Home » Cohousing Directory

Cohousing Directory - Community View

Formed:
1992
Established:
1996
EcoVillage at Ithaca
Ithaca
,
New York
,
United States
Website:
www.ecovillage.ithaca.ny....
Contact:
EcoVillage at Ithaca
115 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, New York 14850 United States
Address Status:
Good as of 1/19/2009
Phone:
607-272-5149
education [at] ecovillage [dot] ithaca [dot] ny [dot] us
visit-coordinator [at] ecovillage [dot] ithaca [dot] ny [dot] us

Located in the beautiful region of New York's Finger Lakes, Ecovillage at Ithaca has two thriving cohousing communities with plans for a third underway. The village features cooperative dining in the common houses, a swimming pond, neighborhood community gardens, hiking trails, play spaces, and sixty passive-solar, energy efficient homes in a multigenerational village-scale community.

The pedestrian village is surrounded by woods and open meadows. We have a 10-acre organic fruit and vegetable farm on site that provides produce for residents as well as the wider Ithaca area, and a 5-acre CSA berry farm that has delicious organic u-pick berries.

Our goal is to build a replicable model of a cooperative, environmentally sensitive village that can also serve as a demonstration site for teaching principles of sustainability and permaculture.

Our nonprofit educational organization is affiliated with both Cornell and Ithaca College. Our developing educational program provides hands-on training in community life and on building sustainable communities. We have helped to initiate and contribute to a sustainability movement in our locality that is bringing about profound changes in the region.

EcoVillage is located on 175 acres, two miles from downtown Ithaca, and three miles from Cornell University and Ithaca College. Ninety percent of the land is preserved as green space for organic agriculture and wildlife habitat. For more information about EVI, read Liz Walker's book, "EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture," New Society Publishers, 2005. It is available from our website.

Former/Other Names:
EcoVillage at Ithaca, EVI
Community Affiliations:
Network Affiliations:
Ecovillage Network of the Americas Fellowship for Intentional Community Coho/US GEN - Global Ecovillage Network
Last Updated:
2/21/2012
Visitors Accepted
(Must arrange a time with our Visit Coordinator. No drop-ins.)
Visitor Process:
People are welcome to come to our free public tour at 3 p.m. on the last Saturday of each month. If that doesn't work for your schedule, you can arrange a private tour by contacting our visit coordinator at least one week in advance (visit-coordinator@ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us). We ask that people who take a private tour join our nonprofit educational organization as members ($35/single, $50/household) in exchange for our time. We have some overnight accommodations available; check with the visit coordinator regarding availability.
Cohousing Details
Cohousing Status:
Completed
(Third neighborhood underway)
Year Completed:
2004
(Second Neighborhood homes were completed in 2004. First Neighborhood in 1996. Third neighborhood is in the design stages.)
Area:
175 acres (70.8 hectares)
Number of Units:
30+30
Architect:
first neighborhood...Housecraft Builders, Jerry Weisburd second neighborhood...multiple
Developer:
In each neighborhood, the residents were the developers, but we used development managers. For the first neighborhood Housecraft Builders was the development manager. For the second neighborhood residents Liz Walker and Rod Lambert were development managers for the pre-construction phase.
Commercial Lender:
Tompkins Trust Company
Population
Members:
155
Non-Member Residents:
10 (Renters who are members of community but not shareholders.)
Open to new members:
Yes (TREE (Third Neighborhood))
Government
Decision Making:
By consensus
Identified Leader:
No
Leadership Core Group:
No
Labor and Money
Financial Style:
Members have independent finances
Labor Contribution:
Expected (2-4 hours per week)
Join Fee:
Yes ($75 to get on waiting list. No fee to join.)
Regular Fees:
Yes (There are monthly maintenance fees for each cohousing neighborhood. Plus an annual membership fee to the Village Association.)
Land and Buildings
Community:
Other (We're on the edge of a small town. Our land includes farmland.)
Land Owners:
Another form of Non-profit (EVI, Inc., the educational non-profit which started the project, owns most of the land. The Village Association, made up of residents owns the land surrounding the village.)
No. of Residences:
60 (There are 30 duplexes. All homes are attached.)
Food, Etc.
% Food Grown:
21-50% (lots of veggies, some fruits)
Shared Meals:
2-5 times/week (There are two Village-wide meals a week, plus one limited to each neighborhood. All are optional.)
Dietary Choice or Restrictions:
Diet is up to each individual
Dietary Practice:
Primarily vegetarian (There are a wide range of individual dietary choices from omnivorous to vegan.)
Alcohol Use:
Used occasionally
Tobacco Use:
Prohibited (Never in Common Houses but there is no policy against general use. However no members are tobacco users.)
Social Factors
Common Spiritual Practices:
No
Which Spiritual Traditions:
Other (We have a wide variety of spiritual traditions practiced.)
Educational Style(s):
Public schooled (Plans for a Sustainable Secondary School are underway.)
Become an Editor
Current Editor(s): evi
Print this page

For information about editing your community listing, click here.

If you want to discuss this post or receive email notifications of other postings, login or become a member. It’s free.