Rural System's

Rural Villages

Housing for High Quality of Life

Remedy by art the harm that comes from chance. Vitruvius

Several planned residential units are needed and should be incrementally built. The Rural Villages enterprise should be created.

See Pew books and resources.

Developing this concept has been very difficult, for there are significant competing concepts and tradeoffs that must be made. As in other enterprises and solutions for regional problems suggested within Rural System, the full rationale is not presented, only the significant aspects. The problem is, basically, that if most of the Rural System concept is rejected, the planned residential units enterprise will not be meaningful or appropriate. The counter argument is that housing, i.e., rural redevelopment, is badly needed within the county. There are needs for movement out of the floodplains, increased utilities (including water and sewage systems), and increased energy conservation. The needs exist whether Rural System develops or not. The sad accompaniment is that if Rural System does not develop, the housing will not be needed due to the mass migration and ghost-county conditions that seem likely to exist in the coming decade. Elsewhere, where travel distances are great and time and energy short, new communities have formed as community members study and work from their computers.

Housing is essential for Rural System to develop.

The planning difficulty, with the above, is the uncertain construction environment and market.

The factors that result in this proposed development are as follows:

1. The county housing surrounding the property must be replaced. It can be moved on to the property.
2. For personnel to operate Rural System enterprises, new housing of substantial quality will be needed, specifically located.
3. Housing units (not conventional single-family detached houses) need to be built cautiously in increments.
4. Coal-built houses will be a basic concept with trading being done to achieve substantial economies and desirable tax benefits.
5. Housing will be built by local crews and, wherever possible, by people planning to live in them.
6. Economies will be achieved by the unit concept, modular structures having shared facilities, and common open space.
7. Unique financing arrangements will be developed to encourage long-term residence, family inheritance of rental rights, quality maintenance, and work-paid rentals. This financing will relate closely to that employed with the average condominium.

The planned residential unit, a version of the well-known planned unit development (PUD) is recommended. The Unit will be called a terrace town or bench village.

The typical village will be characterized by

1. An average density (on an average area of 30 acres) will be 3 housing units per overall acre in a village boundary, 8 units per built-acre.
2. Roads 22 feet wide (compared to 36 feet requiring 55 cents compared to $1.00 per foot annual maintenance)
3. A convenience shop, the country store
4. A pond
5. A cut-flower and vegetable garden
6. A small formal garden
7. Trails, walkways, and bikeways and links to Rural System Tracts
8. Recreational areas, especially new sports, golf putting green, tennis courts, and swimming pool
9. An outdoor amphitheater
10. Indoor general-purpose meeting rooms with group kitchen and educational center
11. A community clothes-care center (laundry and dryer)
12. Child nursery
13. First aid center
14. A wind mill
15. Work equipment
16. General storage area
17. 0ff-site parking
18. Electric bus/car parking area and waiting station with access to off-site parking
19. A repair shop for personal work such as power saw and electrical appliance repairs and automotive repairs
20. Worship center
21. Memorial area

The proposed development is appropriate in counties and areas even without zoning and PUD ordinances. Land use planning for the county is badly needed. A comprehensive plan exists, but without supportive ordinances it is difficult for it to have more than the weak effect of policy. The Villages proposed may be an effective demonstration of the need for such ordinances and may provide leadership for similar units and associated planning in the county. New planning, zoning, and development concepts and techniques exist which, if used intelligently, can be of great benefit to everyone. The unit is a housing development with (Huntoon 1971)

1. dwelling units grouped into clusters with appreciable open space
2. much housing in apartments and housing groups
3. higher densities than conventional single-family housing on the same area
4. intermixed other facilities such as shops and work places.

Because there is limited zoning ordinance and few PUD ordinance, there are no special problems of the approach being suggested. Housing must be built; suitable space is limited; high densities are needed; land costs are escalating; a growing quality community will require quality housing; housing quality for low-income people is needed; new energy conservative structures and operations essential. Huntoon (1971: 9) defined housing needs as

1. accommodate a major portion of a population within a reasonable distance (time and energy costs) of present employment centers
2. keep the cost of this housing from rising disproportionately so that individuals and families with low and medium incomes will not be priced out of the market, and
3. preserve open space around housing both for ecological and psychological advantages.

