Leaving Cleveland

With our children grown, it's time for downsizing and living a less complicated life. When you have rooms that you never even use, the house is TOO BIG. It's hard leaving good friends and neighbors in Ohio, but the kids have moved out of state and aren't coming back. Moving east puts us closer to our grandchild in Massachusetts.

So why Chautauqua county?  We're ready for a change from the general busyness of a large metro area. The natural beauty here is very attractive to us as people who enjoy nature and outdoor activities. The huge agricultural presence bodes well for local food security. There is a good fresh water supply. Despite the higher NY taxes, the cost of living in this part of the state is really quite reasonable.

So, we bought a small home on a nice lot outside the city limits in late 2008 and embarked upon our journey of discovery.  We have discovered that there are a lot of committed groups of people working hard to maintain and improve the quality of life here. Not everyone appreciates the importance of their efforts, but we are impressed.


We live in interesting times, when the way of life to which we have been accustomed to is threatened by our over-consumption of the limited resources our planet has to offer.  The rapid industrialization of India and China with their huge populations is forcing us to face the unsustainability of continued growth based on use of finite fossil fuels.  Americans are dying in the global competition for these resources. Our air, water,and earth are becoming dangerously polluted and the planet's temperature is rising. Economic instability has hit home with failing businesses, prolonged periods of unemployment, people losing their homes and their healthcare. Good people are suffering.

What can we do? We can pretend this is just a temporary inconvenience, do nothing, and hope things get better. But these conditions are unprecedented, and that is unlikely to happen. By the time government officials in faraway Washington come to grips with what's happening, their actions will be too little too late.

So it's up to us. By starting now, with our neighbors,  to build resilience in our own communities, we can meet these challenges head on and successfully manage whatever comes our way.

For some time now, there have been pockets of people around the world attempting to organize and address these issues. Their models are helpful to others in that we can learn from them and avoid having to reinvent the wheel. The Transition Towns movement was started in the UK in 2006, caught on rapidly, and has spread worldwide, including the US.  Others call it relocalization, building community resilience, or The Great Turning.

Whatever we call it, it boils down to people working together in their own communities to ensure that, whether we are faced with rising fuel costs, disruptions in power and supply chains, natural disasters, job losses, or plagues of locusts, we are able to securely meet our own needs for food, water, shelter, energy, healthcare, and other necessities.

This doesn't mean a return to an earlier and more primitive way of life or isolation in small enclaves. Indeed, opportunities exist for the creation of very vibrant communities employing the latest technologies, rich with cultural, educational, and recreational activities,  doing meaningful work and enjoying life, and reaching out to the world without the harmful impact on our earth.

We invented the internet and sent men into space, so surely we can do this.  Where do we begin? By getting to know our neighbors and our community and all of the resources that are already available. By finding others who share our concerns and our interest in starting now to ease the transition for future generations.

So it begins.