Size Matters (was: CH TV + Simple Wins
From: R Philip Dowds (rpdowdscomcast.net)
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:16:22 -0700 (PDT)
For the purposes of cohousing, I've been told size matters -- that is, a coho 
of appx 30-40 units may be optimum.  At a dozen units or so, sharing the cost 
diverse amenities gets to be a stretch, and mediating among personal conflicts 
is harder to pull off (like, imagine a nuclear reactor with no damper rods).  
But at more than 50, then actually meeting and knowing everyone, and 
remembering all the names, becomes problematic.

A 500-resident community subdivided into cohousing-like neighborhoods?  Well, 
Sociocracy is scalable, and should offer a layered structure of interlocking 
circles that can hold everything together.  One thing for sure:  At several 
hundred households, convening plenary at the Common House and "talking things 
out" will not be central to their management strategy.

RPD

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 25, 2013, at 9:27 AM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> 
wrote:

> This is not just the TV but in all things community. The larger the 
> community, the more education becomes an effort and a constant challenge as 
> the turnover becomes also greater. I'm more and more convinced that smaller 
> communities work more easily. I'm curious to see what happens in Australia 
> with a planned ecovillage of 500+ residents that will function in smaller 
> cohousing units. (Apparently 500 is one of the estimated number required to 
> sustain all the eco friendly services for sustainability.)

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