Cohousing-L Mailing List: Community Momentum

[Chris ScottHanson (cscotthanson]

I think of this as a sort of community momentum…  including - communitarian 
behaviors, decision-making process, shared meals, meetings, committees, 
conflict resolution, etc.  Once some momentum on any one of these vectors is 
established it takes substantially more effort to redirect it, changing its 
course. If there isn't much momentum it's very easy to redirect it, and 
establish a new direction.  This also means that if there isn't much momentum 
in any one direction it may be hard to establish.

Chris ScottHanson
Fifth Street Commons <http://fifthstreetcommons.com/>
130 Fifth Street, C101
Langley, WA 98260

(206) 601-7802



> On Nov 12, 2014, at 10:47 AM, R Philip Dowds <rpdowds [at] comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> True in its way, but … As the founders cycle away (and they all will), and 
> newcomers rotate in, what the newcomers are buying, at that point, is not the 
> architectural vision, but rather an established social dynamic … which, as 
> you correctly point out, they will soon start to influence (we hope).  But 
> the shared experience of designing and developing a project forges a day one 
> social dynamic that cannot be readily simulated by strangers moving in among 
> strangers and saying “Hi, how do YOU think we should do cohousing?”
> 
> RPD
> 
> PS: I used to do residential design and construction, mostly for married 
> couples, and either they decided that designing one’s own home was one of the 
> great adventures of their lives, or they got divorced.
> 
> Arizona weather can’t be beat.
> 
>> On Nov 12, 2014, at 1:24 PM, Mary Ann Clark <drmaryann49 [at] mac.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Mary Ann here:
>> But isn't it true that everyone who joins the community after the founders 
>> has to live with someone else's vision of what the community will be like?
>> 
>> Isn't also true that every new member changes the dynamics of the community, 
>> so even the vision of the founders isn't stable?
>> 
>> Mary Ann, Manzanita Village where we're enjoying warm days and cool night -- 
>> sorry those of you in the mid-west and further east.
> 
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