began talking about ways to strengthen the sense of community among BPNA residents. Some families wanted a sharing system for yard tools and bicycles; others wanted to establish child-care networks and weekday supper clubs. At the 2006 BPNA Labor-day picnic, the talk turned more ambitious and wide-ranging. Over beer and bratwurst, new ideas emerged: why not build on the community values already fostered by the BPNA framework to establish an even more closely-knit neighborhood? “It was a really transformative evening,” recalled Tom Lenske, “what started out as some casual suggestions for the neighborhood association turned into an intense brainstorming session among a few people who realized that they wanted to take the neighborhood association idea to a higher level.”
As it happened, six of the most enthusiastic participants in that discussion lived in the same two-block area. Five owned their homes; one couple rented theirs. They knew each other fairly well; all were parents and were committed to staying in the neighborhood. At a subsequent meeting held in Lenske’s home, interested residents began by naming the things they loved about their neighborhood. Location topped the list. Everyone mentioned proximity to downtown, the X.U. campus, Byron Park, and to one’s neighbors as prime neighborhood attributes. Equally important was the affection for the neighborhood’s architectural charms, and the feeling that this in-town neighborhood offered a sustainable, less car-dependent lifestyle. A few people added that they liked the fact that they were preserving the city’s architectural core by choosing to live here. Some liked what they called “the progressive spirit” of the neighborhood. One woman noted how she appreciated living in a neighborhood that included single and elderly residents as well as young families, but added that she was frustrated by the number of student rentals on her street. This remark brought forth the loaded topic of neighborhood demographics.
Like other in-town neighborhoods in Blooming Grove, Byron Park evolved from a residential neighborhood of modest homes to an area of rental properties marketed to the burgeoning student market by property management companies during the 1970s. In many cases, this trend led to property deterioration, absentee landlordism, noise and trash problems, and the further exodus of resident-owners. These days, a drive through the in-town neighborhoods of Byron Park, Leafy Acres, Oak Heights, and Beech Grove will confirm the negative effects of student rentals. Trash-strewn lawns, empty-beer bottles, and sagging couches on porches, cheaply remodeled interiors and rotted woodwork evidence the toll that speculative ownership has downgraded these neighborhoods. The quaint working-class household featured in the film Breaking Away is a Hollywood anachronism, although the fine bungalow used as the family’s home still exists on Lincoln St.
The rental market has also had the effect of inflating home prices in neighborhoods such as Byron Park, thereby discouraging first-time homebuyers. The conventional wisdom has been that the inner-city housing stock no longer suits the needs of today’s homebuyers who want spacious kitchens, extra bathrooms, and double garages. Students, however, happily pile into these older homes, readily forgoing cathedral ceilings and extra space for the chance to lower their housing costs and gain freedom from campus restrictions on alcohol. These concurrent forces reinforce the ghettoizing of Blooming Grove’s older neighborhoods. The spread of student rentals into formerly stable neighborhoods on the north and east sides of Blooming Grove may seem like an unstoppable trend, much as the availability of cheap credit and oil has promoted a seemingly unstoppable development of agricultural land on the city’s periphery. This pattern has not gone without some resistance from city government. Low-interest loan programs exist for owner-occupants to remodel older homes, and the non-profit organization Blooming Grove Renovations has revitalized a west-side neighborhood by restoring several nineteenth-century homes to their former grandeur.
The residents of Presidents’ Park defy this demographic picture. They are urban pioneers who have turned away from their parents’ suburban ideal and their peers’ taste for SUVs and McMansions. Most of the founders of Presidents’ Park have bucked the housing trends of the last twenty years. By and large they have chosen to live in Blooming Grove because of its cultural and artistic resources; several came here to study at X University while others work there. They like the tree-lined streets; they enjoy walking their kids over to the park to swim or play; they cherish their homes’ deep limestone porches and Craftsman interiors. Living in an old bungalow neighborhood gives them a sense of place that compensates for the undeniable challenges of urban life.
Friction with student neighbors is part of the Blooming Grove urban challenge. While many residents co-exist harmoniously with the majority student population, not all stick it out. “We loved our old house,” said one former resident of nearby College Street, “but the keggers next door and across the street just got to be too much.” Another woman noted, “I knew the neighborhood had gone student ghetto when all my lawn ornaments disappeared one night and my husband’s stone sculpture reappeared on the porch of a student rental down the street.” In response, residents across the city have formed strong neighborhood associations to counter the destabilizing effects of student rentals. Now the Presidents’ Park Cohousing Association appears to have strengthened their claim to a portion of the Byron Park neighborhood. While not excluding students (or renters) as members, the association defines itself as a community of long-term residents. It represents only a small area within the Byron Park neighborhood. It is a community within a community.
