Los Angeles Eco-Village Vacancies

Tue Jul 4 23:09:32 PDT 2000

Dear Neighbors, Friends, Colleagues and Eco-Village Inquirers,

If you know some ecologically oriented, cooperative spirited friends, 
relatives or acquaintances who might like to live and participate in
Eco-Village
(especially if they'd like to live without cars or participate in a car
co-op), there are several vacancies in our neighborhood.  Here is a
brief description of the
vacancies, important things to know and share about LAEV, and next steps
for potential Eco-Villagers.

DESCRIPTION OF VACANICES

1.  The southeast corner four-plex (across the street from me, Lois)
just put up a "for rent" sign for the lower east unit.  It's a large two
bedroom
unit (about 1200 square feet) like the one Joe and Ron used to live in. 
The rent will probably be about $700.  It has a combination of hardwood
floors and carpeting.  There is much potential for gardening, and also
potential to bring this building into community ownership this year.  It
is currently owned by an absentee mom & pop landlord.

2.  The apt. where Joe and Ron used to live (the lower west unit in the
2nd four-plex) is still available, and I expect that rent will  also be
in the $700 range (also about 1200 square feet).  Hardwood floors. It is
owned by an absentee mom & pop landlord.

3.  There is a VERY large one-bedroom unit in the 4th four-plex on White
House Place
where Diana lives (it's the lower east unit).  It will probably rent for
about $600.  The owner lives in the building and is quite a good
landlord.  Elpie is her name.  She's in the upper east unit. Good
gardening space in the back.

4.  And CRSP (Eco-Village's nonprofit umbrella organization which
currently owns this and the next building at 117 Bimini) also will be
having a vacacy in the gray building at 127-1/2 Bimini Place. Dario and
his brother, Zack, will be leaving at the end of this month.  It's a
VERY large one bedroom with a balcony and great views to the mountains. 
It's the upstairs unit on the north end of the building next to Maria
Vazquez.  The rent will be between $650 and $700 depending on the number
of persons living there.  CRSP would prefer a minimum of three persons
in this unit, and is unlikely to consider less than two.  This unit has
hardwood floors.

5. Sam and Yael's unit (#210 at 117 Bimini) is also available, as they
have just relocated to the San Francisco area.   This is a medium sized
one-bedroom unit, about 650 square feet, with wood floors, on the second
floor overlooking the courtyard garden.  CRSP would prefer a child in
this unit with Eco-Village oriented parent(s).  CRSP policy is to rent
to a household of no less than two in a CRSP owned one bedroom.  The 117
Building Committee will make the final decision on new residents in this
unit. The unit still needs some work, but should rent for between $575
and $600.  The household that moves in should be interested and
potentially committed to being a co-op owner.  

6.  And, we still have several singles available.  These units are at
117 Bimini, the 40 unit apt. bldg. owned by CRSP (but on its way to
resident ownership in the coming year or so). These units are about 400
square feet with one large room, a full small kitchen, entry with
dressing area, and bathroom.  The units rent for between $425 and $500
depending on amenities and number of persons.  A maximum of two persons
is allowed in a single except for short stay circumstances (including
cooperative student internships) in which case 3 or 4 might share.  We
occasionally do host individuals and groups for short stays, internships
and apprenticeships in Eco-Village.

Note there is quite a bit of common space in the large building at 117
Bimini, including two common units which have not been programmed yet,
but are in limited use already, and significant amounts of open space
both in the two CRSP-owned buildings and the whole neighborhood.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW AND SHARE ABOUT LOS ANGELES ECO-VILLAGE

1.  The big 40 unit building is a cohousing community-in-process, but
others in the two block neighborhood are always invited to participate. 
For basic info on cohousing, go to <www.cohousing.org>.