Rights with Feedback

The way to meet this brief set of sweeping needs is very difficult. The problem is complex; it will not yield to simple solutions.

Here are the recommendations to overcome some of the problems outlined. They begin with Rights with Feedback. The homeowner owns rights to a house or apartment. These are owned, but must revert to an option-to-buy to Rural System. Instead of owning the land under the home (obviously impossible in the case of an upper-story apartment) he owns, in addition to his own housing unit, an undivided proportionate share of all the land of the unit, plus common facilities such as buildings, swimming pools, and walkways. Regular fees or equivalent work are paid to maintain these facilities.

The landowner-home rights problem is especially critical. The Rural System is not a philanthropic group, though often charitable. Its stock and share holders have expectations. There are major novel pathways to achieve the appropriate financial base for housing units. These include:

• Conventional Sales - sell lots. This is the least desirable because the company loses all control over rates of development, esthetics, and services. It promotes sprawl with all of its impacts and social costs. It denies the needs previously stated. It is easily administered and, after sales, there is no further management. In a county with no zoning ordinances, anything is possible - a rendering company adjacent to a townhouse development, a factory shading a tobacco field.
• Conventional Rental - Handle as conventional rental property.
• Rights With Feedbacks - Under this system, the Rural System or owners of Pivotal Tracts corporation owns the land and facilities, but sells long-term, inheritable use rights. A family may live on the land and pass along these rights for centuries in an unbroken occupancy. The inheritance potential is believed to be a strong incentive to "keep the place up."

The other positive feedback is, the higher the assessed value of the property becomes, the lower will become the monthly payments or the higher will become the value of a worker hour spent in community work. This results from a part of the resale value from any dwelling being placed in a Village Fund, an account specifically operated to maintain and improve (but not expand or add to the Village.) The results are believed to be a direct, monetary incentive not only to maintain the place but to improve it, to take growing pride in it, and even to promote it. How to achieve this is not well developed but the options appear as follows:

1. Structures may be depreciated in tax work. But by good maintenance this does not occur. Thus at least the depreciation gains through strategic tax reporting by the corporation can be subtracted from the home owner's payments or added to the Village Fund.

2. By treating the units as though they were parts of a factory, the infrastructure of Rural System, the machinery by which Rural System objectives are achieved, then additional corporate tax benefits are likely to be gained.

3. When a property-owning person or family decides to move from the village, Rural System or the Village enterprise has an option to buy. This may be restated as "an obligation to buy at 85% of the current market price of similar holdings." The corporation may gain significant tax advantage by listing such obligations (i.e. if all decided to leave, the corporation would have to buy). This seems a very low-risk obligation. When a property is bought by Rural Villages and then resold, one half of the capital gains are placed in the Village Fund. This is used as creatively as possible to reduce as much as possible the rental and service costs to people living in the Villages.

4. A proportion of all rent goes into the Village Fund. In the first 4 years of residence no returns to residents are experienced from this fund. They pay monthly rents.

5. After 4 years, rent is paid but an annual rebate or Village bonus is paid to residents from the Village Fund. This rebate is based 60% on within-village contributions to the fund, the other 40% on contributions from other villages.

6. The less the general repairs and maintenance, the greater will be the fund, but this can work against the quality of the village (i.e. just do not maintain anything). The interaction of premise 3 (above) and this one are believed to have a long-term positive effect - an optimization of reasonable maintenance and long-term community values.

7. Specific repairs that must be made that are caused by individuals through carelessness or anger will be paid by the individual and the annual bonus forfeited. A citizen board will rule on such cases.

8. Monthly rental rates will be based on the nature of the facility and incentives will be provided for length of residence. This will be approximately a 4% decrease per year of residence after the first 4 years.

9. Monthly rentals will also be subject to an average region-wide, age-class-specific, ability-to-pay index. This is shown in the above Figure. The rent is scaled (multiplied) by the index.

10. A person or family that lives in a village for 25 years may then live there at no further rental costs other than base monthly maintenance and service costs. They receive the annual bonus.

11. If a person moves after 20 years of residence, the only real benefits secured are those from the sale of the property rights to the Village Enterprise.

