Re: Celebration: Coho in the mainstream? | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Fred H Olson WB0YQM (fholsonmaroon.tc.umn.edu) | |
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 22:58:59 -0600 |
Steve Farley sfarley [at] igc.apc.org is the author of the message below but due to a listserv problem it was posted by the COHOUSING-L sysop (Fred). **************** FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS ********************* Here'a a quote from the lead story in the American Survey section of _The Economist_, a British mag widely read here in the States: "...In putting together successful ideas from elsewhere it aims to create--or recreate--a sense of place that is lacking in the soulless "edge cities" that have sprung up around America, and a variety that tends to be missing from other purpose-built (and, often, gated) communities. .The car is accommodated, but is not meant to put a distance between neighbours. [The project] is intended for people of all ages and diverse means. It will be a place for mingling and mixing." Sound like an article about Cohousing? These words certainly touch on some of our basic tenets, but the story is not about cohousing. It is about the new town of Celebration, Florida, a community which aims to grow to a population of 20,000 in the next 20 years, developed by the Walt Disney Development Corporation! Yes, this excites me not because I would want to live there--in many ways it sounds like, although Disney has identified many of the problems with today's communities, they aren't really solving them at the roots the way Coho is, but rather are throwing money at them, and doing a lot of surface treatment. It excites me because it seems to mean that many of our ideas are clearly mainstream now. If Walt Disney Inc.--the epitome of American traditionalism and conservatism--is buying into the concept to the tune of a $2.5 billion investment, then convincing our local banks, builders, and developers that we're on to something should be a lot easier. Plus, it may be helpful to be able to use the Celebration example as a helpful comparison for prospective members: eg: "we're not totally "out there", look at what Disney is doing. We're just doing it right--building real community, rather than constructing the appearance of community." Along these lines, I'd be interested if anyone would be able to get access to any of the Celebration marketing materials or their market research reports. Apparently they spent many years and many millions of dollars running focus groups and surveys about community throughout the country--that type of information would be invaluable for creating more effective marketing plans for Cohousing! PS: 26,000 people have visited the site since August, and 4,550 households entered a lottery to buy the first 350 homes. The demand is there, and it's real. We can all tap into it! ----______---\ \\\\ __ _\\\ Steve Farley \\\ \@\ \@\\ Stephen Farley Design \\ ` `\ sfarley [at] igc.apc.org \\ {||} (520) 740-0344 |\\\ | | | \\\__/ <-- Malek, my top salesdog
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Re: Celebration: Coho in the mainstream? Fred H Olson WB0YQM, December 2 1995
- Re: Celebration: Coho in the mainstream? DebFlint, December 3 1995
- Celebration: Coho in the mainstream? Steve Farley, December 5 1995
- Re: Celebration: Coho in the mainstream? Mac Thomson, December 6 1995
- RE: Celebration: Coho in the mainstream? Rob Sandelin (Exchange), December 6 1995
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