Renew America Success Stories

IMAGO, Inc.

Description

IMAGO is an ecological education organization emphasizing earth-centered spirituality and working to convert Price Hill, an older neighborhood located just five minutes from downtown Cincinnati, into a sustainable, ecological urban neighborhood.

The IMAGO plan, to develop a definitive "ecological neighborhood," can trace its roots in part to an attempt 1988 by developers build 23 residential units on 3 1/2 acres of land highly prized for natural beauty. Ninety local residents helped raise $27 buy the and protect it from future development. >

Recognizing that about 25% of Price Hill's land area is made up of such green space in the form of woods, parks and cemeteries, in 1993, IMAGO launched a plan to make this green space the basis for establishing an ecologically sustainable neighborhood in an otherwise urban environment. IMAGO calls building upon a community's strengths an "asset map model," which differs substantially from the conventional "disease model" (identifying a community's weaknesses) that is usually employed when pursuing urban revitalization.

Since Price Hill is an urban neighborhood, the progress made there will be readily transferable to other communties: population growth in urban areas is rapid and soon the majority of the world's population will live in cities.

IMAGO notes that most urban communities are "natural resource sponges," but that they don't have to be. When converted to an urban ecological neighborhood, a community's resource use will be much more modest:

• Less natural gas and electricity will be used as homes are made more energy-efficient.
• Less gasoline will be used as people are encouraged to shop by foot.
• Less fertilizer, fewer insecticides, and fewer herbicides will be used as landscapes shift to natural vegetation and xeriscaping.
• The neighborhood will become a low-crime, beautiful place in which to live.

Earth Lab

• Built on eight acres of green space, the Earth Lab provides an exciting place for children to learn about their place in the environment. All ten local schools endorsed the Earth Lab and have joined the advisory board.
• Programs that have been presented at the Earth Lab include "Songs of Autumn: the Earth Prepares for Winter," The Earth is Our Mother," and "Developing and Maintaining a Pond Environment."

• An older home became available and IMAGO worked to rehabilitate the structure, incorporating efficient appliances, solar hot water and alternative landscaping into the design.
• The house will be sold with the understanding that it will serve as a model for future rehabilitations.

• IMAGO helped found the Western Wildlife Corridor, an organization dedicated to preserving 15 miles of wooded corridor connnecting Price Hill to a rural comunity and offering wildlfe continued access to the neighborhood.

• IMAGO is working to complete a comprehensive ecological survey of the neighborhood to determine its present ecological state. The survey will observe residential lots to determine the percentage of tree cover, percentage of human made cover, and the diversity of plants. Residents will also be surveyed to determine status of home insulation, energy usage, water usage and gardening activity. A second survey will be taken in five years to assess progress.

• Challenged with the need for a spiritual underpinning to the Ecological Neighborhood, four local churches have met to discuss the sanctity of creation.
• The group's first project has been to conduct energy audits of the church buildings.

• A Yard and Garden Fair is planned for spring 1996 to demonstrate the low pollution maintenance of landscaped yards compared to the traditional grass yard.

• In collaboration with Xavier University's media department, IMAGO is developing a video profiling Price Hill.
• IMAGO is considering pursuing a No-Car Day in Price Hill, the installation of bike racks on buses, the construction of bike trails connecting parks and green spaces, and the founding of an eco-restaurant.

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: IMAGO is a nonprofit, membership-based organization that has developed partnerships with Xavier University, the Urban Appalachian Council, the Santa Maria Community Center, the local housing authority, the Whittier Gardens Foundation, the East Price Hill Improvement Association, the Price Hill Civic Club, and the Price Hill Merchants and Professional Association. IMAGO has received generous financial support from the City of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company, and the Price Hill Kiwanis Club. In addition, hundreds of volunteers have given their time and energy to renovate a model ecological house, to set up the Earth Lab and to plant street trees, among other activities.

Budget: The latest figures are available by contacting the program.

Community Served: The 40,000 racially and financially diverse residents of Price Hill.

Measures of Success:

Several thousand trees have been planted along the streets of Price Hill.

Although very near a heavily urbanized community, Price Hill continues to support populations of deer, fox and many other kinds of wildlife.

IMAGO has a goal of reducing electricity consumption by 5% and gas consumption by 10%.

Price Hill has the second highest recycling rate of the 51 neighborhoods in Cincinnati.

Success stories designed by Mark Nowak

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