The Perfect Piece of Land

Last year, Diane Kirkpatrick--executive director of HFH of Louisville (Ky.)--was in search of a creative way to present information on land to the affiliate's board of directors. The result was a revealing look at land priorities as seen from various partners' perspectives.


What Habitat homeowner families want: Wide lots with deep back yards in a choice of neighborhoods that are close to public transportation and far from nightclubs.

What finance, development and administrative committees want: Free or inexpensive land with clear titles and deeds that have been recorded with the city on which several houses could be built in order to save on the cost of Dumpsters, power poles, etc.

What family selection, family nurture and site selection committees want: A predictable supply of land that could be described to families at application meetings; enough land for creating a neighborhood so that there would be enough families to form a block watch; land with clear title, recorded deeds and no environmental problems.

What affiliate construction staff and volunteers want: Flat sites for delivery of materials; vacant lots with existing sewer lines that require no demolition of standing structures, and have no environmental problems; contiguous lots (for easier supervision) that are at least 30 feet wide (for simple, efficient design).

What the public wants: Habitat to build in their neighborhood; Habitat to not build in their neighborhood; safety for volunteers and hospitality crews.

What local government wants: Habitat to build in neighborhoods where there is no new housing development.





Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, August/September 2000.
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©2000 Habitat for Humanity International