In the last five years the question I was asked the most was. “How are you doing this?” What they were asking was always about the countless articles and awards that LJ Urban was getting. We used to have a joke, if its been more than a week with no mention in the news of LJ Urban, something is wrong… I have been thinking a lot about that lately and weather or not I should tell about our secret weapon, I debated if I would be giving it all away or… Anyhow, I decided its best to just tell you and get it out there.

Without a doubt one of the biggest reasons that we were able to do what we were able to do was the guys at EMRL Floyd and Stephen are working on another level from the rest of us when it comes to getting a story told, they built this website and helped craft the vision for LJ Urban.  That is not to say that we were not authentic, that is just what is so amazing about them, its like they sat down with us and found the passion that was deep inside and pulled it out and brought it to life.  They should not call themselves an advertising company but rather a Business Consultant / Shrink.  They get to the bottom of who you are and tell the story like no one else can.

I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for all they did for LJ Urban.  I know that they will play a major role in the next version of what we become…

Go check out their site www.EMRL.com

Levi

I think this might be the best email I have gotten in a while… It’s from the guys over at EMRL.

Today marks a big occasion for the LJ Urban blog. This post you are reading is our 600th bringing a total of 1627 comments. I know that may not mean a lot to you but to us who started this thing not knowing where it would take us and why we were even doing this its a huge deal. The first post was on October 3rd 2006 and was done by Jason Presley. Jason was an incredible writer and spent months leading up to the launch of the blog deciding what our message would be. Once we did launch Jason tirelessly tweaked and retweaked the design with EMRL ultimately landing on the site you see today. He liked to call it a “playground” every component of the site is interchangeable and always in motion.

Anyway, I know its sappy to hear someone write about looking back and how far they have come. But I am darn proud of what the site here has become and can not wait to see what the next 600 posts bring.

And since we are getting all sentimental here are a few of my favorite posts out of the last 600.

- The 800 Pound Gorilla
- Optimism
- The Myth of Quantity over Quality
- Alice in wonderland

There are lots more good ones I am sure but that is all I can seem to dig up that is resonating with me right now…

Levi Benkert

Sitting on the top right of this page for the last year or so, our little mini bio has been a sort of first glance sign to new visitors that this is something different. Its a way for us to tell people that yeah we sell houses and develop property but not like anything you have seen before. We are here because we believe in a better way to do things and that basically what got us to where we are today as a society will not get us to where we need to go tomorrow. We see our projects as a sort of test model for the way things are going to be in the future. Green, small, well designed, smart… Its the anti-suburb, a new vision for life.

So with that in mind we always want to look at everything we do in a new way, things like advertising just don’t feel like a fit for a company such as ours. This blog has been our answer to that feeling, it’s relevant, and more importantly honest and transparent. Recently we have been having another thought that I wanted to throw your way to see what you think. And you have to promise to be honest with your reply. Got it? Promise? Ok.

We are in the early stages of planning an event at the Good project in March. We are thinking its going to be called “What Makes Good.” It’s going to be an inside look at all the components that went into the Good project, with several tours on different topics given by our consultants. People will be able to hear about our marketing program from the folks at EMRL and all about the LEED ND certification and what all we had to do to be certified, also our friends from GreenBuilt will be there talking about what a green construction site looks like and how it works.

Anyway, we have been thinking of ways to let people know about the event and were wondering if you all might want to help out. This is just a thought at this point but I wanted to throw it out there right away and see what you all think. So that is my question. Want to help spread the word? We would provide downloadable flyers and links for your blog maybe even emails to send out. It’s sort of a guerilla marketing campaign at the most grass roots level. Thoughts…..?

Levi Benkert

I was at EMRL meeting with Floyd our design guy yesterday and all around their office were left over signs of what appeared to be a pretty rocking new years eve party. My favorite remnant was a glass wall where they asked everyone to write their feelings about 2008. Pretty much every one of the comments were bad. Its like everyone was ready to get down and party extra hard this new years because they actually had something to celebrate. 2008 is over! Not the usual new year is coming but rather more excited that the old year is gone.

And I am not sure how much you have been following here at the LJ Urban blog but there were some pretty traumatic things that I am glad to get behind us as well.

