Sonoma County Livability Project

Imagine if...

when you're riding your bike into Sebastopol on the old Highway 12 and as you pass into the city limits, you ride under a living arch covered in grapes with willow letters of welcome. The air smells sweet and you park your bike in the bike station, put your helmet in your locker, and walk to the livability center to get some tea, make copies, do laundry and take care of some emails. There are children playing in the courtyard under fruit trees and picking peppermint for your tea. Most of the products sold in town come from the community, and are made of recycled and green materials that are non-toxic, high-quality and original pieces from people you know. A local musician strolls in playing guitar and singing as belly-dancers and martial artists practice in the glass-fronted studio spaces. There is so much energy, you go for a solo walk down the laguna paths and notice native species reclaiming the riparian zone. The birds, fish and frogs are thriving, and the water is clean enough to swim in.

It is hard to imagine that this area was formerly degraded. The community nipped this problem in the bud by overturning a more "run-of-the-mill" plan for redevelopment. With the support of an active and visionary citizenry, the city bought the property collectively through a "Village Trust" that then developed cutting-edge ecological buildings replacing the current steel and cement with living roofs, walls, gardens and swales. The area is a research center and living model similar to the Solar Living Institute, but with a focus on water technologies. The Living Water Institute has students from Sonoma State, New College and Gaia University living and working onsite to measure the success off the projects.

A co-housing community of people invested into this community land trust in order to live in a car-free community where they were inspired to share meals, raise children as a village and synergize to generate local abundance and culture.
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What do you want to see the Northeast Area of Sebastopol be?

There is a public planning process happening to redevelop the industrial northeast area of Sebastopol (between Whole Foods and the Laguna).