RE: Affordable Cohousing
From: Rob Sandelin (robsanmicrosoft.com)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 16:24 CST
Dan Suchman asked:

>I'd love to hear from readers that have a different perspective, or know of
>other means of creating affordable cohousing in the US.

There are dozens of examples of affordable housing, created entirely 
without subsidy around Washington State Dan.  The Love Israel 
community, Teramanto, Wesleyian Community, Windward, Walker Creek 
farm,are a few communities that come to mind that all provide housing 
for very low income people.  These are all member developed intentional 
communities.  Many of them are communes or coops, which were formed by 
a group pooling its resources and working together.  Granted, they are 
not state of the art, condo units with giant common houses, but they 
get by, share community meals, and run very sustainable lifestyles, 
much more so than most Cohousing communities do.  Typically they form 
around a philosophy or ideal and that is the glue that binds them 
together.  They often work together in a community business and share 
the income from that business.  The Israel community for example raises 
high quality greens for resteraunt markets and does environmentally 
sensitive land clearing and development.  For details of these types of 
places I highly recommend Communities Magazine, available in many 
bookstores.  Also the Northwest Intentional Communities association 
meets monthly in Seattle and will hold their annual meeting at 
Sharingwood this year.  I welcome you to attend. The contact person for 
the Fellowship of Intentional Community, a national communities 
networking group, lives on Whidbey Island.

I just got off the phone with a communal household in Seattle, where 
four lower income families formed a partnership and bought a house on 
Queen Ann hill and live together, share cars, and meals.  There are 
dozens of households just like it around Seattle, Portland, Salem, 
Eugene.  These  cooperative households are springing up like mushrooms 
as the price and burdens of homeownership continue to go up.  I have a 
friend who has been teaching for 5 years and could never own a home on 
her own.  Instead, she is joining forces with 3 other teachers to form 
a partnership to buy.  There is a organization forming in Seattle, out 
of the Puget Sound Coop Federation, which is organizing a coop house 
service to help people join together in home ownership.

 There are also land trusts such as Opal community, or the one in 
Laconner  which had their land paid for by government programs and are 
resident designed and developed for low income members.

So lots of places are doing low income housing with and without subsidy 
and quietly working and living a sustainable lifestyle, far from the 
everyday roar of the consumer culture madness.  I suspect that one of 
these days, when the time is right, I'll join one or start one.

Rob Sandelin
Treasurer and newsletter editor
Northwest Intentional Communities Association
Only $5 for Community Resources Newsletter
22020 East Lost Lake Rd. Snohomish, WA 98290








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