Hi. I’m Abby Quillen. I’m a freelance writer, and I live in Eugene, Oregon with my husband and two sons. I started New Urban Habitat in March of 2009. You can find more of my writing at abbyquillen.com.
New Urban Habitat is a blog about simple, healthy, and sustainable city living with researched articles, tips, and personal essays. You’ll find articles here about topics such as:
- Backyard chickens
- Family life
- Simple living
- Natural parenting
- Organic gardening
- Health
- Whole-foods cooking
- Car-free living
I’m also interested in broader social movements, particularly New Urbanism – a planning movement aimed at retrofitting suburbia and building less car-dependent, more livable cities.
Welcome to New Urban Habitat! If you’re new here, you may enjoy these popular posts:
- 5 Documentaries That Could Change Your Outlook on Life
- Confessions From the Car-Free Life
- 6 Fun Ways to Spend a Cold, Dark Night
- 12 Easy Ways to Use Less Plastic
- The Art of Walking: A Passion for the Pedestrian
- Overcoming Obstacles to the Bicycling Life
- Bamboo Bicycles
- 10 Aha Moments in 2010
- Lessons in Car-Free Living
- Winter Stargazing: 7 Reasons to Observe the Night Sky
- Dandelions are Super Foods
- Simplify Your Personal Care
- Slow Parenting
- Do-It-Yourselfing
- Six Books That Could Change Your Outlook on Life
- Take Back Your Time
- A Year of Dressing Locally
- 5 Simple (and Free) Ways to Entertain a Small Child
- A Wabi Sabi Life
- Milestones
- 6 Ways to Love Your Community
- Rethinking Sunscreen
Questions or comments?
I’d love to hear from you! Send me an email at newurbanhabitat at gmail dot com.
#1 by Suzy on June 9, 2009 - 10:18 am
Love Helen and Scott Nearing! They’re my heroes! (I’m just wondering…. is Frank a relative of Helen and Scott?)
#2 by Lisa Zahn on June 10, 2009 - 8:58 am
I love your description!
#3 by Rae Grant on July 1, 2009 - 6:06 am
Love it!
#4 by newurbanhabitat on July 6, 2009 - 12:16 pm
Thanks!
#5 by Suzy on July 1, 2009 - 12:24 pm
You are very inspiring! Keep up the great work and please keep sharing what you’re doing!
#6 by newurbanhabitat on July 6, 2009 - 12:15 pm
Thanks, Suzy!
#7 by brite on January 30, 2010 - 8:11 pm
Wow- my mom just sent me the link to your blog with a note saying, These people are weird like you!
We’ve had our three babies at home, we brew beer, make our bread, preserve food, sew and love to create vs. consume, etc., etc…all in rental homes. (I didn’t know there was a name for us other than odd, although my husband has called me us “Essentialists” before). We’ve had small gardens and we’re trying to figure out if we can do chickens without our landlady kicking us out. Love the blog and look forward to reading more!
#8 by newurbanhabitat on February 1, 2010 - 1:34 pm
That’s so funny. Isn’t it fun to connect with other like-minded (a.k.a weird) people? Thanks for commenting!
#9 by Anonymous on January 31, 2010 - 12:57 pm
Great blog!
#10 by libertyrequiresvigilance on February 1, 2010 - 11:48 am
Great blog! Going to be doing some work with the Denver Homesteaders movement this spring and summer and will send you worthy news bits! I also admire your extensive collection of links. Keep up the great posting!
#11 by newurbanhabitat on February 1, 2010 - 1:36 pm
Great! I’d like that. I lived in Denver for many years. Thanks!
#12 by pen2sword on June 14, 2010 - 9:21 am
I’m so glad I found your blog! That is exactly what I am thinking about doing. I am only 15, but in a few years I will be on my own and I have been trying to find a way to combine my dual personalities (city slicker who loves people, country girl who loves gardens) into one way of life… This is a great idea, I’ll be reading!
#13 by Abby Quillen on June 14, 2010 - 3:44 pm
I’m so glad you found my blog too! Yes, I too have always been torn between city and country (and forest and mountains).
#14 by plantsondeck on July 23, 2010 - 5:41 am
Although a trip to the beach is calling me, I’m looking forward to exploring your blog. It looks like we have a lot in common. Cheers.
#15 by Kel on August 1, 2010 - 10:56 pm
Found you via the Frugal Kiwi. Enjoyed your posts. Read that you live in Eugene and the 2 recent stories set in Eugene with great interest as currently thinking of moving back to the US from the developing world to there. Read that the biking family has a child with Down syndrome and nearly fell off my chair as *that’s* the reason we’ve been thinking about moving back to the US soon.
I knew Eugene seemed a really good bet for us–the New Urban Habitat is what we require if we are going to come back to the States.
Your blog is stengthening my hope that there is good stuff back ‘home’ and we can find an inspiring life there–and not end up in the standard suburbia I grew up in (and ran away from).
Thanks so so so much. I will donate as soon as I get a paypal account.
