Re: So what does it cost?
From: Tree Bressen (treeic.org)
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:16:46 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Fillard,

What are the classic "big costs" that a new cohousing group is likely to be unaware of, or to grossly miscalculate, when its members are still in the "dreaming about properties" stage?

Make sure to include social capital and communication skill outlays in your budget. It will be a tiny fraction of the total and make a *huge* difference to the project--the investment is extremely high leverage. Building in that expectation from the beginning is easier than having community members arguing later about the relatively small cost . . . apparently Cohousing Partners agree as this is the position they have shifted to over the years. The kinds of expenses i am referring to are things like:

1. Childcare for community meetings & events.

2. Skills workshops addressing both group process (consensus decision-making, meeting facilitation, governance structures, etc.) and interpersonal communication needs (such as conflict resolution).

3. Off-site retreats for the whole group at least once a year.

4. Occasional paid outside mediation (unless your town has free mediation services available) and occasional paid outside facilitation (unless you can trade facilitators with other local coho groups).

5. Support for other community recreational activities.

And when you get to the design phase, remember to make sure your common dining room is big enough for most of the membership to sit together in a circle for meetings as well as big enough for your group to eat together comfortably without noise and crowding driving everyone crazy.

Cheers,

--Tree



-----------------------------------------------

Tree Bressen
1680 Walnut St.
Eugene, OR 97403
(541) 484-1156
tree [at] ic.org
http://www.treegroup.info


Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.