But you know what? 2009 is a good year, I can feel it. Already we were able to secure our financing that I told you we were working on for a bigger phase on Good and we are getting ready to start building like mad! More houses being built means better efficiency in construction costs (better pricing for the homes) and we are going to be able to actually sell homes to the people who want them.  Vs. last year where we had to turn people away because we only had 5 houses built.

Now that we are cleared for takeoff we are going to be preselling homes and just getting this whole operation up and running again! It’s a good feeling to come out of a slow time and finally be ready to roll!

For those of you who have been itching to get inside a Good home, we are having another tour of the Good project next week.

We are going to be hanging out telling the story of how good came to be and showing off the last of the units in Phase 1 while we can, its already in escrow but we are going to show you around anyway. After that unit is closed we will not have any more finished houses to show until April so come look around while you can.

The tour will be at 5 PM on Friday January 16th.

Hope to see you there!

I remember last year Jason and I were talking about how once the Good project opened we would try and find a blogger who we could ask to live in the project for the first month so they could post every day about what life in Good was like.

Never could I have imagined that a year later Jason would no longer be with us and so many things would be different. Some good (like me moving in here with my family) and some truly tragic (like Jason passing away). Yesterday I was thinking about all the amazing ideas Jason used to have and how much he would have loved to be here today watching this neighborhood unfold before our eyes. It is deeply sad that he was not able to see this all pan out so well. He would have been proud.

I am going to in Jason’s honor start to be that blogger, I mean I live here already and there is no reason why it can’t be me right? So when you start seeing more posts about our new house and all the cool things about Good you can thank Jason for the idea.

And to kick things off here is the latest from EMRL, (the super cool guys who are behind all the design and creativity you see here) its a map of all the neat things we found in the neighborhood.

But before you see it you have to watch this video to get yourself in the right mood…

OK…. Are you feeling in the mood? Well then, without any further ado I present to you the neighborhood.

Levi

I want to thank all of you for your kind words that you commented on the last post. I am going to put them all together and make a book for Jason’s family to have. That way when his daughters are grown they can understand a little bit about what kind of a person Jason was.

Today I went and meet with EMRL (the design group we work with) they have had the privilege of spending a lot of time with Jason over the last year working on this website and all the LJ Urban branding. I could tell he really made an impact on them and how they do things. He was just one of those people that really made you rethink your life.We found ourselves asking over and over while we met today “What would Jason do?” Its a question that I find myself asking several times a day.

I have been contemplating when to do another post. It feels wrong to move on, like we need to stay here a while and be sad… But I know that Jason would have wanted us to keep on with the mission, keep striving to make cities better, and so as hard as it is I am going to try and start posting again. The Goodbye post will still be here and like I said I am going to make a book of the comments so please go back to it if you have not already and share your thoughts about Jason and put down anything you want him to be remembered for.
Somehow we will move on, somehow we will keep building sustainable houses and making cities better. In some ways it seems a little sweeter, a little more like this time around we can do this having had the chance to have a really great person with us, who’s passion we will draw from to carry on. I hope you will all join me as we pick up the pieces and start moving forward. I know that our work is not yet done here and that in a lot of ways we are just getting started.

Next month we are going to have our first Eco-Urban home completed in West Sacramento. I wish more than anything that Jason would be there to see that day, he had a lot of really crazy ideas brewing for the opening day. I can only hope what we put together would make Jason proud.

On another note; several months ago we were talking with Idea Factory. A production company about doing a LJ Urban reality show. We actually spent a week filming a pilot and everything only to find that their funding had been cut. I got a email a couple days back from Kristal who works with them and she is pulling together the footage from when they came out and going to give it to me. I am going to take it and put together a few short movies to post on here of Jason talking about sustainable cities and what we can do to make them happen. Should be some good stuff. I will let you know when I have more.

Levi

Our thanks to the many, many people who showed up on a rainy Second Saturday at Old Soul to give our electric company car a hearty eco-urban welcome. It was great seeing the people who contributed their scribbles showing up to take a peek at their handiwork.

Some who didn’t know about the first event thought that people had written all over the car…which is exactly what Floyd and I wanted to hear.

