Cohousing-L Mailing List: noise-ways to deal with it

[Katherine G. Hamil (khamil]

Hello,

I have been reading this group for nearly a year now and have finally
chosen to de-lurk! I would like to generate some discussion on a subject
that this group has been uncharacteristically silent on --The one on
noise; More specifically how an intentional community deals with noise.

My interest in this question is quite personal. I am a member on Arcadia,
a cohousing community in Carrboro NC. We are going to be breaking ground
on the first set of houses as soon as it stops raining. As the prospect of
actually living in our community gets ever closer, we have started to deal
with the group's expectations of the sorts of social interactions that
can seriously affect the sense of community. Since we will be living in 33
densly clustered homes, NOISE is the first issue that we have begun to
discuss.

So......for all of you learned, eloquent and thoughtful people out there
who are actually living in an intentional community (cohousing in
particular) or who have even just thought about it, How does your
community deal with noise?

        --How loud is too loud?
        --How much freedom have people been willing to give up to respect
                their neighbor's need for quiet?
        --Do you have quiet hours and how are they respected, and enforced?
        --How has your group dealt with:
                        stereo and TV noise?
                        power tool and lawn mowers?
                        noisy AC and heat pumps?
        --What sort of things have been problems and how have they been
                dealt with?

        --Has conflict resolution been helpful in resolving problems?


Thanks for your help! Any and all comments will be appreciated!!

        Katherine Hamil
        khamil [at] med.unc.edu         

        Arcadia Cohousing Community, Carrboro NC