Re: Common House costs | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: cynthia . e . carpenter (cynthia.e.carpenterus.arthurandersen.com) | |
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 10:23:11 -0700 (MST) |
In Jasmine's message (attached below), it sounds like you are suggesting labeling public spaces as private to get around putting in an elevator, which is typically required to ensure access for disabled individuals, and you don't mention the inclusion of any alternatives, such as a ramp. I know that the cost of an elevator seems prohibitive to many struggling cohousing groups, but please think long and hard before you build a "common" house which isn't accessible to your whole community and their guests. If you don't have anyone in your current group who is in a wheelchair or otherwise disabled, it's easy to think that the expense isn't worth it. But we're building long-term communities and if you don't have someone who needs an elevator now, you probably will soon, either because of accident, illness, or just growing older. (In our community, we already had an elevator in the common house, but balked at the cost of stairchairs in two sets of stacked apartments. In the end, we agreed to pay for them, and you can guess what happened... one of the residents in the stacked flats had a stroke right around the time of moving in and needed the stairchair for several weeks.) Elevator access is also enormously useful to adults traveling with small kids (and various other items) in arms or strollers. If your laundry is in the common house, an elevator can make the difference between your elderly or more fragile members being able to do their laundry themselves or requiring assistance. If you are still looking for members to your group, making all community areas and at least the ground floor of all residences accessible won't ensure that you fill those spaces, but *not* providing access will ensure that anyone who has a movement disability (or has disabled friends or relatives or elderly parents) will not join your group. - Cindy Cambridge Cohousing >>>>> I was recently looking at the blueprints for the E-Z Cohousing group in Pleasant Hill, California. I saw lots of things labelled as home offices. When I asked about them, I was told that these were the children's rooms, craft rooms, etc. They were labelled this way to avoid many code issues including having an elevator. They are using the Jim Leach/Wunderland streamlined model with The Cohousing Company. I don't have any more details, but this might be something to look into in other areas as well. --Jasmine Gold, PERCH (San Franciso Peninsula Region Cohousing) where we are the process of forming an LLC and getting financing paperwork together because our real estate agent has told us is the only way to compete in this crazy real estate market where what little developable raw land exists goes for $2,000,0000 an acre and we are still figuring out how to compete with developers. >>>>>>>> *******************Internet Email Confidentiality Footer******************* Privileged/Confidential Information may be contained in this message. If you are not the addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for delivery of the message to such person), you may not copy or deliver this message to anyone. In such case, you should destroy this message and kindly notify the sender by reply email. Please advise immediately if you or your employer do not consent to Internet email for messages of this kind. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of my firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
- Re: Common House costs, (continued)
- Re: Common House costs Berrins, January 13 2000
- Re: Common House costs PattyMara, January 14 2000
- RE: Common House costs Rob Sandelin, January 14 2000
- Re: Common House costs Jasmine Gold, January 15 2000
- Re: Common House costs cynthia . e . carpenter, January 17 2000
- Re: Common House costs Ted Parker, January 17 2000
- Re: common house costs Fred H. Olson, January 27 2000
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