Re: UrbanIC's listserve and Cohousing-l
From: Morales Jose (moralesrorl.ucsf.edu)
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 09:42:49 -0500
Rob,
Thanks for the information about intentional communities and cohousing. 
I like knowing the lay of the land and I also appreciate your perspective.

>From what I've read about the origin of cohousing, it seems as if it
wasn't for those hippies back when, the ideas and millieu that spawned
cohousing in europe probably would never have happened.  


Jose Morales

Rad Onc  UCSF  / Envi Onc  NYU
morales [at] rorl.ucsf.edu

BoricuaNet NCPRR
jose [at] boricuanet.org

Rob Sandelin wrote:
>I want to debunk some stereotypes here.
>
>>No one on this list will be surprised to hear that many folks into
>>cohousing do not consider what they/we are doing to be "intentional
>>community," because beyond the desire to be much closer to their
neighbors
>>than they ever previously imagined, they usually do not share
political,
>>religious, or even certain kinds of social ideology.
>
>First off, Cohousing IS a form of intentional community, whether you
like it
>or not. Intentional community is people living together for a reason.
>Cohousers live together on purpose with a reason. Thus Cohousing is a
type
>of intentional community.
>
>Second, there are many, many non-cohousing intentional communities that
do
>not share political, religious or social ideology. Sharing such does not
>define them as intentional communities. There are explicit social
ideologies
>in many intentional communities that call themselves cohousing.
>
>
> In addition, many
>>specifically want to distance themselves from what they imagine to
be--or
>>what truly is--the public image of intentional community.
>
>Right, this is middle class image of hippy cult stereotyping. Cohousing
>wants to be clean, shining, attractive to middle and upper middle class
>professionals, bank loan officers and the like. This is just as
degrading an
>image as the hippy cult sterotype, just depends on your perspective. I
see
>this on the other side of the fence as well, other kinds of communities
are
>very clear , we aint COHOUSING, that's them yuppies in the city who are
>community wantabes but don't really know anything about it. This kind of
>stereotyping of each other is not very useful since most forms of
>Intentional communty have a great deal in common and lots to learn from
each
>other.
>>
>>The other way that cohousing differs from other intentional communities
is
>>the large amount of privacy that is afforded to individual households
in
>>cohousing.
>
>I know lots of non-cohousing Intentional communitas that would look at
>cohousing and say, man I could never live there, not enough privacy. For
>example, some of the folks that live at Alpha Farm, a long time, very
well
>known commune in Oregon have WAY more personal privacy than the folks at
>Doyle street do. Some of them even have bigger personal spaces.
>
>Lots of stereotypes about Intentional communities get played out in the
>press all the time. I think this list is not a good place to add to
those.
>All of us who live cooperatively have a great deal do learn and share
with
>each other.
>
>Rob Sandelin
>Northwest Intentional Communities Association (19 cohousing groups
included)
>Sharingwood Cohousing
>
>
>
>
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>Subject: Re: UrbanIC's listserve and Cohousing-l
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