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Just thinking about Park(ing) Day makes me sad that Jason is not going to be here with us this time around. But that same emotion is driving me to go after it and make a really good park in Jason’s honor.

I realized when thinking about this that I am not even sure who all came together and made it happen last hear with Jason. He was so good at things like that, that I hardly heard about how it all came to be.

If you want to get together and make it happen again this year send me an email and let me know. It’s on September 19th and I think we should start planning for it soon.

Levi

“Your Blog will never replace a billboard and a few guys dancing on the corner with a sign.” It was not the first time we heard the statement, but hearing it from a 30 year veteran with countless thousands of homes under his belt I must admit it was a bit of a blow. Our marketing has always been anything but normal and on more than one occasion we have been asked to lunch only to be lectured on the “way things are”. There is something about a system that has worked for 30 or 40 years that makes the people in it feel opposed and often insulted by the mention of change. LJ Urban is that change and we are standing up for a new way because this change is long overdue. Gone are the days of billboards and focus groups and in their place is a real time conversation between people who collectively stand for something better. The result is delivery of a product that is end to end what it should be.

We have had a series of dinners over the last two months where we invited fellow Eco-Urbanists to come together and talk about what its going to take to get Sacramento to be one of the shining few cities that takes up the call to build a more sustainable and livable core. We used the Good project as a backdrop and discussion point. From those dinners we got all kinds of ideas, many of which are being implemented already. Simple things like the walls getting a slightly different finish and the color changing on the tile to bigger things like the fact that higher mortgage payments are making it harder for people to get in the door. They proposed that we lower prices in the first phase which will move in the buyers waiting on the sidelines and keep things moving while the mortgage market smooths out its issues. I think we all get a bit myopic and dig our heads in the sand when we have a big project going and its easy to forget that outside opinions are priceless.

My point is this no matter what you sell you have to stop thinking of yourself as a marketer or a sales person and start thinking of your job as a conversationist, or even better, a listener. Things change and people are not always where you think they are. No amount of market statistics or studies can compensate for conversations with real people about what is going on today.

The new prices are in the downloadable PDF and here:

Lot 21 - XS  -   298,000

Lot 22 - S    -   409,000

Lot 23 - XS  -   SOLD

Lot 24 - S    -   SOLD

Lot 25  - XS -   319,000

We are still in “pre-opening gear” since the first phase is still not complete, so we have not had very many open houses. I am sorry to those who wanted to get into the units but have not yet had a chance.

We are doing an open house this Saturday August 2nd from 2-6. Come by if you have not had a chance to see inside. We are going to be touring the nearly finished “Small” units as well. And yes we will be listening….

Levi

Doors open at 6 and the movie starts at 7

1931 H St.  The Green Living Center

Donation at the door for ECOS.

See you there!

Levi

You may have heard that we are throwing a little bike party next weekend and I was wondering if I might ask a favor of  you…we want to get the word out about this thing so that everyone who has a bike that needs fixing can come by and get a free tune up.

So if you have a blog or know someone who works at a newspaper or TV station (or if you work at one yourself), can you help us get this thing out there? We are more and more excited about bikes in the core and want to do what we can to support people who have decided to ditch their car.

I know that every time I ask, you guys are all really great about helping spread the word and I would not ask if it were not something we believed in.

So what do you think…want to help out?

Its this Saturday the 19th at the Good project starting at 2pm.

Levi

We had a few seats open up today for the Saturday Eco-Urban 101 dinner. If you are interested email me at Levi(at)LJUrban(dot)com and I will get you in.

We have been having a great time at the dinners getting to know like minded people. It’s a good time to dig into what its going to take to get people thinking about making cities better.

I sort of start talking fast when I talk about things that I am passionate about and the Good project is definitely one of those things. Here is a video we made about the Good project. We are going to have an open house on Wednesday from 11 - 3 and again Saturday from 12-4.

The big sales event day we have all been waiting for is finally going to happen on Saturday the 19th of July.  So far we have been telling people who want to buy that they have to wait for us to finish our final with the city and now that we have it all we are going to be moving forward! I can not begin to tell you how exciting this is for us…It’s a huge deal to finally be able to move people in to our Eco-Urban houses.

