Cohousing-L Mailing List: Low Income [ was Affordable Cohousing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> 
> Where do I sign up for this Adorable Housing? It sounds wonderful.

> What are some ways to encourage people to create low income cohousing? I
> figure it will need people from people who work in adorable housing as well
> as the people who would live in those communities.

It’s hard or it would have been done. 

Suggestions for Developing Low Income Cohousing:

1. Define "low income."

“Affordable” is not a euphemism for “low income.” Affordable is usually defined 
as 80% of the average cost of a similar housing unit in the area. That could be 
in the millions and still be called "affordable.” 

HUD’s definitions for Low and Very Low Income are on this page:

http://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il/fmr98/sect8.html

Basically they are 50% and 80% of the median family _income_, again in _the 
area_, and used to judge eligibility for subsidized housing. 

Other definitions are based on "twice the poverty level” that in 2015 is 
$11,770 for one person and $24,250 for a family of 4. (Higher in Alaska and 
Hawaii). 

http://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines

In contrast the eligible income in Bethany CT for affordable housing for ONE 
person are 60%=$35,040, 80% = $46,100, 100% = 58,380. As you see this is not 
close to low income housing. The full scale is posted at:

http://rockycorner.org

“Low income” should be understood from the beginning or construction will drift 
out of the income range of the first people to sign on. It’s easier to build or 
renovate for higher income levels so the drift is attractive and has to be 
countered. Some communities have managed to include affordable units and the 
rest of the community is market rate. The community then continues to subsidize 
those units in one way or another. I haven’t heard of any market rate 
communities that incorporate low income units.

2. Get organized and empower leadership.

You need a leader. Someone who just takes initiative to keep the effort on 
track and moving forward. Or 2-3 people who share leadership. Have clear 
responsibilities so people commit to roles and responsibilities.

Using your income standards, form a means of communication for those who meet 
your criterion for top salary or unit price. You don’t have to do an income 
check but state your aim clearly—only for people interested in low-income 
housing below, perhaps, an income of $12-15,000 per person. 

A list like Cohousing-L on YahooGroups or GoogleGroups, I think is the best. 
They are free and publicly available in a directory so any one searching for 
low-income housing or cohousing can find you. In the past, using Cohousing-L to 
recruit and discuss low income cohousing has been confused and lacked focus. 
More time is spent clarifying income limits than discussing realistic options 
and making connections between low-income people to share information. Use the 
low-income cohousing list to collect information from many different places and 
people. (Use a descriptive name like “low income cohousing”, not something like 
“grasshoppers and flies."

Actively moderate the list so the messages are on topic and helpful in 
intention. No ranting or continuous complaining. Warn people off list when they 
are off topic. I find that “just a reminder” works to keep from offending 
people. 

Don’t let any questions go unanswered. That keeps the list alive. Only a few 
people will post but almost everyone will read. Many will have the same 
questions so you will be speaking to more readers than the one asking the 
question. If others don’t respond, the moderator needs to. It takes about 200 
people to keep a list at a critical mass unless it is actively focused on an 
active project.

Set up a website to organize information. You can do this free on GoogleSites 
or Wordpress.com. It can be found by anyone and people who don’t like email 
lists. And it makes you look serious. Some people will watch for a long time 
before contacting you.

Many people like social media but if you use them they must be active. Like the 
email list, someone has to monitor and keep them active.

I’m not in favor of forums. They are deceptively easy in terms of organizing 
information but aside from sites on which people just ask questions, they are 
hard to follow. Unless I have a problem, I don’t persist. Email is immediate 
and encourages reading a wider range of topics. Everyone has to be informed for 
the project to work. It has to be collaborative, beginning to end That’s basic 
to cohousing. The “co" is for “collaborative" or “cooperative," depending on 
who you ask.

3. Find a financial consultant and professional advice

Talk to Rocky Corner Cohousing about their financing consultant. They found a 
person who is an expert on funding for residential property. He knows all the 
federal and state housing programs. When I met with them, they said they would 
have never gotten built without him.

http://rockycorner.org

Find an architect or professional housing consultant who will donate a limited 
number of hours to advising you. Look for someone at a bank or a housing 
authority who is specifically interested in low income housing. (Do not say 
“affordable” and correct anyone who slips into that terminology. It isn’t just 
a word,; it’s a definition. And it’s not yours.) 

Contact companies specializing in building low income housing and new or 
alternative structures.

4. Do research and price alternatives

BEFORE approaching such a professional, do a lot of research. What’s out there? 
What is being done in conventional low income cohousing? How? Look at 
alternative building materials and designs. Sometimes these are so out of code 
they can’t be used but there may be some ideas you can use. Look at single-room 
occupancy buildings that have a private room and bathroom for a resident but 
other facilities are shared. Some are very run down and in badly converted 
buildings but others are nicely designed and new architecture.

Look at other countries. I remember a documentary on housing in Scandinavia. 
The bedrooms were literally just a shelf bed attached to the wall. Storage 
underneath. A closet. Floor space not larger than the bed. A very tall window 
with a window seat made it wonderful. Very light and open. Not claustrophobic. 
This was an average apartment, not specifically low-income housing.

Search YouTube. Many videos there of very small apartments —200-300 SF.

Be realistic but don’t take no for an answer.

5. Expect a long timeline

Start with the expectation that this may take years. The early cohousing 
communities took 5 years to get built and many have failed and continue to fail 
(but at a lower rate). The average has been reported as 3 years but I think 
that is optimistic for a new model. And some people work with more than one 
group before they see success.

Just stick to it and don’t push so hard you exhaust yourself and can’t 
continue. Reach out for support when things look dark.

(I’m too involved in other projects to get involved in this but would be happy 
to give email support, even to moderate a list or put up a website. These are 
just suggestions, not an offer on my part to take this on. I say this because 
when I’ve posted on this in the past people have thought I was the leader of 
the movement.)

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines, Washington DC
"Nothing exists without order. Nothing comes into existence without chaos."