RE: NIMBY-ism & Opposition to Cohousing
From: Rob Sandelin (robsanmicrosoft.com)
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 95 11:27 CST
Steve Mabley asked:
>We want to anticipate all of the possible objections to our project and
>address them at the start.  We want to know:

>1) What are the possible objections to our development from the community?
>2) What "solutions" can we build into our project so that these objections
>will be effectively defused?

The best people to answer these questions are your future neighbors.  
If you can get access to the land, put on a big picnic, invite everyone 
who surrounds the area. Feed em, set up cooperative childcare that 
actually does things with kids (games, events, creative opportunities), 
have displays and brochures about cohousing and then put out a written 
survey form, in person to everyone with the two questions above, 
slightly reworded.  It is really easy to be suspicious of strangers 
doing strange things in "YOUR" neighborhood.  If you do not define 
cohousing for the neighbors, they will define it themselves, perhaps in 
very negative and untrue ways.  Its easier to be tolerant of people who 
are different once you  have sitten down, shaken their hand, met them, 
shared dinner.  Granted, not everyone will come, but many will and many 
will go away with a positive encounter and happy to see what good 
things are going to happen to "their" open space and farm.

At a minimum, print up a couple hundred brochures and take them door to 
door.  Ask for input. People will be blown away that you asked.

When Sharingwood was being proposed, the owners at that time went door 
to door to every adjoining neighbors house and explained what was up, 
and ASKed the neighbors how they felt about it. That was long before my 
time at Sharingwood but I still get comments (positive ones) from 
neighbors, even those whose political philosophies would make them 
deeply suspicious of such a commie, liberal idea.

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood

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