Re: Pioneering/Building in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods/Gentrification
From: Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-Lraines.com)
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 08:04:12 -0700 (PDT)
Peggy,
Thanks for joining the conversation on Cohousing-L.

The way this list is set up, your pictures can't be seen; you would probably
be best served by posting them on your community's website (or at least its
cohousing communities directory entry), if the website isn't easy to update
(it's a nice looking page for a regional group, but I don't think it serves
well your goal of marketing the community and attracting future residents,
between the ads and the lack of depth and the dated copyright notice at the
bottom that makes it appear to not have been updated in three years).

Three Trails entry in cohousing communities directory:
http://www.cohousing.org/directory/view/21255

Independence (Mo.) Cohousing Association web page:
http://www.icohoa.org/

While you're in there, I bet you'd find it well worth your while to update
the cohousing status on the directory to at least "Own Site" if not "Under
Construction" or "Retrofitting", so people searching for community
opportunities can best appreciate how far along you are in the process.

As for getting the word out locally, helping people visualize what it will
be like is, as you identified, key to the process of recruitment. Since
renting is a (relatively) simple, low-commitment process compared to
homeownership, there is little direct incentive to make the jump and
visualize the end result during a time of construction. You can offer
financial incentives or use similar tools to focus attention on the end
result, but given a choice, most people choose not to live in construction
zones.

What communications tools are you using now? What sort of literature and
events? Who greets and welcomes new members? Any news coverage? Is there a
core group, or just a few developer-members onsite? What is the story of the
site: not just its past, but its future? How can people start to see
themselves in that story? That's the type of approach that gets folks
engaged and committed.

Your approach is not that unique among retrofitting cohousing communities. A
decade before I moved to Berkeley Cohousing, the members rented and lived in
the units during construction, switching as necessary as different units
were worked on.

I've been coaching another Missouri community facing retrofitting-process
outreach challenges: Metro Cohousing at Culver Way EcoVillage in St. Louis.
Tom and Carol and several other folks are living in the community during
construction, and finding that it helps to expose prospects to lots of
images and descriptions of what the community will be like before they see
the current temporary cramped conditions.

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach http://www.CohousingCoach.com/
who just happens to be doing a pre-conference workshop the Friday morning
before the national cohousing conference in June in Seattle sharing lots of
secrets for marketing your community using the web. You can register even if
you're not coming to the main conference:
http://www.cohousing.org/2009/pcw/webmarketing

Northern California Cohousing Regional Organizer http://www.NorCalCoho.org/
Delighted to learn that affordable-rental cohousing neighborhood Petaluma
Avenue Homes in Sebastopol, CA is moving in right now.

2009/4/5 peggyjo8592 <peggyjo8592 [at] yahoo.com>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> My name is Peggy Johannes.  I live in Three Trails Co housing.  We are in
> the early stages of forming our community.  The property has been purchased,
> and was previously zoned for multiple dwellings.  Currently there are
> several rental properties, one of which my friend and I live in.  It is a
> pre-civil war stage coach inn.  The common house is a 1900's Vintage house,
> it is currently being remodeled.  We currently have several rental
> properties available.
> We are unsure how to get the word out, and get people interested in the
> community.  We are planning a 4th of July BBQ, and watching a local fire
> works display.  Which is set up 1 block away from our community.  Any
> suggestions would be welcome.  I do know that several people are turned off
> by the amount of remodeling work which is going on.  I don't know may be
> they are unable to visualize the potential.  I'm attaching some photos of
> our work in progress.
>
> Thanks so much...

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.