Story URL: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=166537
Story Retrieval Date: 6/18/2013 11:30:37 PM CST

Michael Depland/MEDILL
Julie Peterson of the Waterside Co-op in the backyard garden of the house.
The Waterside Co-op in Lincoln Square is a living space in which its residents put forth efforts to be environmentally active. The residents of the house all participate in gardening across the street at Waters Elementary School. This includes planting, tending, composting and much more.
Julie Peterson, co-owner of the co-op, said that they are currently seeking a way to keep the house, as the other co-owner has moved, and the house is now on the market. "We've tried a number of different ways to finance the house," Peterson said. This includes a traditional co-op route, financing through banks, or gaining pledges through fundraising. "We have to figure out either how to get a new bank mortgage or we have to raise all the money to pay the bank," she said.
The sense of community the best aspect to the co-op, according to Peterson. "We go to the protests together, but we'll come back home and we're gardening, chopping the compost, even playing guitar and singing and cooking," she said. "That is an incredibly beautiful goal, to have a community like that."