Civano

On the far southeast side of Tucson there is a planned community called "Civano," which is described by its originators as "an antidote to urban sprawl's five banes: loss of community, loss of open space, traffic congestion, air pollution, and poor use of resources."

"Civano" was the golden era of the Classical Phase of native Hohokam civilization, an era that balanced natural resources with human needs. Hohokam is the name given to one of the four prehistoric civilizations that archaeologists have uncovered in the SouthWest.

This first picture shows the ultimate Civano home

– desert landscaping, thick adobe walls, solar panels in the back, rainwater collection tank and cooling tower (air is drawn into the house thru floor level vents and exhausted by convection up thru the tower). Admittedly, it was the only one we saw with all of these features, but several other homes had some of the features.

The second picture shows the "walk to anywhere" design


of the community,











while the third and fourth show some of the other interesting homes there.











At the moment there are about six hundred homes in the community. Two different friends of ours live there, and one of them gave the tour to the four of us (Clara and I and our Laramie friends.)