Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: cemeteries

[Blaise J. Tobia (tobiabj]

Sorry to be a bit late with this response, but perhaps there is more to be
said about the idea of burial brounds. On Aug. 24th, JOHN SOLSO, Phoenix
Cohousing Group, Arizona said:
 
>David is correct, we must think about completing the life cycle -- from
>birthing to death.   If the cohousing idea is valid we can look forward to
>having many generations living in the same community.
 
>Since burial grounds occupy precious land area it would seem preferable to
>use cremation and scatter the ashes in the cohousing garden.  Perhaps a
>plaque in the common house could list names.
 
 
I agree completely with the first paragraph. It seems to me that one of
the things that keeps the Southern European villages I have seen
relatively intact and stable across generations is the presence of a
burial ground that is actively visited and used, and that helps keep a
sense of identity and continuity going.
 
I disagree strongly with the second paragraph. I don't think that the
assignment of some land as a burial ground "occupies precious land area."
In fact, the burial ground can be a very beautiful and restful place for
the communit; in many, it has often come to be the only open, or
"parklike" land. It could even co-exist as an orchard or, as one creative
community implemented, as a sheep/goat meadow.
 
I'm not saying that burial has to take preference over cremation (in fact,
I'd probably prefer the latter for myself), but I am arguing that some
kind of "memorial" area could be a very important part of a cohousing
community large enough to include one.

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Blaise Tobia     Philadelphia, PA    215-387-9706    tobiabj [at] 
post.drexel.edu
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- artist/photographer/teacher (at Drexel University's College of Design Arts)
- interested in CoHousing personally, politically and artistically
- serving as contact person for the Delaware Valley CoHousing Association, 
   an umbrella group encompassing several potential site-development projects:
   one urban-retrofit (Germantown/Mt. Airy; close to happening)
   two new-construction (Shawmont and Lambertville; still in early stages)
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