Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: more co-housing like community within a high-rise condo community?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Nov 17, 2015, at 10:42 AM, Diana Porter <porterd [at] cinci.rr.com> wrote:

> I gave a presentation to them about co-housing and suggested that maybe they 
> could buy a larger unit and create their own common space, as they are only 
> 20 or so units within the 180.  They are trying to build strong community 
> ties.  Are there any models out there for such efforts?  This, of course, is 
> a much larger story with push back from the cohort who converted the building 
> from apartments to condos in the late 80’s and are still there. 

Wow! Much encouragement. I started a newsletter a few years ago with the 
intention of developing a movement like this. One day I was sitting in a 
parking lot looking at all the very tall buildings surrounding it. 20-30 
stories? 5 buildings. Hundreds of units. It seemed like fertile fodder. I 
didn’t have the energy to keep the newsletter going—a big task and a hard 
market to find. But I think it is the next frontier for cohousing.

Many buildings now have many of the physical features of cohousing: many common 
facilities. The missing element is the intentional community and 
self-managment. Not just self-managment of the building but self-management of 
any of the facilities within the building.

Also missing is any concept of the board as something other than prison guards. 
Not as leaders but as a fiefdom.

If there are no common facilities, there may be an opportunity to purchase one 
of the units in the building for a common space. Convert it to a community 
center. It will come with a kitchen and bathroom. Meeting in each other’s units 
is sometimes inhibiting because it isn’t “equal” space. 

Eastern Village is a renovated office building that has the common house 
distributed though out the building rather than all in one building or  one 
area of the building. It’s a good model for developing facilities that way. 
They also function with many more paid services than other condos have — they 
lease their laundry machines and have professional cleaning, for example.

The Communities Association Institute will have some statistics and information 
you can use to defend your approach. They have data (somewhere) showing that 
residents who have a sense of community don’t move out — it reduces turnover 
which reduces costs and turmoil. They also have data on how fast homeowner 
associations are growing. I’ve forgotten the number but a huge number of new 
developments are homeowner associations.

Also — a book group here is reading The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth 
by Friedman. His central argument is that when a society feels economically 
hopeful, the society will be more inclusive, concerned with fairness, and more 
honest. That when things change, what people are most afraid of is loss. “What 
will I lose?”

When people push back, focus on what they fear losing. I suspect it is that 
this cohousing group, for want of a better name, will form a voting block and 
anyone who doesn’t join will be at a disadvantage. A small group of organized 
people is very strong in the face of unorganized people. 

Fear of losing privacy is probably also big. People’s homes are often their 
island of quiet safety in an ocean of barracudas with loudspeakers. They want 
to / have to be able to control everything inside their homes. Psychologically 
that protection can be lost when people start knocking on their doors to invite 
them to join the crowd. Invitations are too much like obligations. Having to 
refuse is as uncomfortable as accepting when you don’t want to.

There are buildings in DC that have coffee and pastries available in the lobby 
in the morning. (I’ve only read about this so don’t ask me which buildings.) 
It’s an easy way for people to begin conversations. 

So good luck. Please keep us informed. And I look forward to hearing from 
others on this.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org