Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Costs for Shared Services

[Kathryn McCamant (kmccamant]

Eris's post reminded me of a experience I had years ago living at Doyle
Street Cohousing (In Emeryville, CA)
(where their is only common laundry--no one has laundry in their own
house).

We had one community wide water meter, but had put in submeters at
construction so we could figure out who used how much if we wanted to.
Some 3-4 years after move in, I wondered if anyone had every tracked the
submeters and suggested we might want to do that...to which my neighbor
said...if its important to you, feel free... But when I thought about my
time and how important that was to do....well I do believe that in 21
years of people living at Doyle Street Cohousing...nobody has ever tracked
those submeters....

Katie 

-- 
Kathryn McCamant, President, Architect
CoHousing Partners, LLC
241 Commercial Street
Nevada City, CA 95959
T.530.478.1970  C.916.798.4755
www.cohousingpartners.com





On 4/2/14 10:37 AM, "Eris Weaver" <eris [at] erisweaver.info> wrote:

>
>Our experience at FrogSong is more like what Katie describes. (Although
>practically no one in our community has their own washer/dryer...maybe one
>or two households out of thirty.)
>We don't charge for laundry (including shared soap), guest room, Internet,
>gas, water, etc.  Everyone uses different amounts of things, and tracking
>exacts its own costs. We have, I believe, a culture of generosity. (Of
>course, we are fairly well-off financially, too.) Yes, every now and then
>I
>get annoyed at a neighbor who wastes gas by leaving her front door open,
>or
>does small loads of laundry, or uses the guest rooms a lot...but I'm sure
>I
>annoy people too. I get everything I need, and our dues are reasonable, so
>why quibble about details? I think when someone gets upset about others
>using more of something - nonparents about money spent on kids stuff,
>folks
>who don't use the hot tub, whatever - it's important to look at how
>much/whether THAT person's needs/wants are being met. If I get what I
>need,
>I'm less likely to be annoyed about YOU getting something.
>
>------------------------------
>Eris Weaver, Graphic Facilitator & Group Process Consultant
>eris [at] erisweaver.info ? 707-338-8589 ? http://www.erisweaver.info
>
>"On days when you have no ideas at all, the best thing you can do is start
>doodling." Charles M. Schulz
>
>
>
>fa cil i t?t: to make easier
>
>
>
>
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