Rachel Carson EcoVillage Virtual Open House (Pittsburgh, PA)

With a few units still available and move-in set for this fall, it’s a great time to check out Rachel Carson EcoVillage (Pittsburgh area). We’ll share with you info about our community, the land and buildings, the surrounding area, and what makes Pittsburgh “someplace special”. There will be time for your questions and an opportunity to connect with some of our founding members.

Our website:
https://rachelcarsonecovillage.org

Part of National Cohousing Open House Weekend
Rachel Carson EcoVillage is a member of Mid-Atlantic Cohousing (MAC), part of the Cohousing Open network.

More background on the community:

We’re a group of individuals and families who have joined to build an extraordinary life together. The one thing we all have in common is a desire to know our neighbors. Our EcoVillage will be a multi-generational community that includes people from as many cultures and backgrounds as possible. We welcome individuals of every race, ethnicity, culture, age, ability, gender identity, and sexual identity to join us in creating an inclusive, caring, and diverse community.

In September 2023 we learned that our original site on the Eden Hall Campus was no longer available. We are very excited to announce construction has begun on our new site, adjacent to LaRoche University on land gifted to us by the Sisters of Divine Providence. Reflecting our partnership with the Sisters, we are now called Rachel Carson EcoVillage at Providence Heights. Like us, the Sisters have a strong commitment to sustainability, the environment, and social justice.

We are creating a caring and cooperative community as we become a positive part of our local environment, both human and natural. Our buildings and site are designed to connect us to nature and to each other: to promote personal interactions and easy sociability, where kids play in safety and neighbors lend each other a hand.

Our goals include learning to enjoy, protect and contribute to the abundance around us as well as enhance the quality of our lives as part of a larger thriving environment. At Providence Heights, our site will have common gardens, walks, and places for socializing. We are also within a few minutes’ walk of La Roche campus facilities as well as neighborhood services.

Upon move-in, we will share property, facilities, resources, and to some extent our lives, but just as important, we will respect each other’s privacy, autonomy, and personal property. The ecovillage will offer easy connections with neighbors without sacrificing the privacy of our own home. This balance will be woven into the fabric of our lives.

The ecovillage will be a homeownership community of 35 private units ranging from studios to four bedrooms. Our shared common house will have a dining room, a large kitchen and more.

The entire development is being built to high standards of energy conservation, which will reduce utility bills to a fraction of their cost compared to conventionally built housing. Our materials have been selected for long-term durability and affordability as well as better air quality. Our natural site infrastructure will improve the quality of the soil and water and foster a healthy human-inhabited ecosystem.