12. If a first-generation family of a property owner (for more than 10 years) desires to live in a Village, i.e., to move from the family home to a nearby dwelling, they may acquire property as it becomes available or apply for new construction with a down payment. That family will enter the rent-payment schedule at the mean age of the husband-wife and will not be subject to the 4-year no-bonus provision.
These provisions are complicated but can readily be aided by minor computer programs. They assure:

1. A sense of community
2. A sense of ownership
3. Incentives for long term residence
4. Incentives for a mix of ages
5. Freedom for owners
6. Estate building by owners as well as the enterprise
7. Limited control by the Rural Villages
8. Control by the Enterprise over maintenance
9. Discouragement and penalty for property abuse
10. Control by the enterprise over ability to destroy and/or rebuild if slum or other conditions develop.

The village can:

1. Provide cluster housing, allowing open land and common areas close to everyone rather than having land only in small parks.
2. Increase the chances of the development being well planned and designed.
3. Allow centralized control as well as responsibility.
4. Reduce land development costs per unit, reducing prices and rents. Clusters reduce street and utility runs and grading costs. Higher densities consume less land per housing unit, thus reducing inflation of county land prices.
5. Bring in more tax revenues than the cost of the service it requires from the county. Revenues are usually higher because there are more housing units, costs of services are lower by design, and costs of education are lower because there are usually proportionately fewer school children than in equivalent single-family developments. All of this, each village, must be seen in the context of the entire Rural System operation - from new places for the elderly to live and work in a pleasant progressive environment, for families to live and work off the area, for people of a wide variety of interests and skills to live and work in Rural System, for special-purpose villages to form, such as the restorative community.
6. Cut storm water drainage by 25% or more
7. Reduce police patrol costs
8. Increase pedestrian safety
9. Reduce road construction and maintenance costs
10. Reduce sewer and utility costs
11. Improve visual amenities through flexible housing placement and design.

Overhead wires are a visual blight and can be eliminated. "As these pole-free residential cities develop, other builders will doubtless be inspired to follow the footsteps of these pioneers. Actually, anyone starting a new major community today would be in a hazardous position if he initiated a long range project with visible wiring" (Bestor 1964:28).

Because the land is owned, the primary disadvantage to developing planned residential units is eliminated. The second disadvantage, the need for large amounts of land is evidently missing. There are thousands of acres of commons within Rural System tracts.

Planning and architectural services will be needed. There are many excellent firms specializing in such developments. There being no zoning or PUD ordinance, only health codes are involved. Presentations and public hearings, though not required, will probably be desirable.

Not only housing but other facilities must be built; in fact the operational group facilities for the entire group must be built with the first group of units built. This results in an apparently excessively high cost per income-producing unit. Much of the units sales appeal will result from these facilities and landscaping so these must be complete before any Village opens its gates.

Details

When a decision is made that there will be villages then best locations can be selected with GIS help. Each village will have a different density; each will be designed for the site, i.e. the site determines the appropriate density.

To present an overview, however, to show the scope of the villages, I expect the density to be about 8 living units (LU) per village acre (20/hectare). "Suburban sprawl" currently averages 2.4 LU/gross acre; urban densities are 7-10 LU/gross acre and as high as 32.4 in Manhattan.

Housing is planned for 15,000 people (10,000 new, 5,000 replacement). At family size of 3.2, there is a need for 4700 living units. There are 20 villages proposed, thus each has an average size of 235 living units. Where a policy of 8 living units per village acre is effective, then each village is about 30 acres. Where the average width may be about 210 feet, the length would be about 6200 feet or 1.2 miles. On a mountain-top removal job the tracts could be laid out 5.5 acres by 5.5 acres. I repeat, these are average figures. Each village will be unique. There is no need to create new building sites. There are 20 "benches" already available. Some are abandoned mines, others are undergoing mining now. Many acres more are to be mined.

Now comes the detailed site selection and design of the villages, a task for architects, construction engineers, and subdivision planners working closely -- it will be essential -- with ecologists and environmental designers. Space is not the limitation. Now it can be seen there are four other major factors.

1. Water supply - to be addressed under a later, but essential to recognize. This supply will usually have to be addressed by small pond reservoirs as deep as possible, with small surface area, and with evaporation protection, and with an auxiliary well supply, and inlet facilities for trucking water to the villages in emergencies.

