Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Unit mix/size

[Christina Smillie (smilliec]

Thanks Grace!

You are so right: a marketing study is definitely in order. This is just 
one very preliminary phase of our research.
One question really has to do with how much the potential cohouser 
conforms to the demographic reached and studied by traditional market 
research, and how we can focus our own research on those in our local 
market most likely to consider cohousing. Who will they be, hard to say: 
We are 15 minutes from a cosmopolitan if small downtown, and are 
attracting people who might otherwise live in our little city, but this 
land is in a neighboring rural area, without even its own town center, 
and many here live on their own little farms. Most of us are in our 
forming community are from the city and surrounding suburbs, but two 
families from that rural community are already committed to our 
community, one with three school-aged kids and no farm, the other are 
empty nesters with land they will be leaving: enough for herbs, veggies, 
a few chickens and alpacas. And very happy, for philosophical and 
sustainability reasons, to downsize dramatically in their living space 
(to about 500-550 sq ft), while gaining more in agricultural space.

Your idea of possibly sharing households, several people with only 
bedrooms or perhaps a common kitchen/living room, is very intriguing, a 
sort of mini-coho within the coho. We have several individuals, both 
couples and singles, anxious to join us, for whom this could make it 
much more affordable. Is anyone actually doing this? As renters or as 
co-owners of a unit, or?

It is also interesting that most of the replies I've received, whether 
off-list or on, suggest that there is pretty much zero correlation 
between unit size and number of people in the unit.
tina

On 3/25/2012 12:21 AM, Grace Kim wrote:
> Christine-
> What you are asking for is actually info you would gain from a market study.
> While I think it's most typical for two beds to be most versatile w/larger 
> bedrooms being best for families (if they can afford), I think your local 
> market will be biggest indicator of what will sell.
>
> For example, if you are in rural area with single family homes, a 1bedroom may 
> not work. But in a more urban area 1-bedroom homes may be just fine as part of 
> the mix.  And if you know that a large part of the demographic you may 
> potentially be attracting are single women, they might be interested in shared 
> households (rooming house style), so it might make sense to provide a rooms 
> above the common house.
>
> While this list is great for general advice, I'd say you need to recognize 
> there are major regional differences in housing demand, home sizes, and prices.
>
> As an architect, I'd say designing in some future flexibility/adaptability for 
> unit sizes/configurations will be your best bet for success.
>
> Good luck.
>
> grace h. kim
> schemata workshop
> (sent via mobile messaging)