Re: Question from a fellow cohousing group! | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Raines Cohen (rc2-coho-Lraines.com) | |
Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 12:31:01 -0700 (MST) |
On 11/18/02 11:03 AM, Francesca Holinko wrote (off the list): >I am member of the Mosaic Commons CoHousing group in Massachusetts (in the >planning stages). We are seeking info. from other cohousing groups about >issues surrounding parking. Currently, we are planning to have 2 parking >spaces per household, with about 2-4 guests spaces (total). We would like >to know how parking is working in your communities. We would also like to >know what problems have arisen and how you have solved these problems. For >instance, in our most recent meeting, the question was raised about how to >deal with a possible need for more space, i.e., as children reach 16 and >start to have their own cars. Any insight and information you can give >about this problem and others that have come up in your community would be >greatly appreciated! Francesca - For best results post your question directly on The Cohousing Network's discussion list, Coho-L; I've cc'd that list with our response. Our group is urban, a block from the main subway station, and we got away with 1 space per household. What your community will expect of you depends on local practices and standards. I know that in your climate that onstreet parking is more restricted during winter "snow emergencies", to allow for plowing; also, your location is sufficiently rural that onstreet parking may not be allowed - what are the current regulations? It also depends on your mix. What may work well is to have "flexible" space... allocated to parking but unpaved, so that it can get dedicated to other uses when not covered with vehicles. We have a few members with two cars. A couple of us without cars rent spaces to them; a couple of 'em rent spaces in the adjacent garage from the property manager for the rest of the building. One renter here parks onstreet at metered spaces and then gets up early to move her car before the meter maids (excuse me, Parking Control Officers) come by. Two members here share an electric car, and a couple of us are members of City Car Share <http://www.citycarshare.org>, a nonprofit that lets us rent a fleet of cars here and in SF/Berkeley by the hour/mile... and they recently put a station wagon right outside our door, available for use. There's also some informal trip-sharing, running errands for one another... but that develops slowly, over time. If the site doesn't have good transit access, you might talk to neighbors, both business and residence, about the idea of banding together to lobby for a shuttle service or something to help bridge the gap and make cars less necessary. The group could even set up, if it doesn't exist regionally through a transit-advocacy or government organization, a "guaranteed ride home" program that pays for taxi fare if members who reduce car use miss a connection or have to come home early. Rather than assume that everyone will get an additional car at age 16, why not develop systems that makes that less necessary / desirable? Sharing existing cars can go a long way. For me, this is the essence of what Cohousing is about: providing the tools and "economies of scale" to do more for sustainability and the environment than we could accomplish living alone. Raines Cohen <my initials,2,dash,coho,dash,L at my first name .com> Member, Swan's Market Coho [Oakland, CA] <http://www.swansway.com/> Where the movie "Swing" is being filmed at Ratto's deli across the street, starring Jonathan Winters and Jacquelyn Bissett! Facilitator, East Bay Cohousing [on hiatus] <http://www.ebcoho.org/> Just spoke yesterday at a "cohousing with a clubhouse" meeting in North Oakland. Boardmember, The Cohousing Network <http://www.cohousing.org/> Working on compiling Coho organizational documents to make them more accessible. _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l
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Re: Question from a fellow cohousing group! Raines Cohen, November 18 2002
- Parking spaces Rob Sandelin, November 18 2002
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