Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Waiting lists

[lilbert (lilbert]

It just occurred to me that something may be missing here that I forgot 
to mention.   This message is for anyone who is trying to attract more 
people.   Is it a requirement that all members of your group be 
"attached" to a house?  With Southside Park we had members who didn't 
have a unit right up to a few months before move-in!  I myself changed 
units twice. If our group had not been flexible about this, there would 
be valuable members who would never have joined.  At one point after I 
joined, (4 months before move in), we had something like four families 
who didn't fit in with the units we had for sale!  If your concentration 
is on homebuying instead of community building, I could see why some 
people would be jittery.  I'm not saying leave it to the last minute- 
these were problems for us, not a devil-may-care attitude problem.  But 
the people were more important than the houses, and lo and behold, it 
worked out; I firmly believe because the community came first, not the 
houses.  You might consider having a category of membership where the 
people don't have to have a unit slated for them. I can't imagine how we 
would have done this any other way.  Obviously, there are limitations to 
this, but do keep an open mind.

Liz Stevenson
Southside Park Cohousing