2. Air pollution - wood and coal burning may have to be regulated to protect the airsheds. Large developments can destroy the area. The analyses of Fosberg and Fox (1976) should be performed. The smoke produced by 235 living units plus back-country units may foul an airshed. This can be easily planned and numbers, design, and/or energy systems regulated to match the volume and dynamics of each airshed.

3. Travel - cost, energy, and pollution can be controlled by regulated mass transportation to the villages and work centers. A twice-daily car-caravan over the roads should be prevented by every means possible.

4. Infrastructure - Small units lose certain economies of scale (e.g. a fire station, a police station, a village council). It gains in many ways (e.g. fire prevention and control, local security and crime prevention). There cannot be a "shopping center" at each village. Instead, there can be periodic chartered bus "shopping sprees" to a large city, a planned village event. Local village stores, towns, and the sprees can meet all of the purchasing needs without the capital investments and high risks of elaborate retail structures. They can be planned events with city retailers, including sales and discount group buying.

Back-Country Residences

These back-country areas are to be designed and promoted for a special group of people who do not like the slick resort, ski scene, or sea shore. They want to get away; to get back to nature and want their own place (an easement, not a fee simple purchase on Rural System) to find education, physical, and mental health in returning to nature and in primitive pioneer life.

If "long-weekends" as an employment cut-back strategy grow, these sites will become increasingly popular.

There are 5% of American home owners who have a second home or summer home at which they spend from 50 to 80 days yearly (Ragatz and Cordell 1980). This element of Rural System allows a planned, controlled approach to low-intensity land use. The land cannot stand much use; it is quite fragile. Shands and Woodson (1974) studying Massariutten Mountain - Blue Ridge summer homes, particularly subdivisions, were clearly worried that these would have very harmful effects on soils, hydrology, water quality, and fire wood. Government responsibility, control, lack of vision, were the missing ingredients, not the case with Rural System

The system is made feasible with modular building assistance, trails, pack strings, parking areas, corrals, limited security, and reasonable access to many other facilities, services, and amenities of Rural System. Construction is limited to that approved by the architectural group within System Central (to avoid slipshod, unsafe, and incompatible structures). Long-term easements allow people property rights at low costs and access to the wilderness-area "commons." Each person or group of buyers has rights and privileges of ownership with first options for renewals (99 year leases).

I can imagine each group of homesites, say 7 of them, being clustered around an object of special significance -- and improved stream stocked with brook trout; a stream with an active beaver colony; a spectacular fern-covered cliff --worth returning to see; a large pond; a small pond with a waterfall (perhaps built); a ski-run for natural snow (only); a cove of very large trees; a meadow; a spectacular viewing site for the sunsets.

As in other aspects of Rural System, forest fires are an important consideration, but one not of undue concern if a forest fire damage management system is created.

Summary feeling: "There has not been a fire for a long time; there probably is not much danger of fire here now."

Freedman and Fischer (1980) presented analyses of rural forest home owners and found them consistent with prior studies. Home owners were overconfident about fire risks; only one in 25 believed fires were a natural phenomenon; only 20% anticipated any major problems if they must vacate their homes; none had seen locally-available pamphlets on wildland homes and fires.

They presented the recommendations for site development in the nearby picture. Moore (1918) presented recommendations, largely for western states, for wildfire protection for homes. The following list can be revised and improved by System Central. By reducing density of surrounding forest whenever possible by harvest working with insurance agencies (in a manner proposed for the health system) incentives and rewards can be built into Rural System in all areas to reduce fire damage. Of course work with the The Forest Group will be essential.

