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

[David Mandel (dlmandel]

I'm glad to see affordable cohousing being discussed and achieved in some
places. Here are two brief caveats based on experiences from 20-25 years
ago, when I was leading the charge.

It's great to enable some lower income members to join an initial project,
but:

   - There are different ways to accomplish this, and many of them are not
   permanent or even last beyond the initial entry. Our five moderate- and six
   low-income units (out of 25 total) were subsidized with silent second
   mortgages from the local housing authority (using redevelopment,
   tax-increment funds) with resale restrictions and arrangements for
   recycling to new qualified buyers. They were supposed to stay in place for
   10 and 30 years, respectively. So now, 22 years later, the moderate
   subsidies are long gone and the low-income ones are going. But most of
   those are actually gone too, as the HA turned out not to be very interested
   in maintaining the status and allowed sellers to bypass the restrictions.
   - Getting into a community is a great first step for a low-income
   household. But expenses of upkeep and improvements tend to increase with
   time, and a community dominated by market rate buyers may tend to tax
   itself more and more without considering the effect on less financially
   able neighbors, or to adopt policies like paying more in lieu of doing
   work, ostensibly allowing choice -- but in fact, only for those who can
   afford it. Consciousness of promoting affordability, therefore, must be
   sustained beyond initial purchase.

Probably the best existing means to guarantee permanent affordability is to
have individual homes be part of a nonprofit community land trust, with
ownership bifurcated between real estate and improvements -- though I
suppose it would be tricky to do this with a condominium community.
Ultimately, society as a whole needs to determine that affordable decent
housing is a human right and provide it for all in ways that promote social
and environmental sustainability while maximizing lifestyle choices.

David L. Mandel, Southside Park Cohousing, Sacramento

On Tue, Sep 22, 2015 at 9:04 AM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] 
sharonvillines.com>
wrote:

>
> >
> > 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."
>
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