“From the first, it was clear that most BPNA residents weren’t interested in [forming a] cohousing community,” notes Bev Shakesly, one of the founders. “That was cool. It just so happened that an interested group of folks lived within a three-block radius of each other. Those of us who wanted to explore the idea of an intentional community within this existing neighborhood decided to see if we could establish a cohousing association along the lines of others around the country without having to start from scratch.”
Pursuing their initial discussions, the adults representing six households met monthly during the fall of 2006. Was it a feasible venture? What was to be the scope—how many households would be ideal for a cohousing venture and how could they physically join the six households currently separated by properties owned by landlords? What were the ultimate goals of such an association and what were the financial and legal challenges? What should the organizing process be? How could they attract new residents? Along with these formidable issues, the group brainstormed about neighborhood features that could enhance the overall quality of community. The group toured several midwestern cohousing communities, read books, watched videos on financing, and discussed hiring a professional consultant.
At the same time, two members of the group researched the properties in the area surrounding the group’s residences. None of the properties were on the market, but determining the ownership of each property, the group drafted letters of inquiry. Real estate agent Brad Ledbetter of Kelley Associates agreed to act as a buyers’ agent for the group, and it was decided to form a Limited Trust (LLC) to raise the capital to buy as many of the properties as possibility with the aim of renovating them in a sustainable fashion and selling them to prospective co-housing families. Randall McPherson, owner of Plough and Stars Construction Company, is one of the Presidents Park cohousing group, and his experience in residential development was put to use. “We paid top dollar for the four properties we bought,” he notes, “as small houses with a strong rental history, they were assessed at prices that don’t really reflect their actual condition—houses in this location are not usually marketed to single families. Hopefully, we’ll make up for the high up-front cost with the tax deductions achieved through energy-efficient renovations.” The homes in this new community will have enhanced value, according to Ledbetter, once the improvements are done and the communal amenities are complete.
Further planning and legal work was needed to incorporate the original residents’ own properties into a joint association. This work was achieved by February 2007. Luckily, the venture had progressed in a timely fashion and the Trust secured financing before the nationwide subprime mortgage debacle froze the credit markets. Presidents Park Cohousing Community secured zoning permits (including the incorporation of two empty lots that will serve as garden space and a common building). Since the PPCC was not seeking to increase the density of household units within the borders of their property, nor any change in parking spaces, the zoning review process was relatively straightforward.
In addition to seeking shared social life and pooled resources, the Presidents Park Cohousing Community has used its new status as a legally joined residential community to finance some state-of-the-art sustainable design elements that will benefit all of the households. The PPCC has been able to obtain discounted pricing for new roofs, insulation, solar panels, and geothermal systems. The geothermal heating and cooling system is being installed by Waterforce Geothermal of Fort Anthony, Indiana. The company has designed a common loop system for all twelve households, thus reducing by 45% the upfront excavation and construction costs of such residential systems. A spokesperson for Waterforce notes that if several homeowners in a neighborhood install their systems during the same time period, the company’s drillers and heat pump installers can better coordinate their efforts and keep their crews busy in a predictable way and minimize the time needed to move equipment and materials from place to place—and thus “reduce the labor costs involved in transporting equipment and supplies.” This endeavor presents a possible model for energy retrofits across the country. In a recent speech at the Afflordable Comfort Institute Conference in Austin, Texas, U. S. Department of Energy official Cathy Zoi called for energy efficiency programs to be implemented on a neighborhood scale.
Similarly, the community obtained a 15% discount on solar water heater systems since they were ordering twelve systems at once. Blown-in insulation costs have also been reduced, and the community is currently negotiating a group price on green roof systems with a Michigan-based company. These savings inspired the group to look for other chances to save during the renovation process. All houses will now include water storage units to capture rainwater from gutter pipes, and an integrated system will be available to residents who wish to recycle their household gray water. Another feature being explored is a community smart grid with plug-in stations for electric vehicles.
The common areas, a 500 square foot lot for gardens and a newly built common building on another lot are also planned. Two buildings were demolished to make way for the common building, while the open space for community gardens was achieved by purchasing part of one resident’s yard and combining it with a adjoining empty lot. Soil remediation is being done to remove lead from the topsoil. Residents plan to install raised beds, fencing, a small green house, and composting structures. The common building has been planned as a place for meetings, potlucks, celebrations, and private parties. It will include a kitchen, craft room, lavatory, and space for common outdoor tools.
With the renovations underway and contracts signed with four new families, Presidents Park Cohousing Community members are optimistic about their future. “We’re exhausted, but it’s a happy exhaustion,” says Pam Bodine, coordinator of the common space renovations. Our enthusiasm, plus the fact that we already knew each other, and had a great skill sets, made this long and complicated [process of] incorporating doable. Some of us have had to relocate temporarily to accommodate all of the renovation work, but it’s going to be a beautiful, wonderful community to live in.”
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