Deciding to move, finding a site

About this time last year, 2004, I began looking for a place to create a home that would allow Sandy and I to live lightly on the earth, and to avoid the downsides of living on the main N-S street through Broad Ripple, anorthside community in Indianapolis. We aren't real happy with the rising property taxes either. It's too bad, because Broad Ripple is a neighborhood that used to be less business-centric. Almost everything one needs can be found within walking distance from home.

Deciding to move has been a difficult choice. We have been updating this 100-year-old house for years now. I've added a greenhouse and remodeled the kitchen and the entire second floor, including doubling the size of the bathroom with a glassblock shower enclosure and a whirlpool bath.

At one time I knew the names of everyone who lived on the block, their kids, and their pets. Now so few live here that only two properties' sidewalk are shoveled after a snowfall.

It's taken us a long time to accept the fact that the city of Indianapolis has no interest in us staying put. The city has time and again approved zoning variances in the neighborhood to the point that now there are only three homeowners left in the 14 buildings on our block. Leaders of the primary neighborhood association, the BRVA, have stated publically that they want this whole block, and, in fact, the next two to the south, to convert to small business uses.

So the decision was made and the search began.

A started looking with a friend who was also looking to move to a more environmentally sensitive home. We began by drivnig around the rural areas within two counties of Indianapolis/Marion County. Most of these drives were to the south, southwest and west because these areas offered the most topographic interest and are generally less developed.

I also checked the "Farms, Acreage" entry in the Sunday paper's classified advertising section. Another couple found me through a note a friend had hung in some grocery stores. We shared our "finds" with each other and looked at sites the others thought might work. Using these three methods, Sandy and I eventually looked at at least 40 properties. Each had some drawbacks. They were either too large, and consequently too expensive, or too close to subdivisions, or as flat as an ironing board. One was incredibly beautiful, including rare plants, a stream, and a spring we could drink from right out of the ground. Unfortunately it also bordered a main state highway and the noise of trucks climbing the hill could be heard almost anywhere on the site. We later learned that same highway is planned to be upgraded for regional north-south traffic in the area.

So the search went on. I decided it was time to try to get others looking for us and sent a note to a friend who has an email list of folks who had talked about intentional communities in the past. Someone responded to him and he got us connected.

The most amazing thing is that we already knew each other. She didn't know we were looking, and we didn't know she owned property she hoped could accommodate a co-housing community.

We visited her property, realized it had most of what we were looking for, and began the process of forming the Raccoon Creek Community.