#16 by Jesse on October 4, 2010 - 11:52 am
Hi New Urban Habitat,
My name is Jesse Florendo and I work with a documentary called Paul Goodman Changed My Life. We’re sponsoring a contest to encourage people to reduce global warming and improve transportation options in their own communities. Winners in the US and Europe will receive new bicycles from Breezer Bikes and Biomega, respectively. The contest is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Biking & Walking, the World Carfree Network, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, and Dissent Magazine.
We’d love to get the word out about this contest to New Urban Habitat’s readers. This is a really cool opportunity that we think they’d be excited about. There’s some more info about the contest below, or you can check out paulgoodmanfilm.com/bike. The contest launched October 1st and runs through October, so if you’re interested in posting about it, today or tomorrow would be great. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about the contest, the film, or Paul Goodman.
Best,
Jesse Florendo
JSL Films
jesse@paulgoodmanfilm.com
To honor 20th century philosopher and social theorist Paul Goodman’s legacy, JSL Films, producer of the documentary Paul Goodman Changed My Life, is holding a contest to help encourage transportation alternatives.
Paul Goodman, a writer, a radical, and a renaissance man, was the co-author of “Banning Cars from Manhattan,” a 1961 proposal to improve New York’s streets by eliminating private auto traffic. Nearly half a century later, his ideas are now heralded as being before their time, with limiting traffic in city centers becoming more and more common.
Paul Goodman Changed My Life is honoring Goodman’s legacy by inviting people to propose change in their own communities. Anyone who submits five proposals to their local government (mayor, city council, etc.) can enter a drawing to win a new bicycle. One winner in the United States will win a bike courtesy of Breezer Bikes, and one winner in Europe will win a bike courtesy of Biomega.
#17 by Sister Earth Organics on November 8, 2010 - 5:29 pm
Your blog is great! There are a lot of fun and useful tips and sites. Thanks for your time!
#18 by sistahcool on November 9, 2010 - 3:35 am
No sooner did I just finish posting a blog about the holiday blues, I discovered your post. Thank you so much for even more ideas to enjoy this time of year. I’m a huge fan of the summer, so this is always a bit of a challenging time of year for me. Dinner by candlelight with a bunch of friends sounds great. Thanks again.
#19 by Kirk Kandle on November 16, 2010 - 8:08 am
Do you know Aaron and Laura Beese in Eugene. I stayed overnight with them on my TransAm trip, back in early August. You have a lot in common with them. I’ll send them a link to your blog. Who knows? You might be neighbors! Small world.
#20 by Abby Quillen on November 16, 2010 - 9:07 pm
Hi Kirk. I don’t know them. Thanks for spreading the word about New Urban Habitat!
#21 by 6512 and growing on November 17, 2010 - 7:46 pm
Lovely to find this spot here. You have the most extensive blogroll I’ve ever seen. I look forward to poking around!
#22 by Andres Duany on December 30, 2010 - 4:15 pm
You are onto the 21st Century. Good!
A couple of perhaps-too-personal questions, if you dont mind: What did you do before, and what are you doing now, in addition to running this complex household. I am interested in your honing to this expertise and also in the economics of it. How do you make it economically? How did you learn.
#23 by Lynn Fang on January 10, 2011 - 9:31 am
I love what you’re doing! So inspiring. I would love to start a homestead some day. I’ll definitely be back to read more of your adventures!
#24 by Lee Rankin on March 8, 2011 - 10:18 am
Hello Abby
We (my girlfriend and I) recently went to Dave and Sue Ward’s place as well. What wonderful people! We also have been through western Oregon and areas south of there down to Point Reyes and were very impressed and hopeful about the sustainable efforts in place there. Our path led us to the CO-OP in Mendocino which was our first direct exposure to the food CO-OP concept. We brushed up against it again in Crestone and finally found the CCFA and Dave and Sue. I’m not sure if you know this but Ploughboy is closing. We are very interested in getting directly involved in the effort in Salida and wondered if you could give any advice or potential contacts that can help us identify where we might be able to help?
#25 by The Simple Life of a Country Man's Wife on June 1, 2011 - 7:05 am
Sounds a bit like life on the farm here, minus the chickens (perhaps down the road?…) We have indoor fruit plants and a large garden, surrounded by cattle and wide open spaces. Enjoy living the good life!
#26 by ceceliafutch on June 1, 2011 - 7:56 am
Wonderful blog!
#27 by annisveggies on June 1, 2011 - 12:01 pm
You have a wonderful and inspiring blog and I will be coming back to visit it again. What a lot of references to follow up!
Best wishes
Anni Kelsey
#28 by Springfield City Farm on June 1, 2011 - 4:44 pm
Hi there. I stumbled upon your blog, it’s great. I will be checking back in as I have time to see if I can pick up any helpful hints. Thanks for doing this. Rick
springfieldcityfarm.wordpress.com
#29 by Carolyn on February 11, 2012 - 3:20 pm
Hi Abby! I saw your article in Yes! magazine and thought, “Hmm…I wonder if that’s the Abby Quillen (daughter of Ed) I worked with so many years ago at the Tattered Cover?” Just wanted to say hi, and love what you’re doing out there. Hope all is well with you.
Best,
Carolyn Barndt (TC 1991-2006)
#30 by Abby Quillen on February 14, 2012 - 4:35 pm
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks so much for your kind note. It’s nice to hear from a Tattered Cover alumni!
Abby