Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: HELP MAKE COHOUSING MORE AFFORDABLE

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Nov 21, 2013, at 8:58 AM, Margaret Porter <margaret.porter [at] 
mindspring.com> wrote:

> Realistic methods must be found for for making it affordable to actually live 
> in a cohousing community over the long term, 

I would second this in terms of long term affordability. The people who 
developed cohousing were "I can do it" people who found out how to do things 
and thought about how to save money wisely. They were concerned about 
investment in long lasting environmentally sound decisions. As the community 
has become an attractive "sure thing," that has become less the case. 

While we just signed up for wind power electricity, LEED standards have not 
been spoken of as a value for a long time. The filters in the CH, for example, 
have been downgraded from a MERVE 12 to a 7. The LEED standard, the last time I 
checked was 15. I and at least one other can't spend more time in the CH than 
2-4 hours without having reactions to the air quality. My throat closes up and 
she starts coughing. For that we save $1200 a year, but just hired a management 
company to handle facilities projects at several hundred dollars a month.

Do we have a beautiful facility? Yes. But the condo fees are now equal to those 
of other condos in the area, plus we do more work, some of us much more. Those 
fees include minimal funds for social activity support.

Commitment to affordability is very hard to maintain. We always want more. And 
one person's good investment and aesthetically worth it are another person's 
waste of money.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org