Pringle Creek's green streets mentioned as model in OEC's spring newsletter

Oregon Environmental Council, the state’s oldest environmental organization, has an article in their most recent "One Oregon, One Environment" newsletter. The article, titled "Depaving Paradise," is on page seven and features the following photo and caption:

Pringle Creek Community in Salem has one of the largest installations of pervious asphalt in the country. The green streets are narrower than conventional streets, using less materials to build and calming traffic. They have no curbs, which reduces construction costs and allows vegetated swales to capture, absorb and clean stormwater runoff.

The article does a good job explaining water quality issues. Water quality and conservation are key aspects of the Pringle Creek Community plan, along with renewable energy, beautiful, durable and energy-efficient homes, community gardens and commitment to local foods, and having a diversity of ages, lifestyles and incomes for our residents while fostering a sense of community.

Go to the Oregon Environmental Council website and consider joining, donating, volunteering for this organization that is a major player in advocating policy in the Oregon Legislature. OEC's strategic plan is:

• Protect kids' health from toxic pollution


• Improve stewardship of Oregon's rivers


• Slow global warming


• Build a sustainable economy


• Create a sustainable food and farm system


• Strengthen support for effective environmental policy in the Oregon Legislature

Photo log

Springtime at last.

While the housing market has slowed and our economy has become more fragile, Pringle Creek Community is moving forward with key projects that support our goal of creating a unique community that can serve as a model of sustainable development.

Our innovative geo-thermal system is up and running and saving Pringle Creek Community homeowners on their utility bills; we expect to complete the LEED-Platinum restoration of Painter's Hall--as a community center and home of the Sustainable Living Center--in early June; the fully restored Lord & Burnham glasshouses have blossomed into the Pringle Creek Conservatory; two green roofs have been installed to demonstrate their benefits (protecting water quality, cooling and as habitat); and every day we see more visitors walking, bicycling, and skating about Pringle Creek Community.

Feel free to stop by and see what’s growing at Pringle Creek Community. We are also scheduling visits and tours daily. For more information please contact us.

Tony Nielsen

Pictures and captions below from santiago.

Painter's Hall

Deconstruction.

All materials are sorted and recycled.

New interior framing.

New metal roof, windows and doors.

Green roof: doing the planting

Creek Restoration

Thanks to Marion Soil & Water Conservation District’s commitment to natural resources, the middle and lower sections of Pringle Creek in our neighborhood were greatly enhanced this week. Workers whacked invasive weeds along the east bank of the creek, from the bridge downstream to the NW corner--about 1200ft of riparian area. They then planted over 1,000 native plants and applied 3” of mulch around the base of each plant, to act as a weed barrier and to conserve moisture. This will provide native ground cover and lots of shade for the creek.

Over the years, many people have invested their time and resources into improving this section of Pringle Creek, with great results. Special thanks to Luca at Marion SWCD for all his work, and to Jenny also, to Pringle Creek Watershed Council, and to workers Rafael and Mario, and to Sevenoaks Nursery and Wallace Hansen Nursery.

If you’d like to get involved with further restoration efforts, join your local Watershed Council! Pringle Creek Watershed Council meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 6pm at Pringle Creek Community. All are welcome.

santiago

The mulch they are using came from small trees and branches ground up onsite.

Rafael getting ready to plant a sword fern and a dogwood.

Oregon ash will provide needed shade along the creek.

Ferns getting ready to go in ground.

Beginnings of a restored riparian zone.

Other new urbanist and sustainable developments

If you want to see an extensive listing of new urbanist developments, check out TND Town Paper's neighborhoods page. From the site: "the acronym TND stands for Traditional Neighborhood Development, a comprehensive planning system that includes a variety of housing types and land uses . . . educational facilities, civic buildings and commercial establishments to be located within walking distance of private homes."

As you can see, the TND definition describes walkability, but it doesn't put it in the context of saving energy, reducing ennvironmental impact, sustainability. The new urbanist movement and the green communities movement have much in common.
Both attempt to get us away from the suburban sprawl model of development. The new urbanist movement began with an emphasis on quality of living.

This Green Eco Neighborhoods' listing is more focused on the environmental aspect. It has only a fraction of the number of developments. Probably most of these eco developments are, like Pringle Creek Community, on both lists.

Pringle Creek featured in Terrain.org

Pringle Creek is featured in a fascinating web magazine: "Terrain.org. A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments is a twice yearly online journal searching for that interface--the integration--among the built and natural environments, that might be called the soul of place." The article is One Green Thing Leads to Another: Sustainability at the Pringle Creek Community.

