Taking pride in green at new Chula Vista complex
San Diego Union Tribune
May 23, 2009
We live in a time when the traditional notion of “community” is being challenged by everything from the swine flu to a deepening recession to an ever-expanding network of social media choices, such as Facebook and Twitter. Creative solutions are needed more than ever to tighten the connection and interaction between people and their environment in a variety of ways.
One obvious strategy is housing, where people have everyday opportunities to develop the human bonds that define a true community. Enter Los Vecinos (Spanish for “the neighbors”), Chula Vista's newest affordable housing community, designed to encourage residents to meet, interact and become neighbors.
With Los Vecinos, Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, and the city of Chula Vista have partnered to break away from modern day stereotypes of impersonal communications and long-held myths of affordable housing to creatively convert a long-standing eyesore into a model, environmentally innovative community that seeks to put the “neighbor” back into the neighborhood.
The project was built on the site of the former Tower Lodge motel, a location known for drugs and violence. In 2004, the year before it closed, police were called more than 200 times, making 40 arrests for drug and weapons charges, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, and other violations.
In sharp contrast, Los Vecinos is designed to function as an open, yet close-knit community that puts a premium on green living and interaction with those who live next door. In this neighborhood, residents will be encouraged – and even formally educated – on green living concepts that stress respect for the environment. Los Vecinos is the only apartment community in the county built to achieve Platinum certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, the highest designation possible from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The development will provide meaningful environmental benefits for decades to come. Looking up to its rooftop, Los Vecinos features an extensive solar power system that will provide nearly 100 percent of the development's electricity. Tankless water heaters, Energy Star-rated appliances and high-efficiency lighting fixtures also will keep out-of-pocket energy costs for residents to a minimum. Landscaping includes drought-tolerant and native plants, and not a single blade of water-hogging grass. Instead, the project uses synthetic turf that looks like a well-manicured front lawn. Permeable concrete channels trap and filter water before entering storm drains that lead to the ocean, and low-flow fixtures reduce indoor water use by an estimated 20 to 30 percent. These features contrast with another myth that affordable housing strains public services and infrastructure.
To encourage neighbor-to-neighbor interaction, the doors and windows of the new project are oriented toward the courtyard, creating an intimate gathering space where families can watch children play, enjoy a picnic with friends or just socialize.
To build a smarter and more well-balanced community, residents will have access to programs on health and wellness, finance, computer literacy and the environment. This includes information on recycling, green cleaning products, public transportation and locally grown/organic food.
More than 500 families applied to live in this 42-apartment community, demonstrating the high demand for quality affordable housing in San Diego County. These new residents include lower-income individuals who have been most impacted by the weak economy and are struggling to provide many of life's basic necessities for their families – food, clothing, medical care and transportation. Families earning $16,000 to $58,800 qualify to live in the community, where rents range from $439 a month for a one-bedroom unit to $1,053 for a three-bedroom unit.
Los Vecinos stands as a responsive blueprint for to how private industry and local government can address multiple problems with one solution – housing. Our social and economic future depends on such ingenuity in these challenging times.
May 23, 2009
We live in a time when the traditional notion of “community” is being challenged by everything from the swine flu to a deepening recession to an ever-expanding network of social media choices, such as Facebook and Twitter. Creative solutions are needed more than ever to tighten the connection and interaction between people and their environment in a variety of ways.
One obvious strategy is housing, where people have everyday opportunities to develop the human bonds that define a true community. Enter Los Vecinos (Spanish for “the neighbors”), Chula Vista's newest affordable housing community, designed to encourage residents to meet, interact and become neighbors.
With Los Vecinos, Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, and the city of Chula Vista have partnered to break away from modern day stereotypes of impersonal communications and long-held myths of affordable housing to creatively convert a long-standing eyesore into a model, environmentally innovative community that seeks to put the “neighbor” back into the neighborhood.
The project was built on the site of the former Tower Lodge motel, a location known for drugs and violence. In 2004, the year before it closed, police were called more than 200 times, making 40 arrests for drug and weapons charges, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, and other violations.
In sharp contrast, Los Vecinos is designed to function as an open, yet close-knit community that puts a premium on green living and interaction with those who live next door. In this neighborhood, residents will be encouraged – and even formally educated – on green living concepts that stress respect for the environment. Los Vecinos is the only apartment community in the county built to achieve Platinum certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, the highest designation possible from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The development will provide meaningful environmental benefits for decades to come. Looking up to its rooftop, Los Vecinos features an extensive solar power system that will provide nearly 100 percent of the development's electricity. Tankless water heaters, Energy Star-rated appliances and high-efficiency lighting fixtures also will keep out-of-pocket energy costs for residents to a minimum. Landscaping includes drought-tolerant and native plants, and not a single blade of water-hogging grass. Instead, the project uses synthetic turf that looks like a well-manicured front lawn. Permeable concrete channels trap and filter water before entering storm drains that lead to the ocean, and low-flow fixtures reduce indoor water use by an estimated 20 to 30 percent. These features contrast with another myth that affordable housing strains public services and infrastructure.
To encourage neighbor-to-neighbor interaction, the doors and windows of the new project are oriented toward the courtyard, creating an intimate gathering space where families can watch children play, enjoy a picnic with friends or just socialize.
To build a smarter and more well-balanced community, residents will have access to programs on health and wellness, finance, computer literacy and the environment. This includes information on recycling, green cleaning products, public transportation and locally grown/organic food.
More than 500 families applied to live in this 42-apartment community, demonstrating the high demand for quality affordable housing in San Diego County. These new residents include lower-income individuals who have been most impacted by the weak economy and are struggling to provide many of life's basic necessities for their families – food, clothing, medical care and transportation. Families earning $16,000 to $58,800 qualify to live in the community, where rents range from $439 a month for a one-bedroom unit to $1,053 for a three-bedroom unit.
Los Vecinos stands as a responsive blueprint for to how private industry and local government can address multiple problems with one solution – housing. Our social and economic future depends on such ingenuity in these challenging times.