2.  We are within walking distance of 25 bus stops and two subway
stops.  We are about 3 miles west of downtown in the north end of
Wilshire Center/Koreatown.  We are 1/2 mile south of Los Angeles City
College, 4 miles north of USC, 10 miles east of UCLA and within a 30
minute bike ride of anywhere in central Los Angeles.  We are four miles
from good hiking trails in Griffith Park, or hikes along the L.A. River,
45 minutes by bike or bus to the ocean.  We are a 2 to 15 minute walk of
five food markets, a drug store and more fast food franchises than you
would ever want to see, let alone eat at.  But we are also within a 15
minute walk and/or bike ride of more terrific ethnic restaurants than
you could even hope to have the time to eat at.

3.  There is a 20 member intentional community whose members are active
on a variety of urban, social, economic and ecological issues.

4.  We have weekly vegetarian potlucks, weekly planning and progress
meetings, a garden committee, a large courtyard and lobby in the 40 unit
bldg., a variety of on-site talks, workshops and social events,
ownership opportunities, and a potentially emerging food co-op.

5.  There are plenty of opportunities for creative and healing
involvement from organic gardening and orcharding to community
organizing, urban planning and design issues, public education,
eco-entreprenuring, voluntary simplicity, tutoring and mentoring
children, eco-arts and crafts, and generally living the change we want
to see happen on the planet.  We are particularly interested in
recruiting families from diverse backgrounds, and having people with
appropriate technology skills and resources, especially with respect to
water and renewable energy systems, integrated building systems for
water and energy.

6.  This is an intensely urban neighborhood.  You've got to love the
city or it probably won't work for you.  Our neighborhood is blighted,
but safe; polluted but with much opportunity for healing.

7.  You must be self-supporting to live here, and there is a wide
variety of employment opportunities close by.  Although there are many
opportunities to develop livelihood in  Eco-Village, time and a
persevering entreprenurial efforts are required.

8.  If you speak Spanish or Korean, or are committed to learning, this
will be a richer experience for you. 

NEXT STEPS

IF YOU KNOW PEOPLE WHOM YOU BELIEVE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING
WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO LIVE HERE, PLEASE ASK THEM TO DO THE FOLLOWING:

1.  Visit our website at <www.ic.org/laev>; although it's not very
current, it will give people a sense of the philosophy and direction of
the community.  If the interested person does not have access to the
internet, ask them to come pick up a set of overview handouts from the
lobby (under the big bulletin board) and ask me for a copy of the
article, "Information for Anyone Considering a Move to L.A.
Eco-Village."

3.  If you are an Eco-Villager and would like to invite a potential
Eco-Villager to a community potluck dinner on Sundays at 7, that would
be good.  Please let me know
if you are planning on having guests for dinner on Sundays, because it's
a good idea to try not to have more visitors than we have residents.  If
you are not an Eco-Villager but want to come or have someone join us,
please call me (Lois) at 213/738-1254 or Lara at 213/383-8684.

4.  If you are an Eco-Villager and want to invite a potential member to
a
Building Committee meeting on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm, that would be good. 
Let Lara or myself know, or send a note to me (crsp at igc.org) with the
person's
phone number so we can be sure to confirm or cancel if our meeting is
somehow changed or cancelled.  If you don't live here but are exploring
moving here (or know someone who is), please have them call me to make
arrangements to attend a Building Committee meeting.

5.  Please ask potential Eco-Villagers how they would do on a credit
check as we do rather conventional screening of applicants, as do other
property owners in the area.

6.  An overnight or week-end stay or longer can be arranged for people
exploring living here.  Our short stay rates are generally $20 per night
for one person, $30 for two.  You must have reservations.  

Feel free to send this to others you think would be interested.

Many thanks for passing word along.  
Lois

*****************************************************
Lois Arkin
Los Angeles Eco-Village/CRSP
3551 White House Place
Los Angeles CA 90004
email:  crsp at igc.org
web:  http://www.ic.org/laev
phone:  213/738-1254
fax:  213/386-8873

Western U.S. Urban Ecovillage Contact Office 
Ecovillage Network of the Americas <http://ena.ecovillage.org>

Los Angeles Eco-Village is a demonstration urban sustainable
community-in-process, founded 1993.  CRSP is a resource center for small
ecological cooperative urban communities, founded 1980.

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