Specific thanks go out to our heroes at Old Soul (still holding their 5 stars on Yelp) for hosting us. Great music, great food and wine and, of course, CHOCOLATE!. I had the best late-harvest Zin. I’ve tasted to date and it was nicely paired with a dark chocolate orange-caramel truffle.

For those who couldn’t make it, here’s a couple shots. We’ll have more in the gallery soon.

See you on the streets!

Jason

Ok, so maybe that title is a bit over the top, but it expresses how I felt awhile ago when I noticed a little eco-urban love-fest happening on our very own website.

Floyd was actually the one who pointed it out to me. Joy at Café Refugio left a comment on our Midtown beekeepers page announcing that her shop would soon be carrying their honey. Let it be known that we had nothing whatsoever to do with this connection, other than simply celebrating both of their eco-urbanist efforts.

What Makes a Hero?
Actually, this simple exchange represents one of the very reasons why we included the Heroes page on our site. If our mission is to be a catalyst for social change towards eco-urban community, it has to be a foregone conclusion that “its not all about us.” We recognize that people everywhere are doing things to make a difference, both here in Sacramento and elsewhere. They do it because they care, because they’ve got their eyes open and see that it takes individuals acting in good conscience with everyday-type decisions to change anything, because they aren’t satisfied with the normal excuses for doing nothing (namely, apathy, cynicism and ignorance); often they do it because their own quality of life is better for it. Sometimes, these good people have chosen a few focal points within their sphere of influence to really make their mission; sometimes, they’ve got their hands in all kinds of related activity. And sometimes, its just a single, simple action, diligently applied or one, humble choice in the face of difficult obstacles. And these people—our Hereos–often do what they do without any recognition, because recognition isn’t really their end goal. Which means they usually don’t see themselves as “Heroic” material at all.

But we do.

A Microcosm of Eco-Urban Community
So, being the community-minded folk we are, we decided these people needed a place to be affirmed for what they are doing, and to see what other people are doing and be inspired. We hoped that as the page grew, visitors would find new ways to make a difference or make connections with others who are making a difference. Actually, in a small way, the page would reflect the kind of community we ideally envisioned forming in the projects we’re building. Can you imagine living in a community where you and your neighbors each care enough to “do something (anything) to make a difference”? I can. Its what we’re working to create.

So, here we are, only three “Heroes” into it (a fourth Hero is forthcoming soon…) and its already beginning to happen. With one simple exchange—local honey at a local coffee shop–the world is better, cleaner, healthier and happier. How cool is that!

So, our thanks once again to Joy Moscovian and Erik and Makayla for being your wonderful eco-urbanist selves and demonstrating to us the simple but incredible potential of an eco-urban community.

Doing Something
Hopefully, you’re now thinking, “that’s cool, I should nominate someone”… or “maybe I should tell them about the stuff I’m doing.” If you are, DO (we’ll even give you a free coffee at Refugio to do it)! We figure, the more people are featured the more we’ll see the kinds of exchanges like the one that prompted this entry. Community forms, the world is a better place to live and everyone wins. Or you could drop your own line of encouragement in the comments section, because when you’re in the marathon of “making a difference,” its nice to have some cheering along the way.

Jason

P.S. Update on the Midtown Beekeepers, they’ve grown to about 45 hives and are stilling selling out fast. Oh yeah, and Joy’s had a few leads on unbleached napkins.

If you click over to our Heroes page, you’ll see the newest addition, Bronwyn. She lives in the Sacramento urban core, speaks about diet and nutrition (she also wrote a book), is a full-time mommy, and epitomizes everything eco-urban. Basically, she rocks!

A little confession: we interviewed her months ago (like in October!), but it has taken us longer than we anticipated to carve out the time needed to cut the footage down into a 4-minute digestible version. Let’s just say my interview and camcorder skills need a serious overhaul; so much thanks go out to Floyd at EMRL for making it look even half-way decent. What can we say, this is grassroots stuff…

We’ll likely be doing more video-style features in the future and, as we get better at it, will speed up our turnaround time. Thanks to one of your nominations, we’ve actually lined up and interviewed another Hero already and hope to have that feature up soon… there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do all the fun stuff we want to do. I guess that’s a good problem to have.

Jason