Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Forming group, Advice?

[balaji (balaji]

Our site contains some of the answers to these questions.  Just check out
the files and links.  We, too, are in the process of formation, so our
site has become the repository for vast loads of information -- all the
way from charter documents to septic tank construction.  Feel free to
join, and to wade through the stuff at your leisure.

Charles N.

The Tuscaloosa Cooperative Association (TCA) welcomes participation by
individuals and families interested in: community-supported agriculture;
permaculture; geothermal and solar energy; co-housing; eco-village
development; and sustainable living in general. The TCA has no religious
or political affiliation. The list will serve as forum for free and open
discussion, leading (it is hoped) to practical expression in the form of
eco-village and/or co-housing development in or near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
We currently call this development "The Village of Tuscaloosa." Our models
are the Eco-Village at Ithaca (http://www.ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us/),
Champlain Valley Co-Housing (http://www.champlainvalleycohousing.org), and
Earthsong Eco-Neighborhood (http://www.earthsong.org.nz), suitably
modified to local conditions. Take a look at our links page, files, and
photos for vast loads of additional information, including possible site
plans, house designs, community charters, and much more. See also our
several videos on cohousing.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come."--
Victor Hugo

"If it is man's privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be
inter-dependent." M.K. Gandhi

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tuscaloosa_community/



> I would like to hear the answers to these questons, too. We are
> starting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.
> Terry Jensen
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nathan schomber [mailto:wanderlustbus [at] yahoo.com]
> Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 12:25 PM
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: [C-L]_ Forming group, Advice?
>
>
> Hi everyone!
>
>   I have recently come across this group while researching cohousing,
> WOW. So far I'm learning more from reading these archives than any
> other source. What an incredible tool! My wife and I are really
> enjoying going through all the posts and reading them to each other!
> Thank you all for doing this.
>
>   We have a committed group of 6 families (all with young children)
> and also 6 or so individuals/couples who have been meeting for almost
> 3 months now, with others wanting in.
>
>    We have been focused on creating a rural, farming, sustainable
> Intentional community here outside of Asheville, in western NC. As it
> turns out, what we have collectively envisioned more closely resembles
> Cohousing than traditional "intentional community or ecovillage"
> (although there is some crossover and ours will probably be a "hybrid"
> of the 3). Its ironic but several of us have heard of cohousing and
> dismissed it out of the mistaken belief that cohousing meant "many
> people sharing one house" We're finding out that the community we're
> designing looks more like cohousing than any other model!
>
>   As a group, we have finances (most of us own our current homes) as
> well as access to private lending. We are still working out the
> details of our collective visioning, but know the basic structure
> we're looking at creating. Instead of developing the community and
> selling finished homes, we would designing and build the common
> house/other shared facilities first and then each individual would buy
> a private parcel to build thier own home following general guidelines.
> Parcels may vary in size. Some may be clustered while others may have
> acrege and be further away from the common lands/community center.
>
>    I am wondering about cohousing consultation groups/firms. Our group
> is at the stage where we need some professional guidance especially
> with regards to financial/legal structure options, choosing location
> (local zoning, etc.), prioritization and general planning.
> Unfortunately, among our groups collective skills and abilities, these
> are our week areas!
>
>    A couple of questions:
>
>   1) How important is to have such consultants close to our location
> as opposed to on the other side of the continent?
>
>   2) How is cost of service generally determined? What could we
> realistically expect by way of agreements/ arrangements?
>
>   3) What questions should we ask prospective consultants?
>
>   4)  Do consultants ever work with groups in exchange for a private
> parcel (to build on, hold or sell) in the cohousing community they
> help develop?
>
>
>   Thanks again for this resource and for sharing the joys & sorrows,
> the triumphs and the challenges of cohousing! It really is inspiring
> to us newbies!
>
>   Feel free to either email us directly or reply via the list.
>
>   Peace to You Nathan & Sarah
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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