Re: [C-L] How to develop a group for 50+ without family
From: Stuart Joseph (stuartcaercoburn.org)
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 09:58:00 -0700 (PDT)
Seth,

Seth Schneider wrote:
On Jun 28, 2007, Sharon Villines wrote:

Any discussions about how to make housing more affordable will
appeal to everyone and there are some answers out there. Someone
just needs to pull them together.

I've been lurking on this list for a little while, but want to chime in with
agreement about Sharon's point. I'm extremely interested in the
affordability part of the discussion, even though I'm significantly under 50
years old.
As times get tougher and money doesn't go as far, everyone will be concerned about affordability, not just in building a house, but in running it and maintaining it. Affordability concerns will also apply to other aspects of our lives, like food, health care, medicines, cars, fuel prices, on and on.

I think it is coming up and staring the folks that are 50+ in the face because a lot of them are, or will be, living on pensions, social security, and/or investments, which means a fixed income and they need to find a way to make their dollars stretch further as they are shrinking over time.
Along these lines, I'm wondering if anyone knows of any cohousing
developments that have been built entirely, or in part, by the residents.
Building one's own (single family) home can save a significant amount of
money. And while building a cohousing development together seems more
complex than building a single dwelling and full of potential risks, the
monetary savings could be quite significant.
You are correct. Some of us are building First Day Cottages because they are designed to be affordable, energy efficient, and built by folks with no experience and we have discussed helping each other to do the building of our houses.
In addition to examples, I welcome any opinions about this concept (even if
it's along the lines of "you're crazy to even consider the idea").
I don't think you are crazy, and neither would all the folks that have built their own houses over the years and are still doing so today.

The idea of communal help in building is an old one and I would say that the Amish barn raising is the best example of that.
Seth

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--
Stuart Joseph, 802-463-1954
Project Director
Caer Coburn, a traditional village based upon cohousing  and intentional 
communities in
Rockingham, Vermont, USA
http://www.caercoburn.org
Mail to:
36 Front St.
Bellows Falls, VT 05101 USA


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