If you are interested in purchasing one just get a hold of me at 916-930-9400 and I will help you get all the paperwork in order to submit an offer on the 19th. We are not pre-selling the other lots, so all that will be available is the first phase and they will go quick so its up to you to be ready before hand.

Enjoy my fast talking…..

Levi

How cool would it be if we were to one day figure out how to build a fully sustainable fully off the grid home?  I know that the houses birds build are actually more sustainable than these are but Inhabitat has a fun post up today about building bird houses out of garbage.

On the flip side of that concept, Barbara who I met at the last Eco-Urban dinner sent me a book called Biomimicry and it is really neat.  I love the concept of looking at nature for cues on how to design and manufacture things in our lives. (Thanks Barbara!)

Levi

We are not the only ones pushing to make Sacramento a better place. As a matter of fact we are just following in the footsteps of some very great people who have been pushing for these things for a long time.

Here are a few events that we thought were pretty cool…

SUSTAINABILITY SYMPOSIUM

“VISIONS OF A SUSTAINABLE SACRAMENTO”
Saturday May 31, 2008 9:00 - 4:00 PM
Cal/EPA Headquarters
1001 I St., Sacramento
Byron Sher Auditorium
Free (Donations Accepted)
Register Today!
Featuring:
* Keynote speaker Daniel Solnit, founder of the Institute for Local
Economic Democracy
* Panels of people from projects already happening in Sacramento and
other cities
* Collaborative opportunities to network and to envision a new and
more sustainable Sacramento
* Vegetarian food by Food Not Bombs and Synergy Chef Collaborative
* And much more.
For more information on attendance or volunteering:
* check out http://tinyurl.com/4jcpme ,
* email SustainabilitySymposium@gmail.com
* or call Kim (916) 455-8415 or Ming at (510) 333-2202

What’s “Growing”

Please join the Sacramento Hunger Coalition for the First Annual What’s “Growing” On CYCLEbration! The bike tour highlights what’s “growing” on in Midtown, Oak Park, and East Sacramento as well as what could be happening in our local food system to improve nutrition and reduce hunger.

WHEN: Saturday, June 7, 8.30am-12.30pm
WHERE: Starting location – Southside Garden @ 5th & W Streets
Ending location – Southside Park between 6 & 7 and W
Streets
WHO: You, your family members (over 18), and your friends

If you ever hear of a cool upcoming event let us know so we can post it here for others to hear about it.

Fremont Park Meeting

I have been flooded with questions and responses from our offer to host Eco-Urban 101 Dinners so I thought it would be a good idea to put a post up here and explain what they are all about. The first one is already full and the second is already filling up fast so if you are interested be sure to email me and get your name on the list.

The dinners are a sort of education class on Eco-Urban development and sustainable living using the Good project as an example. The Dinners will be in our “Extra Small” home we recently finished. The food will be prepared while we watch by a local chef. (More on him later)

We only ask that you come with lots of questions and an open mind. You really don’t have to be involved in building urban houses to get something out of these dinners, they more about giving us all a chance to talk with like-minded people about the things that matter: community, sustainability, and how to change the world!

Email me at Levi(at)LJUrban(dot)com and let me know you want in and I will email you when the next slot opens up.  (and sorry, I have to write my email that way so I don’t get on a bunch of web crawlers spam lists.)

Thanks to everyone who came out yesterday to our sneak peak event. We really enjoyed showing off our shiny new house!  Its really fun finally getting a chance to  explain to people all that we have been working on for the last few years. I am sorry to those who we never got a chance to talk with, I know that I did not get to half of the people I wanted to talk to.

For those of you who were out of town and did not make it out, we will post some pictures soon of the inside of the house, also we will be sure to host more open house days soon so you all get a chance to see inside the home.

It’ll be a Good Day, rain or shine, so come out and join us
from 10-2!

The guys from the Live Lightly Tour will still be there and we’ll have great music and food served on plates made from sugar cane waste product, it’s all sustainable.