Comments on: SOLARA: CA’s First Solar-powered Apartment Community

By: Reggie Rasmussen

Reggie Rasmussen — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:32:04 +0000

Sorry, typo on first submission on the web link. Please delete this submission and the first one with the incorrect link. Thanks.

By: Reggie Rasmussen

Reggie Rasmussen — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:30:15 +0000

It is a low income housing project (rental) in Poway. Poway is located about 15-20 miles Northwest of Downtown. Poway does have an industry – especially for the folks that would inhabit low income housing. The downside to this is that low income housing has a reputation of bringing in undesired elements into a community. The story from the San Diego Union Tribune story can be found on my Blog at http://www.solarjoules.com.

By: M

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 07:47:18 +0000

Stucco is pretty much a defining part of so cal architecture so I understand why they took that route. Also, it seems that they were focusing on affordability and stucco is….well…much less expensive to use. The mission, adobe, spanish, whatever you want to call it, style is popular in so cal so although it’s not my personal taste, I get it and I think it looks great and serves its purpose.

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:13:38 +0000

i’m with you citicritter. not at all my style, but it may look a little better in person?? no, it’s pretty icky. i might find myself settling, though, to live in such an eco-friendly complex.

By: citicritter

citicritter — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:47:20 +0000

“Outstanding”? this looks straight out of the 70s school of bad design (i.e. the worst era for architecture in memory): shed-roofed adobe-esque stucco boxes, festooned with ‘woodsy’ trellises and tones of beige blandness. As such, its also reminiscent of that era’s attempts to justify extremely cliched, mediocre design simply through claims of environmental friendliness. I frankly am amazed to see this on a website that claims to care about the environment AND design.

By: d. nice

d. nice — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:55:55 +0000

c. smith, I think the kind of people that move into these will most likely own a bike and also be the first to buy a fully electric car they can charge with solar electric energy. if Urban can be green enough its not bad, its Great!

By: c. smith

c. smith — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 07:51:27 +0000

i wonder where in san diego county this is located. i applaud the effort to be “green”, however, if it is part of the urban sprawl/car culture that is endemic to the area all of it’s green efforts will be for naught.

By: Christopher P.

Christopher P. — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 07:33:22 +0000

Outstanding! Solara points the way to xera-greening So Cal., wedded to smart growth AND affordablity, well.

By: Charlotte Albright

Charlotte Albright — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:43:59 +0000

I love the look of this community. This is the first apartment community i’ve seen in my quest for green. thank you for this article.