I had the good fortune to live on Vashon Island from April 2000 til April 2001. It is the rarest of places, an utterly rural island at the doorstep of a large metro area connected by threads of ferry schedules from several points. It might be an interesting study in how a place might evolve if it escapes digestion by sprawl.
I decide to do a few searches to see how its doing and it should be examined carefully as it is evolving into a model of sustainable adaptability at every applicable level it can identify.
It is fairly self contained and has its own charming newspaper, a historical society, a parks commission for its array of nature preserves, an art scene, book stores , thrift shops and all the basics. There is a substantial deer herd and a winery. It even has a couple of bus routes while being nearly perfect for bicycles.
The island's most pressing limitation is water availability, seemingly a contradiction for a wet climate, but groundwater resources are finite and Vashon protects its residents from the added cost of tyeing into the metro water system by careful resource husbandry.
Sustainable Vashon is a good place to begin as it gives you a valuable overview of the fabric of activity. And the levels and variety of activity. Building Circles provides innovative Hobbit-like home design ideas deftly fitted to place, there are biodeisel groups, footprint reduction projects and a ramp up in sustainable farming. They even have a sustainable logging mill work operation that takes downed trees to mill various dimension stock for local trades.
One purpose of this series will be a constant search for models to describe to provide examples of how people are making their sustainability adaptations in their unique places, in this case a second growth Northwest Doug fir biome. The Vashon approach is particularly notable in that all facets are grassroots community based entities. It appears that different residents tackled aspects that held their interests and just had at it. Nearly all of this activity has ramped up in the years since 2001 and the thoroughness is stunning.
