Re: New cohousing group sought for downtown Oakland, CA site!
From: Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-Lraines.com)
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 11:40:05 -0700 (PDT)
I just wanted to echo Joani in excitement about the cohousing
potential of this new downtown Oakland site.

I was part of Swan's Market Cohousing during the development process
and initial years in residence, before moving to Berkeley cohousing,
and I do miss the larger-community "buzz" and convenience of access to
culture and shopping restaurants and government and job opportunities,
plus being right on an official bike route, near Amtrak with service
to Silicon Valley and Sacramento, not to mention the wonderful ferries
and shoreline parks. It was nice having a shorter commute to downtown
San Francisco than most San Franciscans, and being able to walk over
to Oakland's Chinatown.

No, Betsy and I are not planning on moving from Berkeley Cohousing
(any more than Joani would leave her longtime home in community at
Swan's), but as we've been doing outreach on the Kaiser-Piedmont
"Instant Cohousing" move-in-ready apartment building site, we've found
a number of folks interested in a larger community and some not ready
for an immediate purchase, needing to build savings, repair credit, or
sell an existing home first. When I was selling my unit at Swan's a
couple of years ago, I found many people who needed something larger
than a studio loft, and definite demand exceeding supply, with low
turnover there (mine was the first unit offered for sale in several
years).

If you're interested but unable to attend this Friday evening, July
10, just click through to the East Bay Cohousing event link and RSVP
"No" (you'll have to confirm your email address to help prevent spam)
and you'll get the chance to pose some questions and get on the list
for follow-up, as well as notice of the many tours, trainings, events,
and community opportunities in the area:

http://www.ebcoho.org/calendar/10796927/

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach, Planning for Sustainable Communities
http://www.CohousingCoach.com/

East Bay Cohousing community organizer
http://www.ebcoho.org/

P.S. Here's this week's East Bay Cohousing calendar:

Wednesday evening:
-  Berkeley Cohousing neighbor (West Berkeley)
-  Kaiser-Piedmont "Instant Cohousing" info session (EBCOHO clubhouse,
downtown Berkeley)

Thursday evening:
- EcoVillages slideshow with "Finding Community" author Diana Leafe
Christian (Commonwealth Club, SF)

Friday lunch:
- Sustainable Business Alliance lunch (EBCOHO clubhouse, downtown Berkeley)

Friday evening:
- Downtown Oakland potential site meeting (Swan's Market Cohousing, Old Oakland)

Saturday-Sunday:
- Building Intentional Communities workshop with Diana Leafe Christian
(EBCOHO clubhouse, downtown Berkeley)

Sunday, July 12:
- East Bay Cohousing Crawl walking tour with Daily Acts (starts at
Berkeley Cohousing, ends at Temescal Creek)
  (includes visit to Berkeley Cohousing neighbor's home for sale)
- Kaiser-Piedmont "Instant Cohousing" site visit (a short walk from
the end of the tour)

Monday, July 13:
- Kaiser-Piedmont "Instant Cohousing" info session (EBCOHO clubhouse,
downtown Berkeley)

Also learn about affordable co-op/group house/collective openings at
Parker Street, Milvia House, and Brigid Collective - see the "About"
section of www.ebcoho.org.

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