There̢۪s a movement going on in northeast Fresno with the goal of creating a place that resembles the safe communities of decades ago, and some Fresno State staff are hoping to be a part of it.

La Querencia, Fresno’s first cohousing community, is a project that is looking to provide an “intergenerational, earth-friendly neighborhood based on simple-living values.â€Â Four Fresno State professors and administrators are involved with the project that is aimed for completion in the late summer of 2008.

The project consists of a 2.8 acre lot purchased by Fresno Cohousing on Alluvial Avenue between Chestnut and Willow avenues, soon to be known as La Querencia. On those 2.8 acres, a 28-unit group of houses that cost between $200,000 and $400,000, depending on size, is being built along with community recreational facilities.

The development is based around community involvement and allowing members of the community to “get to know each other’s stories.â€Â There is a common pool, spa, recreation facility, kids room and a common room where members of the community will come together for optional meals several times a week.

La Querencia is not the first cohousing community in the United States.

Kathy Yarmo, wellness coordinator for University Health and Psychological Services at Fresno State said that “cohousing began in Denmark and now there’s over 100 communities here [in the US].â€Â

For Yarmo and her husband, the La Querencia development will provide an opportunity to constantly create a positive and safe environment for their 16-month-old daughter.

“It’s somewhere we can raise kids,â€Â Yarmo said. “We want the close-knit community,â€Â Yarmo said. “We want our daughter to grow up there.â€Â

Yarmo initially learned about the project at a booth during the Tower District̢۪s annual bike race and was immediately hooked. Yarmo will be downsizing from her current three-bedroom home to a two-bedroom home with shared yard space.

It̢۪s moving down in space, but it̢۪s something that Yarmo thinks will be invaluable in the long-term.

“It’s something progressive for Fresno,â€Â Yarmo said. “Hopefully we can get more communities to do the same.â€Â

For many of the cohousing members, living in the community is a step toward a more simple life. Jim Mullooly, a professor in Fresno State̢۪s anthropology department, is taking that step.

“One thing we’re going to do is make an environmentally rich community so that our carbon footprint is not as big,â€Â Mullooly said.

In addition to providing a more close-knit community, the La Querencia units will use new building techniques to create more energy-efficient homes than are on the market today.

The outside walls of the houses will be 50 percent thicker than the industry standard. The inside walls will also be one-eight of an inch thicker, and windows will be shaded with overhangs and awnings. The windows will be placed higher, which provides more natural light.

Based on similar cohousing developments, La Querencia believes that the energy bills for each unit will not exceed $50 a month.

Mullooly, like other members of the cohousing venture, hope this more simple way of life will curb the collection of useless items in favor of a better living situation.

“It’s less stuff, more quality,â€Â Mullooly said about the cohousing development. “I can’t afford not to do it.â€Â