Restoring a Community

I had a site visit today for my EDES 408 Class. Our class is about the implementation of sustainable strategies in the community, and our group has chosen to help out the San Luis Obispo women’s transitional housing. The site itself is a beautiful plot of land Brizzolara Creek and San Luis Mountain. However, it is in an area that is very rundown, and part of our goal is to be able to revitalize it with sustainable principles. While I was on the site I walked up to the back of the property and noticed that there was a fence that separated the creek from the houses. It was really unsightly because it created this barrier between “nature” the creek, and “human living” the houses. I immediately thought that we could restore this area by removing the fence and adding some native shrubs and berries that would keep the boundary, yet it would also maintain the natural beauty of the creek. The site also had two very old avocado trees. They towered above many of the units in the complex, and provided a nice shaded area for the residents. Unfortunately they are so old that the residents can not pick the avocados because they are so high. Our group discussed some aspects of how we can restore a sense of nature to the site, and because the site is paved over we decided that we want to add a permeable paving system so that we can have the rainwater runoff soak back into the ground removing any pollutants from it, while adding a more natural soft landscape with grass growing between the pavers. I also feel that if we were to add a community healing garden to the complex then the residents would be able to fresh food from their own garden.