Recommendations... Zone for its relative fire hazard severity all land, whether in a city or unincorporated area, that is not already developed for residential, commercial, industrial or cultivated agricultural use, in addition to landuse or other zoning. Require by law that general and specific plans contain an evaluation of fire protection problems and a delineation of the means to cope with them. Require all cities and counties having any areas of undeveloped wildlands within their boundaries to review their ordinances on planning, land use, building, and fire for the purpose of making them truly effective in reducing the danger of destruction of residences and other structures by wildland fire. Impose standards of building spacing and density for wildfire hazardous areas by local ordinances. Base such standards on a classification system related to vegetative fuels, topography, and known weather patterns. Prior to developing any project intended for human occupancy in wildland areas - whether the development be conventional subdivision, planned unit, cluster, lot split. commercial , or industrial - provide two or more access routes adequate to allow two-way travel over roads that are not blocked by the fire or the results of the fire (e.g ., fallen trees, powerlines, vehicle wrecks). Authorize permit-granting agencies to require developers, before they build any structures in wildlands to provide adequate water supplies and the means of delivering them to protect such structures. Incorporate perimeter protection from wildland fires into the design of every new subdivision and mobile home park developed in wildland areas. Install electric power distribution circuits under-ground in wildland areas. Mark every road at each intersection and identify every land parcel or home in wildfire hazardous areas, in a manner clearly visible from a public road - by names or numbers. Dedicate structural fire station sites before approving plans for any large, expensive, or high-occupant density development in a wildland area. Require all buildings located in wildfire hazardous areas to have roofs with a fire-retardancy commensurate with the hazard classification. Cover all exterior attic and underfloor vents with screens that are adequate to prevent the entrance of flammables and firebrands. Design all homes and other structures that are to be located in or near wildfire hazardous areas with as few over-hangs and projections as possible. Where they are required, protect them from ignition through heat and flame entrapment. Design, orient, manufacture. and install all glazed openings, especially large picture windows and sliding glass doors, in a way that minimizes the opportunity for interior ignition from external sources. In all structures that may be exposed to danger from wildland conflagrations, construct the exterior walls using fire-resistant material commensurate with the degree of hazard involved. Do not install permanent roof sprinklers. Design and equip all structures - especially dwelling units - to provide occupants warning of a fire and ready-escape routes. Design, build, and install mobile homes with the same regard for fire safety as used in any other residence. Clear and bottom-prune all native vegetation (except for isolated specimen plants) in chaparral and other fire-prone wildland areas for a distance from each structure appropriate to the fire hazard severity class and slope class of the site. Plant and maintain with fire retardant or low-fuel-volume plants all areas cleared of native vegetation for fire protection purposes, if such areas are not maintained free of flammables (e.g., paved areas). Irrigate landscaping plants at least until they become well established, but do not irrigate native vegetation. Consider the use of selective herbicides to achieve specific purposes in fire protection landscaping to be both desirable and legitimate. Explore the feasibility and economics of fire-retardant chemicals used on surrounding vegetation, native or planted, for home fire protection in wildfire hazardous areas. Maintain roofs in a fire safe manner (i.e., clean and made of fire-retardant materials). Maintain all yards, gardens, landscaped areas, and fire protection clearances so as to retain their fire safe qualities. Do not store uncovered flammable materials against the exterior wall of any building or close enough to it to cause ignition of the structure by radiated or convective heat should the materials burn. Install and equip every swimming pool or other significant water source in wildfire hazardous areas such that the water may be obtained quickly and easily for fire fighting purposes both by fire engines and by the occupant. Design, construct, and maintain fences so that they do not help wildland fires spread - especially to structures. Build and maintain outbuildings to the same standards of fire safety as the residence or other main structure with which they are associated. Design and install patios, sun decks, and balconies in ways that enhance the fire safety of the building to which they are an accessory. Install private water systems in a way to provide adequate, dependable source of water for fire protection purposes. Install storage tanks for hydrocarbon fuels so that they are separated from native vegetation by the same distance required for the residence, provided with a nonflammable heat shield, and separated from other structures by the same distance required for structures. Prepare and test a plan for protecting property from fire and have on hand the tools and equipment needed for such an emergency. Take special precautionary measures to protect property from fire during very high and extreme fire weather conditions, whether an actual fire is in progress or not. When a wildfire becomes a threat to a home or other structure in or near wildlands, the occupants should take final protective actions and evacuate all who cannot make a positive contribution to a fire fighting effort. Establish fire insurance rates for structures located in or near wildfire hazardous areas to reflect the actual probability of destruction by conflagration. Adjust the interest rates and other conditions for all real estate or development loans in hazardous wild fire areas so as to encourage fire-safe design and construction. Provide tax incentives to persons who meet or exceed minimum fire-safe standards, and apply tax penalties to those who fail to conform to standards. Treat and continuously manage vegetation fuels on all wildlands that may become fire threats so as to reduce the conflagration hazard and facilitate fire control. Encourage the legislative bodies of states,counties, and cities to conduct a critical review of their laws and regulations relating to wildland fire protection and, on the basis of such reviews, adopt new measures that will provide reasonable fire safety and resolve conflicts of law with other public safety and environmental protection measures. Establish fire defense systems in advance on all undeveloped wildlands that are located so that they pose a fire threat to areas developed for human use and occupancy. Enlist the aid of property owners and others with vested interests in homes and other structures located in or near wildland areas, both as individuals and through their organizations and associations, in seeking ways to participate in and improve the Red Flag Fire Alert System (of the US Forest Service).