Pringle Creek Community’s portion of the old institution had been used for growing food in the gardens and in the two historic Lord and Burnham glass greenhouses, each more than 2,500 square feet in size, and contained the institution’s central steam-heat plant and a number of construction support facilities.

When SDI [Sustainable Development Inc., owner/developer of Pringle Creek Community] and the design team began their discussions about the project they realized it would be focused on the very things—food, energy, and construction—that were the legacy of the property. The new neighborhood would have extensive community gardens and the greenhouses would be restored to active use. The greenhouses and many of the homes would have geothermal heating and cooling, making use of an existing high-capacity well. Many of the homes and buildings would use solar energy for hot water and electricity. Construction on the project would showcase craftsmanship, durability, and state-of-the-art green materials and technology.

Photo log

Cottage in the snow.


The Village Center.


The Roots Cellar looks beautiful.


Frozen Dogwood in the rain gardens.


Sledding the hill. Check out his racing goggles!


Frozen rainchain icicle at the garages.


The doug fir grove in the snow.


Icicles hanging from the street lamps.


The Conservatory in the snow.

-- santiago

Friends of ours

An article about Pringle Creek Community is in the Fall 2008 issue of Landmark magazine. The article is on pages 16 and 17. Landmark is the quarterly publication of 1000 Friends of Oregon.

Tom McCall and the organization he co-founded, 1000 Friends of Oregon, are pillars of environmental stewardship and smart planning in Oregon. Consider attending this upcoming event: Executive Director Bob Stacey reviews priorities for coming legislative session, January 7, 11:30 a.m. at Mission Mill.

Gov. Tom McCall (left) and Secretary of State Clay Myers in a photo related to Oregon's Bottle Bill circa 1971 [before the era of political stagecraft, apparently].

Goodall students at Pringle Creek for annual stream health analysis

Update: On Dec. 24 the Statesman Journal ran an article on this, "Students helping study water quality."

Students from Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School and Karen Hans from Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife came out for their annual fish and macro-invertebrate count. These students are comparing stream health & fish population in various waterways throughout the City of Salem. The big catch of the day was a very large cutthroat trout!

Students set up nets upstream and downstream, then wade through the creek catching fish.

Then they identified and documented each species before setting them free.

They also went through to catch insects; there is a significant correlation between the number of insect species and the presence of fish in any stream. Here they are dividing the macro-invertebrate water samples and identifying them.

They captured a good sized cutthroat trout! Pretty amazing given that we are just three miles from downtown.

Group photo under the Pacific Yew.

--santiago

Photo log

The new dry-creek landscaping at the Wilson’s Tallhouse was designed by their son, Andy Wilson. His web site is: http://www.awlandscapedesign.com/. That’s Alan up at the top right putting Christmas lights up.

Paco just finished laying the stones for this common pathway through what will be a cluster of five homes. The stones came locally from Rickreall.

These garages serve a cluster of five cottage homes. They have FSC cedar rain screen siding, and will soon have a 1,500 sqft greenroof, which extends the life of the roof, absorbs and treats rainfall during a storm event, helps insulate the structure for heat and cold, and provides diverse habitat for insects and wildlife.

This is Mark, our mailman! Very friendly guy, loves the project and eagerly awaits more residents to deliver mail to. He especially likes the idea of a central gathering place for mail pickup at Painter’s Hall (less driving!).

--santiago

Opsis and Nathan Good win design awards

Opsis Architecture and Nathan Good each won a first place Root Award, a Portland Spaces magazine design competition "celebrating Portland innovation, creativity and craftsmanship."

Opsis, the Portland firm of Pringle Creek masterplanner James Meyer (more about Opsis and James here) won the "Landscape/Community" category for Firstenburg Community Center.

Situated on a 10-acre parcel, the Firstenburg Community Center straddles two distinct worlds: a developing commercial street with strip malls and a verdant residential neighborhood. The east Vancouver, Washington, facility has two primary components: a single-level community wing and a vast recreational area with lofted ceilings. The community wing, which houses an indoor aquatic playground, acts as a protective park environment buffered from traffic noise and east winds.

Salem architect Nathan Good, who has collaborated with Pringle Creek Community on designs for carbon neutral homes, won top honors in the "House" category. The Cannon Beach area home is shown on the cover of the December issue of Portland Spaces. Nathan and the home were written about in the New York Times in January 2007 (discussed here). A comment about the house on the website: “Very Oregonian, very green, very beautiful in a timeless, earthy way.” —Iris Harrell

Congratulations to Nathan Good and James Meyer/Opsis.