Fixed elements such as zoning, construction costs, land-use and homeownership are now confronting the precepts of renewable resource preferences, sustainability practices, green technology, lifestyle modification and the overall notion that less is more. In this era of interrelated causality, personal autonomy might soon be replaced by a desire for ‘like-mindedness.’ If we are able to retire the perception that individuals are represented by what they have - and replace it with a ‘social contribution’ capacity – maybe the nurse’s station and the teacher’s lounge will be hipper than the penthouse or the boardroom.
The confrontation between our old social values and the new trends toward environmental responsibility is nothing but another rung on our evolutionary ladder. Those who can adapt to new habits and behaviors are likely to be less inconvenienced by the shift as we, as a society, begin to acknowledge the logic and cost savings of a number of new methods involving conservation and waste management.
We believe the way to do this is through the creation of unique models within the communities, or creating the communities themselves through outreach and education.
We feel that the best method of determining workability is by direct experience, and we teach by example in living our prototypes. PGP seeks the most forward-thinking architects, builders, renewable resource technology vendors, city/county planners, non-profit organizations and individual investors for smart land use. We welcome others in partnership who can contribute tools, experience, enthusiasm and leadership toward our values and goals for sustainable living, and environmental advocacy.
We truly believe in the concept of ‘stewardship of the land.’
The cost of implementing green principles is not the biggest challenge
to building affordable and green communities. Attitudes are.
In the North Bay area we have two serious issues – and they are interrelated.
The biggest challenge to building anything is the NIMBY (Not In My Back
Yard). This is the ‘neighbor’ who doesn’t want anyone to build anything
anywhere near him/her/them. The term “affordable housing” riles up activists,
driving throngs to council meetings to shoot down the plans with a wide array
of excuses and claims of unsuitability.
But what is affordable? Currently our entire economy is suffering
because the concept of ‘affordable’ became confused with
‘attainable’ and individual risk tolerance was more like a casino
visit than long-term vision. PGP follows two underlying principles
in this regard; affordable is what you can spend to have what you
need – and to live only as big as you need to be comfortable and
productive. If you take ego and status out of the equation and
replace it with efficiency and sustainability, it just might look like
more shelving indoors and a garden living room.
There are too many paved roads and too many vehicles on them.
Traffic makes a good excuse to discourage higher density affordable development. Traffic impact is the NIMBY’s first line of attack in the opposition to a building proposal. But in this era of Climate Change, we aren’t going to be able to stay on the roads indefinitely. It’s getting very expensive and stressful to travel to work. We need large companies to shift their mindset from supervisorial to incentivized in regards to their work force. We need to be able to work from home, or close to it – unless we choose the urban centers to live in.
PGP believes in homes and communities that encourage entrepreneurial vision. By consuming cleaner, renewable energy, the home office worker spares the air by shortening the commute from the bedroom to the office, via the kitchen. The lesson is to lessen. While we can’t solve NIMBYism or traffic congestion, we can offer this: If the land is for sale, someone is going to buy it. If it is a PGP Project, the neighborhood will feel less impact than with traditional developers, and the outcome will have the benefit of a ‘show by example’ principle.