I have not analyzed the fire control services existing region-wide. Mr. Clark Boyer, Virginia Division of Forestry, has expressed keen interest (in 1982) in the previous concepts of Rural System U.S. Forest Service (1977) reported that in 1970 fire losses to farm property were $242 million, more than in 1960. Total fire losses in rural America exceed $1 billion annually. Only about 26,000 rural fire departments existed, and of these, virtually all needed assistance in organizing, training, and equipping fire fighting forces. Only 10% had satisfactory master fire plans. Sustained local volunteer training remains a problem. Equipment, especially communications equipment, is said to be a key need. The communities served by Rural System probably have at least some of these characteristics. The staff and participants can see this as a limitation or as an educational "market."

Governance

A Council will be formed to resolve problems, address key issues, seek to achieve accord and harmony, and negotiate on behalf of the people of the villages.

Citizen participation, much discussed and sought after, will be in 5 major forms. The first is in weighing objectives. Median values will be used. The Council will explain the methodology and seek its continual improvement.

The second method is through Invention Sessions. These efforts to seek names of and sources for solutions to problems. These are idea sessions and, in so far as possible, a nonjudgmental, open, free-flowing session is encouraged. Staff then compare the relative goodness of the options, alternatives, and inventions--especially as they may perform in achieving weighted objectives.

The third is in risk assessment. The Council, or panel, or by a well-devised questionnaire, will express perceived risks of failing to achieve the citizen-stated objectives.

The fourth is in assessing demand or the amounts needed. The minimum amounts needed and the outer thresholds must be estimated.

The significance of this approach to citizen participation is that it is directed and the results can be turned to practical use. It allows citizens to do what they need to do, i.e. express value; it allows experts to do what they do best; and it allows the interaction of the two in the Invention Sessions. It overcomes, when used periodically (e.g. annually), all known objections to present citizen participation procedures, and sets an easily understood and dynamic process. By breaking the process into four parts, prior confusions and entanglements can be avoided.

An alternative will be possible and must be experimentally tested. In the Inquire, a model for Rural System is suggested. That model may be used in citizen participation (note: only those affected by the decisions may participate). The citizens may "vote" for a project, saying "what if everyone voted my way, what would be the consequences?" The computer reports the likely consequences, then the citizen may change his vote. This process continues until the questions are over and a majority are satisfied with the consequences, i.e., the least bad set or best scoring action is selected.(See Game Theory.)

Potential actions to achieve the objectives of The Rural Villages

1. Employ a manager for The Villages responsible for the full development of at least one prototype village, and planning for and developing subsequent villages.

Table 1. Design criteria for the bench village. These criteria as one united set among which tradeoffs may be made, and provide the basis for judging the quality of the village.

