Affordability, doability | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Jane O'Brien (janeobrienearthlink.net) | |
Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 18:38:15 -0700 (PDT) |
> various options like being willing to live in an area of the country > where prices for land and construction are cheaper. I took this suggestion and combined it with an idea from Sharon Villines: that people in condos and other situations are looking for an old-fashioned neighborhood experience and that it might be easier or more possible to creste that than to find/build cohousing for oneself. I moved about two years ago, luckily at the height of the real estate boom, from Washington, DC to Cincinnati, OH. At the time the cost of living here was 42% less than DC; it's now "only" 34% less. I found a small 1925 cottage on a tiny street with just 9 houses, and (more luck!) found two folks on the street also interested in building a "neighborhood" feel. It's affordable: the cottages run less than 1000 sq. feet (several folks still raising families in them) and the average price is about $70K. It's diverse: college professors, shift workers, and the unemployed living side by side. And diverse in ways that I find very challenging: several of my neighbors have never registered to vote "because they are all crooks in Washington"; some are vocal racists; some seem on the edge of neglecting their young children, and there is discreet illegal drug use. Sometimes it is a challenge to reach for common values, to say the least. I was a pretty typical condo dweller, living ten years in a building where I scarcely knew my neighbors. Now I share a rich street life where we sit on our porches on warm nights, trade plants, share lawn mowers and crockpots, etc. It is hard to build community anywhere, but the geography here helps: the street is so small it is almost a pedestrian street (only the nine families who live here drive down the street, plus the occasional delivery truck). The houses are very close to one another (about 10 feet between them) so you wave to your neighbor in your facing kitchen windows when both of you are making supper. But there are no shared walls, so it's easier to shut out neighbor noise; everyone has a small yard and parking in front of their house; everyone tends to look out for the children and animals of those who live here. It's a great solution for me. Might not have worked well earlier in my life, and I know the circumstances have to conspire for people to be able to move long distance. But like Ann and Sharon I would encourage everyone to think creatively. I love my life here. And I owe a great deal of it to Ann, who told me about a woman at her cohousing community who moved to Yellow Springs, OH because it was more affordable, and to Sharon, who wrote a short-lived newsletter for folks trying to make their own living situations more like cohousing. Thanks, you two, and good luck to all who populate this list with great ideas, suggestions, and who are searching for a more livable lifestyle. Jane O'Brien Cincinnati, OH
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Affordability, doability Jane O'Brien, May 19 2008
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Re: Affordability, doability Ann Zabaldo, May 19 2008
- Zillions of cohousing communities Marganne, May 21 2008
- What People Want From Community Tim Mensch, May 21 2008
- finding community Marganne, May 21 2008
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Re: Affordability, doability Ann Zabaldo, May 19 2008
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