Live Close to Nature and Conveniences Too!

Minutes from downtown Kalamazoo, Manitou Arbor Ecovillage will be laid out to nurture a small village atmosphere that is pedestrian, child, and family friendly. Access to trails on 270 acres of mature forest and meadows, including a creek and lake, as well as diverse wildlife species, makes this village site a truly special place.

Planned common areas for community gatherings, and private reflection and meditation spaces, will provide those with the desire ample opportunities to connect with each other and the natural world.

MAEV will be resident-owner developed and managed by residents.

Village Layout (below)

North of the Community Center (with eleven green attached apartments) are two planned barrier-free underground dwellings, so the apartments can still have views across their roofs to the woods beyond.

In addition to the eleven apartment dwellings, 33 single-family and duplex houses are planned around the oval. Most duplexes will be linked by a shared garage, so the option exists for them to be single family homes if builder/residents choose not to build the garage.

Like most popular cohousing projects, we are trying to encourage walking within the ecovillage, as well as the sharing of access to vehicular transportation, but we also do not wish to deny those with disabilities the option of having a vehicle close to their home.

Many of the detached homesite buyers will choose to owner-build or to custom-build their homes, while others may wish to choose from a set of stock plans and have their home production-built to save money.

All residential buildings have passive solar rights protected in our legal documents, and almost all of the apartments have some south facing windows. All buildings will be built ready to receive renewable energy systems as finances permit, and they will be extremely energy efficient, staying within an space conditioning energy quota based on the Passive House Standard which uses only about a tenth of the energy of a conventional house to stay warm in winter and cool in summer.

Other small parking lots serve the the homes they are nearest to, and all streets and parking drain to rain gardens and ultimately to two retention ponds along the entry street. Rectangular drainfields to the south receive and treat the greywater from the village. The center of the village is the heart of the community, featuring gardens, a playground (diamond), and a gathering grove (circle), and can be enclosed with fencing running between buildings to keep small children safe from cars, and deer and other wildlife out of the gardens.

Aerial View of the Land (below)

The ecovillage has a purchase option on this parcel of land (from the Sisters of Saint Joseph). North is at the top, and access from East Main along the bottom. The property is slightly T-shaped, to leave the existing farm buildings in the south east in the possession of the Sisters for now.

The village access road approaches from the southwest corner, and is entered directly across from the existing Comstock Middle School driveway. As it curves toward the village, it stops first at a looped parking lot which will be as far as most large and visiting vehicles come into the village: garbage and recycling dumpsters are collected here, and school buses can pick up students waiting inside the apartment building, while all US mail is delivered to the apartment building as well.

At the west end of the parking lot is space for a future cooperative workshop/repairs building with a loading dock for easing bulky deliveries.

When educational events are held, we can make sure that visitors can park in this lot rather than wandering through the village. The west end of the apartment building (the large building near the center) is the greeting point for visitors.