Energy Minimum energy costs of construction Maximum use of passive solar energy year-around Minimum use of artificial light Maximum use of wind power Maximum use of small scale hydro power Maximum ease of utility repair and replacement Maximum separation of wastes and their recycling Minimum inputs of energy for cooling or heating Maximum efficiency in landscaping, both establishment, maintenance, and replacement Minimum travel energy costs Environment Minimum noise transfer between rooms Minimum noise transfer outside to inside Minimum water use Maximum solid waste reuse Maximum capture and use of rain and snow Maximum viewscape access and quality Minimum allergens Maximum air pollution controls Maximum use of common spaces (e.g. washers, freezers, storage, recreational space) Minimum pest problems (birds, insects, rodents) Maximum compatibility with soils Maximum water recycling Maximum water quality of water Structural Maximum compatibility with the environment (e.g. materials, texture, color, form, scale) Maximum structural stability Minimum cost Minimum maintenance time Minimum maintenance cost Maximum replaceable parts Maximum modularity Minimum moisture and related materials deterioration Minimum structural noise (e.g. squeaking floors, knocking plumbing, utility noise) Maximum security (i.e. ease of securing a structure) Minimum risks from catastrophes Social Maximum ease of group formations Maximum access to worship opportunity Maximum access to health care Maximum access to emergency service Maximum safety within facilities and structures Maximum expressed perception of "community" Maximum richness of opportunities among the following: 1. recreation 2. age group contacts 3. privacy 4. cultural experiences 5. nature appreciation 6. education 7. health 8. safety 9. acquisition of health, medical, and safety skills and knowledge 10. achieving high self-sufficiency 11. use of modern technology 12. access to transportation

2. Employ an architectural group to design the first village. Follow the design criteria shown in Table 1.

3. Select potential sites using the residential primeness maps.

4. Develop a real estate staff or employ an existing group that is sympathetic with and loyal to the overall objectives of Rural System

5. Develop computer systems useful in creating budgets and subsequently useful in accounting systems for the Villages.

6. Employ or engage Corporation accountants and legal advisors to work out potential budget strategies.

7. Make capital available, through foregone coal receipts or other devices.

8. Employ a manager for the first village. This person is to be responsible for the full maintenance and operation of the village but not for marketing, sales, collections, or negotiations of rights or discussions of bonuses. The person's responsibilities are for efficient cost-effective operation and life quality enhancement of the residents.

9. Build the first village using concepts from Table 2.

Table 2. Design suggestions and criteria for the village housing.

