Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Costs for Shared Services [was Shared community internet service

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Hello all —

Let me add another perspective here.

On Apr 2, 2014, at 12:53 AM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> 
wrote:

> 
> 
> On Apr 1, 2014, at 11:01 PM, Kathryn McCamant <kmccamant [at] 
> cohousingpartners.com> wrote:
> 
>> Community laundry, including laundry soap, is free to all members. Our
>> theory is that community laundry is the number one thing that brings
>> people thru the common house all times of the day and nite, and we want to
>> encourage people to use it. 
> 
> We've never had this experience. People put their clothes in the washer or 
> dryer and leave. Some use the door that directly goes to the outside and 
> never come into the CH. The most social people get is folding their clothes 
> in meetings because they do their laundry then.

Not always.   People work on the jigsaw puzzle waiting for their laundry.  Read 
a book or watch TV.  I talk to them when I’m in the CH.  
> 
> Also, people don't socialize on the way to or home from work. They go around 
> the building to get home or go fast without stopping, or park on the street 
> which is much closer to their homes than the parking lot is. An amazing 
> number of people do not pick up mail everyday, or even very often.

> People come to the CH to socialize when they come to the CH to socialize. Not 
> incidentally to other activities as a usual thing.  

> Sharon  ——
> Sharon Villines  
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington DC  
> http://www.takomavillage.org



My experience is if I have to get to my car I have to put my head down and not 
talk to anyone or I’ll be 20 minutes late.  I run into people in the CH a LOT.  
 People stop to chat to and from the CH to get laundry, mail, work on dinner, 
having dinner, etc.  Once warm weather starts the piazza will be mobbed from 
late afternoon to after dinner.  I have to keep my door closed it’s so noisy.  
When my house was being renovated I used the CH office for work.  People 
dropped in to say ”hi!”  throughout the day.  Where were they going and what 
were they up to?  Laundry, mail, meeting someone, waiting for someone, on their 
way home …an array of activities.

One person who parks on the street must come to the CH 4 x’s a day or MORE.  I 
hear people say:   “There’s S___ again!”      

I call all this socializing.   There’s a lot of INCIDENTAL socializing going 
on.    When you include “meetings” please include teas, a women’s group, 
exercise class,,  yoga, etc.  People reserve the CH for private events, too.  
Our CH calendar is quite full.   BTW — two postal employees meet in our CH for 
lunch almost everyday.  It so nice to see them together!  I talk to them.  
We’ve even invited our postal workers to come to events — one actually did one 
time!!

So LOTS of gabbing going on at TVC in and around the CH.

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church VA
703-688-2646