409 Cumberland Avenue

For most of the 20th century, urban living meant compromising the traditional benefits of a healthy lifestyle in exchange for the convenience and economy of efficiency. As a result, and as America became more urban, the availability of locally grown fresh produce was systematically replaced with processed alternatives and unhealthy eating habits. The home-grown way of life was replaced with mass food production and escalating healthcare costs.

 
No sector of society was more adversely affected by this transition the than low to moderate income workforce who lived in urban environments where healthy food deserts severely limit healthy options. The ‘dollar menu’ at McDonalds became the primary menu for many urban Americans and it became clear that affordability was the difference between healthy and unhealthy lifestyles.

 
At the same time, the turn of 21st century saw an ‘awakening’ by health experts and enlightened urbanites to both the true societal cost and health dangers of mass-produced foods and quantifiable benefits of sustainable local foods.

 
409 Cumberland Avenue, a 57 unit urban mixed-income apartment development, was in the early stages of planning as these unhealthy living habits of Portland’s low income residents emerged as a primary – and reversible – concern. With the premise that publically funded residential communities are ideally suited to be a catalyst to change, Avesta Housing committed to leveraging its resources to developing 409 Cumberland Avenue as a model for the future of healthy residential living.

 
Accordingly, Maine’s first large, production-scale rooftop garden/greenhouse and communal demonstration kitchen were co-developed in this traditional multifamily residential facility. The greenhouse offers year-round food production and cooking classes are scheduled many evenings each week in the teaching kitchen. These programs were made possible by an early partnership with Cultivating Community, Southern Maine’s premier provider of sustainable gardening and healthy living programs which encourages community participation and education.

 
With substantial resources dedicated to the healthy living investments in the facility, the development did not pursue a LEED certification program. However, the facility was designed, constructed and commissioned to the same standards and details as a similar nearby recent LEED for Homes Platinum certified development, orchestrated by the same design, development and construction team.

 
A future where this development model becomes the expectation will provide the promise to dramatically change the balance of health and wellness with long-term reduced medical consequences and increased savings that can be applied to deeper community sustainability measures.