Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Average Turn Over

[Elizabeth Magill (pastorliz]

This, plus an early comment that communicated to me, at least, that I  
shouldn't be interested in cohousing, because I'm not inclined to  
commit to living in one place for the rest of my life, brings up a  
question that I have.

Is stability actually critical to a sense of community?
I can see the possibility that six week rentals would limit our  
abilities to get to know each other. But is the only other healthy  
community option for us all to stay forever?

I haven't lived in cohousing yet (I move in sometime between Oct 1  
and Nov 29!!!).
But I spend a lot of time working on issues of community.. at work,  
in religious institutions, and in many other places along the way.

Some things I notice:
I live in a neighborhood with little or no turnover... certainly no  
more than 1 unit per year  out of some 60 condos. And I know 3  
households, total... not even the name of all the others.

Christian Churches that are primarily centered around immigrant  
populations create a strong sense of community very quickly, and  
become a support system and fictive family in a few weeks time. The  
population is extremely unstable... that is, people move in and out  
constantly.

Congregations that have had stable numbers for many years... say no  
new members in the last five years, often have great stability, great  
community, and a complete inability to see anyone outside the in- 
group, or even to be more than polite to a newcomer. So, while  
they've created community, they aren't, in my book, a very healthy  
community.

So I feel a presumption that stability of membership is a very  
important goal. But I'm not sure whether it is a valid presumption,  
in and of itself.

My very best "live in community" experience was in graduate school,  
where 1/3 of the population left every year, and a different 1/3  
arrived.

But, as I said, I haven't lived in co-housing yet. Tell me more about  
what turn over discussions are meant to imply, and why low turn-over  
is important.
And, I suppose, what my baby community should be doing to attend to  
this as we get ready to move in!
-Liz
(The Rev.) Elizabeth M. Magill
PastorLiz [at] verizon.net
Mosaic Commons, part of Sawyerhill EcoVillage in Berlin MA
where we have market rate, and affordable units still available.
Won't you join us?
www.sawyerhill.org


On Aug 7, 2008, at 2:51 PM, Kay Argyle wrote:

> I too have wondered what the range of turnover is among  
> communities. The
> subject usually only appears as a throwaway comment in a for-sale  
> notice,
> "our first unit to come available in three years."  Nobody boasts  
> about "our
> second unit available this summer." Is a low turnover the norm? Or do
> communities with more turnover choose not to discuss it, the way  
> communities
> are sometimes reluctant to confess they don't (for shame!) have common
> meals?
>
> We've gone through periods of stability where someone was 'the newest
> member' for a couple of years, and others when, as someone said  
> plaintively
> at the last community meeting, "I don't know who lives here  
> anymore."  Our
> average is probably close to three new households per year.
>
> Twenty-six units, going on ten years.
>
> The "running of the furniture" is a not-quite-annual event, with at  
> least
> nine (or ten, depending on definitions) households past and present  
> having
> changed units.  One household has lived in four different units.
>
> Nine original households are still present, including three (out of an
> initial five) renters. One unit has had four owners; another has  
> had six
> renters (if I haven't forgotten someone).  Currently eleven units are
> rentals.
>
> There's a common prejudice that renters are less stable than  
> owners. It
> depends on why they are renting: a single parent on a tight budget, a
> disabled or older person on a fixed income, someone cautious about  
> making
> sure cohousing is a good fit before they buy, a footloose young  
> single who
> wants to be able to up-anchor at short notice, to travel or join a
> significant other or accept a job following graduation.
>
> The moral being, don't build a one-bedroom rental up a flight of  
> stairs.  It
> selects for people who aren't settled.
>
> Kay
>
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