Abandon Ship!

The ship being suburbia, that is. Move to the urban core, learn about infill development, walkability, a sense of place, less driving! Come join us next Thursday at Fuel (or Raglands) in Five Points (thanks Jim!).



After the movie Sarah Boren from the Green Team Project will lead a Q&A about the issues raised in the film, and give tips on how to live more sustainably.

Introduction

I am honored and excited to be the first to post on RADO's new blog. I thought I would start out with a brief history of the organization and tell you what is in store for the coming year.


Founded in 1998, Riverside Avondale Development Organization was established by Riverside Avondale Preservation, Inc. (RAP) as a separate entity in an effort to keep affordable housing available to the historic district and to address parts of the neighborhood that were suffering from blight: dilapidated and abandoned properties, crumbling infrastructure, a transient population and higher than normal criminal activity. RADO's initial goal was small: to rebuild a home destroyed by fire in a marginal part of the neighborhood. The task proved more complex than imagined for an all-volunteer group and in 2001, RADO sought LISC Jacksonville’s support to prepare for the next round of projects by increasing the organization's capacity.

Working with LISC, RADO has developed a broader agenda for change. In late 2005 the Board of Directors hired me as the Executive Director. After working with another Community Development Corporation (CDC) for several years in Springfield, I was seeking the challenge and opportunity that this new position would provide. Since that time, RADO has expanded its staff to five employees and increased its Board of Directors to eleven. Last year we completed and sold seven homes and this year, we are hoping to increase that to twelve. The most exciting aspect of this growth has been our ability to "pre-develop" several parcels of land that will increase our production exponentially in the coming years. Three planned developments are our Green on Green project (with 10 single-family homes), The Point (with 12 mixed-use units), and our New Riverside project (25 single-family homes). I will describe each of these separately in the coming weeks, so keep checking our blog.

Finally, the RADO board of directors has recently committed the organization to going "green" and will be implementing EnergyStar and WaterStar standards for all upcoming projects. We hope this will not only help the environment, but also ease the strain of high energy bills for our homebuyers.

Please feel free to contact me or the staff of RADO to get any additional information that you may need.



Sincerely,


Matthew Bowler
Executive Director

Developments.

Hello Riverside!

RADO, the Riverside Avondale Development Organization now has a blog. Executive Director Matthew Bowler will be posting an introduction shortly. We'll share information about RADO developments, neighborhood events, and sustainable communities and efforts around the region. So stay tuned.


For now, check out this project in Charleston, South Carolina: Noisette. We got the heads-up about it from Ellen Reed at Breaking Ground (but you might know her better from the blog sustainabuild.net).