Cohousing-L Mailing List: Note of admiration

[Joaniblank (Joaniblank]

Welcome to Meg Walker from Westchester.

Meg's introductory posting inspires me to express intense admiration for
folks who have been in cohousing groups for a long time and are repeatedly
foiled in and exhasted by their attempts to find suitable sites. I am
fortunate to have been able to join  a community  just just three months
before move-in started. Of course I would have liked to be a part of the
group earlier, but we were one of those lucky groups that got organized
around a site that the owner was eager to renovate as cohousing so the entire
process from group formation to move -in was about 2 1/2 years. 

The new Santa Rosa (CA), Acacia Lane group was formed around an available
site, and got (I think) sixteen families to sign up and plunk down money on
the land contract in a mere six (or was it 12) weeks! Granted, they haven't
had as much time to build community in some of the ways that groups who work
together for a lengthy period have had, but the need to hurry up with the
decision-making and commitment forces them to relate more intensely, perhaps.
Frankly I can see advantates and disadvantages of each scernario. But five or
six years is a long time to keep going without a site in sight. So, once
again, kudos from those of us who "had it easy," and thanks for your
endurance and persistance.

Thanks to Tom Ponessa for his recent contribution to this discussion. Tom, I
found your words inspiring, and I expect that those long time cohousing
enthusiasts who are being held up by site-acquisition problems will as well.