Re: cohousing vision | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com) | |
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 08:12:27 -0700 (PDT) |
On 8 Jul 2011, at 2:07 AM, Ann Maria Bell wrote: > So long as cohousing communities are based on home-ownership they will be > "middle class" by definition. Which definition are you using? Many working class people own their own homes. > Here at Arboretum Cohousing 100% of our homes > are owner-occupied. [snip] At its highest, the home ownership rate in the US > was about 60%. That means that 40% of the population is eliminated from the > pool of potential cohousers from the start, including the poor & most young > adults. "Eliminated" in what way? Home ownership entails home maintenance and repair, so a person has to have enough time and energy for that. And the cost of the home has to be low enough to leave funds available for repairs — something too many homeowners forget. They budget only for the mortgage payments and utilities. Houses are expensive to build but since rental units do exist and people do rent them, the question arises why aren't there any low cost condos that would match the cost of small, basic rental units. Possibly because they don't sell and condominiums have to have a resident base of people with the time, education (self or family history) to maintain real estate. I don't know if it has been tried. Some people do choose not to own homes. I know very wealthy people in New York City who say it is foolish and a waste of money. Real estate is a bad investment. For very low income people, the risks of ownership are also too great. There is no cushion to cover disasters. Renters can just move on. In cohousing, the movement is just too small to absorb people who can't manage risk. At last calculation only about 1600 people live in cohousing in the US. Not sure if those figures include Canada. Even at 3,000 it would be less than one urban housing project. That is a very small number to make any economic difference in terms of ability to raise funds and get government subsidies of any size. Sharon ---- Sharon Villines Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC http://www.takomavillage.org
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cohousing vision Gerald Manata, July 6 2011
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Re: cohousing vision Michael Barrett, July 7 2011
- Re: cohousing vision Norman Gauss, July 7 2011
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Re: cohousing vision Ann Maria Bell, July 7 2011
- Re: cohousing vision Sharon Villines, July 8 2011
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Re: cohousing vision peterpiper, July 13 2011
- Re: cohousing vision John Beutler, July 13 2011
- Re: cohousing vision Jerome Garciano, July 13 2011
- Re: cohousing vision Sharon Villines, July 13 2011
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Re: cohousing vision Michael Barrett, July 7 2011
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