Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Article in the Wisconsin State Journal

[Jerry McIntire (jerry.mcintire]

Living just two hours from Madison, I felt "invested" in replying to this
article. The journalist thankfully did state that everyone has a private
home up front, and more than once. This is the comment I made, which joins
the usual jumble of less-than-germane sentiments expressed in the comments
section.

This article repeats a couple common mistakes that journalists make when
reporting on cohousing communities which are more like condominium
associations than most people realize. If you look at the six defining
characteristics of cohousing at cohousing.org you will see that private
homes, jobs, and finances are basic to cohousing. The essential difference
is that the residents design and manage their community themselves, which
is why they typically have more common amenities than a condo development.
Having dinner together twice a week in the large multi-purpose room that is
available to all residents to use for their children's birthday parties and
similar events doesn't bring to my mind the terms "dorm" or "commune." The
130 cohousing communities in the U.S. have been built in all sorts of
cities, towns, and rural areas.

Jerry

Jerry McIntire
Stone's Throw Ecovillage, in the heart of Wisconsin's beautiful Driftless
region
http://stonesthrowcommunity.wordpress.com/
1-608-637-6620

On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 6:11 AM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] 
sharonvillines.com>
wrote:

>
>
> > On Jun 30, 2015, at 3:29 AM, Joani Blank <jeblank [at] swansway.com> wrote:
> >
> >  "giant dorm for grownups”
>
> I agree this is a problem as Joani explained.
>
> I have described it to people as graduate student housing. On some
> campuses it is called “married student housing.” Apartments or small homes
> or trailer parks where people have private homes but also active social
> relationships as a group with potlucks, outdoor gatherings, sharing stuff,
> babysitting, etc.
>
> Also as a family compound like the Kennedy’s at Hyannisport. Or the family
> “camps” in the Adirondacks that have cabins around a main house.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
>
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