Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Is communal ownership obligatory for cohousing?

[Brian Bartholomew (bb]

> For #3 we plan to share the use of meeting halls, workshops, gardens,
> and woods, but we don't plan to share the ownership of them.

| Who would/does own them? What happens if that person/entity doesn't
| agree with the wishes/desires of the community members for the
| use/development of those facilites?

Scenario: Community member Sam owns a compact pickup truck, which is
not his everyday transportation.  He uses it rarely, so he loans it to
community members for their errands, as long as they refill it.

Sam wakes up on the wrong side of bed one day and decides to be a
jerk.  For some transparently dubious reason he says that nobody can
borrow the truck anymore.  This annoys community members, who have
come to enjoy having a truck available, and think Sam is being a twit.

People will probably first try to sweet-talk Sam into making his truck
available again, and if that doesn't work and they really miss the
truck, one or more community members will buy another used truck and
go back to the previously-enjoyed sharing arrangement.

However it turns out, Sam has lost social capital.  If Sam is smart he
will apologize quickly and people will forgive him.  But in any case,
Sam's ownership rights have been respected, while the rest of the
community has adapted.
                                                        Brian