Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Much Ado

[Catya Belfer-Shevett (catya]

Hi all,

> I was not in the group when this was accomplished, but I can tell you that
> they went to the Redevelopment Agency with their plan for a parcel of land
> that the city was already bidding out to developers for mixed income
> housing. Thus cohousing had to compete with the typical ugly housing that
> they put up, and won. I'm not saying it was easy, but it is possible.

Thanks, that's helpful.  For us part of the challenge is that we're not
looking to be in the city.  I've heard that it will help us to get zoning
variances in some of the towns we're looking at if we commit to a certain
percentage of affordable housing, which would be great - we should know more
about this soon.

> Other people have made a decision to keep a certain portion of
> the units, or
> all of them, to a few basic designs, to save on economies of scale, used
> less expensive finishes, etc. This is in contrast to the often very
> individualized units that are expensive to build. Our homes are
> townhouses,
> and use less land as another benefit.

We're planning to pursue this strategy, though green building is also a
potentially-competing priority in terms of costs of materials.

> Others have pursued grants, with
> apparently mixed results. (Could the person who sent me a
> partially written
> email about grants send it to the group?)

I'd love to hear about this as well!

> I am surprised that you can't understand why these people are afraid to
> complain.

I DO understand why people are afraid to complain - I just wish they would
do it anyway - in a way I'm offering support, and saying "please! let's hear
what you have to say!"

> But not everyone can be called insulting and
> patronizing and deal
> with it.

Not to lower this to the flame war level, but my point was about your
original email, not about you personally.  Your subsequent emails haven't
set me off in this way at all, but I wanted to be clear that I was writing
in spite of your tone, not because of it.

> But seriously, alot of people just don't bother because they are
> ignored. To
> those of you who say I need specific examples, I say that the
> fact that you
> don't remember them illustrates my point quite well enough, thank you.

True - I do remember several posts that went unanswered, but this happens on
every list I'm on.  Sometimes no one knows the answer, or sometimes people
are just busy, and reposting can help get you what you need.

Take care,

        - catya