Recent content by marvmiller

Laurent has a master plan developed from a week long planning session with 15 professional architects and planners as well as about 15 deaf and hard of hearing and hearing signers attending. We are currently waiting for our funding to close. It has been delayed several times rather...

Richard, we have not accepted monetary deposits for our town. All reservations made thus far has been basically a show of interest on their part. No money has been received, other than donations gratefully accepted for our non-profit, 501c3 The Laurent Institute. And, Wyndholme Village was...

Where did I say Laurent is for deaf people only? There will be no laws to restrict prospective buyers -- hearing or deaf -- from buying a home in Laurent. Only businesses and service providers as well as those running or working for city government will be required to use ASL as direct...

Nope. There will be no requirements or restrictions on anyone buying a home in Laurent. Only businesses, service providers and local goverment officials will be required to communicate in sign language. This will be just like Americans with Disabilities Act requiring access on telephone or at...

Not to nitpick, but its 158 families on the list now. The list represents over 300 individuals. You're right about ancillary services, and we will be working with different groups to make that happen as well. One nice thing is that our town can rely on city of Salem (1,300 pop.) 3.5 miles...

Actually, that's not our issue at all. 158 families on reservation list with minimal marketing on our part on top of the fact there's no home, condo or apartment floor plans to show at this time -- yet they all signed up sight unseen... that's astounding achievement for any development project...

We don't have that in South Dakota. Hence the word, "South". :-) I am not saying we're like Florida, and with hurricanes expected to hit with more frequency, maybe that's a good thing. :-( I agree with you wholeheartedly, and the way to do this is to have fully integrated local public school...

You are assuming that we are going to isolate ourselves. Despite our statements to the contrary, you just basically decided that building this town is isolationism. I think there's not much I can say or do to change your mind. Really? I think you're overgeneralizing here. And what's wrong...

Fact: 158 families on our reservation list represent 60% deaf adults, 40% hearing adults, 60% hearing children and 40% deaf children. Martha's Vineyard had only, in one town, 1 out of 25 persons that was deaf. Yet, their signing community flourished for over 350 years. We have so many hearing...

Andres Duany, father of New Urbanism and principal of Duany, Plater-Zyberk Town Planning firm, once said: "If climate was the main reason in selecting a location, everyone would live in Hawaii." South Dakota's winters can be bitterly cold in Dec, Jan and Feb... but these "bitter" cold days do...

I was alerted to this site recently, and I have read all replies to this topic thread. I thought this was a very good discussion. I wasn't sure if I should jump in and give some answers or at least explain our perspective on why we are building Laurent. I'll jump in anyway! [Quick note: Yes...