KulshanCLT Presents 'Honey I shrunk the lots!' Event May 29 to Showcase Neighborhood-Friendly Housing

The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Horizon Bank and Transform.

Bellingham, WA (PRWEB) May 18, 2007 -- Kulshan Community Land Trust (KulshanCLT) is bringing noted architect William Kreager to Bellingham on Tuesday, May 29 at 7:30 pm for a public discussion entitled "Honey, I Shrunk the Lots!" at The Majestic, 1027 North Forest Street. The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Horizon Bank and Transform.

The fast-paced presentation and discussion of housing and design, illustrated with quality projects from Washington state, will challenge commonly held misconceptions about housing. According to Kreager, housing density is perceived, not measured. With good planning and architectural design, neighborhoods might find 30 homes per acre desirable.

Four of the biggest issues facing Whatcom County are the quality, pace, location, and cost of growth. According to Paul Schissler, executive director at KulshanCLT, keeping housing costs in sync with wages and incomes needs to be a central part of the growth discussion. "If we hope to save salmon, farmland and open space and if we don't want to subsidize sprawl, then we have to build the right kind of housing at the right price and location. Bill Kreager's designs and projects show us how that can be affordable."

Honey, I Shrunk the Lots! has been well-received at conferences and communities around the state, in large part because of Kreager's delightful, entertaining style combined with lots of visuals that make his point in a memorable way. KulshanCLT first brought Bill Kreager's presentation to the community in October 2003. "Bill was so popular we had a standing room only crowd in County Council chambers," according to Paul Schissler. "We are eager to bring Bill back to share his ideas with what we hope will be a larger audience." As with all KulshanCLT speakers, the presentation will be videotaped for broadcast in rotation on the City of Bellingham's BTV 10.

As managing principal for Seattle-based Mithun's master planning and residential design team, William Kreager, FAIA, MIRM, has created new homes and communities throughout the United States. According to Kreager, "Density at ten to twenty units per acre that is contextually sensitive and delightful to live in is key for communities looking to meet growth management goals and objectives." Photos of Kreager's projects (available beginning May 7 at KulshanCLT's website www.kclt.org), with up to 37 homes per acre prove there's more to this concept than simple math.

KulshanCLT and its event co-sponsors Horizon Bank and Transform hope to raise the level of debate to show that quality housing in amenity rich neighborhoods makes sense.

KulshanCLT, a nonprofit membership organization, strengthens community by holding land in trust for permanently affordable homeownership and other community needs, and by offering financial and educational services to people of limited means.

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