permaculture

[Rick Valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

Robyn sez: 
> Note that for most families 1-2 acres is far too much land
> to try and manage

I agree; but then there's those like me who'd jump at the chance & who know
how. 1-2 acres can be a full time occupation for 1 or 2 people. And that's
part of the advantage of the "cluster" or hub pattern: a larger number of
people, and a wide number of living options. Ground floor assited living for
elders, upper floor apartments in the busy commercial blocks for the young
late-nighters, who might well work part-time in ag activities a half-mile
away, and small acreages, with the farmer right there, but walking distance
from the primary school and market & transport.
Yes, Village Homes is coming pretty close to this; no mass transit stop in
the middle, and the housing isn't as varied as might be, and the commercial
could be more emphasized, but I had the chance to stay there once, while
attending a N. Am. Fruit Explorers meeting, with a friend I met at the PDC I
took, and I'd be verry happy if half of the developments being built in the
US were similar. It was great to bike commute to the meeting sessions at the
University, and of course it was July, with peaches, figs, Persian
Mulberries, plums, ad infinitum, all over the neighborhood....
-Rick