1. Use centralized on-site natural gas heating for the village 2. Use gas freezers and coolers 3. Use well insulated houses based on site specific heating-cooling degree days (Anderson 1981) 4. Provide clothes dryers 5. Eliminate fireplaces 6. Use centralized solar hot water heating 7. Use earth-sheltered housing with solar collectors 8. Use heat pumps and utilize nearby mine temperatures for their heat-exchange potential 9. Recycle all possible water; use several water sources and use-types 10. Dispose of waste water carefully by irrigation in established forests where selective cutting is done 11. Develop new toilet facilities, including separate urinals as well as Clivus toilets 12. Recycle all waste 13. Include kitchen facilities for waste separation 14. Dissipate waste heat in winter through green houses, streets and walkways, and garden plots 15. Have garbage dried by solar heat, and burned, to supply 7% or more of the energy needs of the village 16. Provide a sub-unit especially designed for the future option of a type of live-in and nursing home for the elderly. The elderly can obtain housing and stay in them or move to a site within the village to experience some efficiencies and special attention and care. Where this opportunity may be exercised by the Village Enterprise, the elderly will be integrated as fully as possible into the community - full care, attention, security, basic needs, education, recreation, and abundant contacts with the village people of all ages. 17. Ramps and ease of access throughout the 18. Meet revised state building code (1977) 19. Design throughout for safety 20. Design for easily repaired security alarm systems 21. Demonstrate conclusively from computer studies that the best possible tradeoffs and design elements are being selected 22. Use glass where possible and where thermal properties can be compatible with the design 23. Use fire-safe materials 24. Use outside noise barriers (as earth mounds near roadsides) and make these compatible with building form and design 25. Consider layered fiber, rock wall, and reflective insulation 26. Install low-voltage automatic electronic controls on lights, heat, etc. including timers to conserve energy 27. Consider high output fluorescent lamps with reflectors built into the structures and related furnitures 28. Develop cisterns for all buildings 29. Develop lateral dispersal of roof and patio waters into dikes and multi-purpose storm water basins 30. Develop gardens compatible with structures and readily maintainable and of minimum susceptibility to pests and diseases 31. Develop fountains wherever possible with minimum energy costs. Consider wind driven pumps 32. Use flags 33. Use street graphics and tight sign controls (see Architectural Enterprise and the Review Board) 34. Minimize susceptibility to termites 35. Use appropriate storm windows 36. Use all possible architectural techniques of natural cooling 37. Develop a total housing monitoring system with a panel that displays water use, energy use, indoor-outdoor temperatures, etc. 38. Develop parking areas that are energy efficient, easy for snow cleaning, have minimum runoff, have minimum heavy metal pollution 39. Have minimum heating-cooling system backups 40. Use lowest possible ceilings 41. Design smallest possible housing with built in features (a galley-like storage-use facility) 42. Use wind power to recharge electric batteries 43. Use Clivus Multrum waste disposal systems. Locked outlets must be accessible from a below-the-edge roadway. Personnel may make collections without disturbing the inhabitants (an easy-access basement door and ramp facility.) 44. Develop outside wall colors with energy conservative albedo for insolation days on each site 45. Plan attic fans and air exchange systems compatible with insulation plans 46. Install individual room thermostats 47. Shield exterior air conditioning equipment 48. Use mobile awnings or "cool shade screens" where needed for insolation regulation 49. Provide structures for interior drapes 50. Insulate heat ducts 51. Plan landscaping to influence building heating and cooling 52. Build an arbor of optimum width for summer vines along the southern side of the building 53. Use porous walkways and paving 54. Position house to achieve viewscape as compatible as possible with maximum passive energy placement 55. Hide night-light sources; use reflected light 56. Avoid use of toxicants, asbestos, or any substance about which there are currently doubts as to their carcinogenicity or terratogenicity 57. Maximize privacy by orientation of doors and windows 58. Maximize security by defense areas, warning and burglar alarms, lights, placement of vegetation, and other physical means 59. Provide a security gate and personalized high-technology locks 60. Maximize building compactness 61. Minimize heat loss from chimneys 62. Fireproof all buildings 63. Locate children's play area so parents may see them from windows of houses 64. Employ fruit trees in landscaping 65. Use ledge reflectors and white reflective paints 66. Minimize north-side windows 67. Optimize total window design 68. Use underground utilities 69. Install fire sprinkler system 70. Minimize susceptibility of roofs to forest fire brands 71. Enclose exterior meters; add sensors that report usage on the interior monitoring panel. Use centralized monitoring 72. Monitor infrared radiation from all buildings 73. Minimize maintenance costs and time 74. Make all parts of the building that can wear out or break in 50 years, easily replaceable. Require no replacement of parts about which there is doubt of availability over the 50 years. 75. Maximize the benefits index for all structural members, i.e. benefits per unit of energy required to produce it over 200 years (i.e., consider energy of one-time steel member to a 3-time replacement of a wood member) 76. Achieve classic esthetic proportions 77. Use foam concrete where feasible

10. Study it carefully and apply feedbacks at every stage to create an advisory computer system by which subsequent villages can be more effectively planned, designed, built, checked, and operated -- all with greater perceived resident satisfaction and lower costs to the Village Enterprise.

11. Investigate an enterprise to build architecturally approved summer wilderness cabins at very low densities (1 per 50 acres). These would be remote and primitive sites for people who want a real back-to-nature retreat, few amenities, and pioneer-like activities. No electricity or power saws would be allowed, and all structures would be accessible only by trails. these are patterned after Winter green, Inc. (Rock fish Valley, Virginia) "back country" sites. About 2000 acres or 40-50 such units will be proposed.

12. Consider employing Richard L. Ragatz Assoc., Inc., Consultants in Vacation Housing and Recreational Communities, Eugene, Oregon 97405 to advise in the back-country layout, design, operation, contracts / and promotion.

13. Contact student (2003)Melissa Gobrecht (Architecture, Va Tech) who is working on an active solar heating platform for buildings. It, combined with passive energy and earth energy, may provide substantial financial gains and opportunities in land with steep topography.

14. See dome structure (courtesy of Grant Rimbey, CNU, ELEMENTS; Architects, Interior Designers, 600 South Magnolia Avenue,Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33606 Tel 813.251.0565 , Fax 813.251.0567, AA 0002341

15. Interact with Young Professionals of the New River Network.

See Clachan

See Gardens Group.

Perhaps you will share ideas with me about some of the topic(s) above .

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Robert H. Giles, Jr.
July 3, 2005