Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Alexandria VA wants to group cohousing with Boarding houses - please speak up

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Hello Chris and all —

First, no one owes any apology for anything regarding this thread on the misuse 
of the term “cohousing.”  

Second, anyone is free to write or say anything to anyone they like about 
"cohousing “ — altho' it would be useful if we had a unified definition or 
language in describing cohousing’s niche place in the housing market.  Truth is 
… what and when anyone writes is actually none of my business.

Chris, thank you for writing to Ms. Powell.  You wrote a very good email to 
her.  It was especially good as you were able to show your credentials.  (This 
does not mean everyone has to have “credentials” to write about cohousing.  If 
you are thinking about, beginning a group, building a community, or living in 
cohousing … you have credentials.) I applaud you, Chris, for taking a stand in 
keeping the definition of cohousing “clean.”  

Becca is correct — if we don’t speak up when we see a misuse of the term the 
misinformation will continue occluding the unique, innovative housing model 
cohousing is.

So easy to muck it up!  (That’s “u-c-k" w/ an “M” as in “Mary” … just in case …)

In the "Case of Alexandria, Virginia, Misusing the Term Cohousing”  I was 
concerned that nothing go astray as I want to cultivate Ms. Powell for future 
cohousing projects.  “My" concerns got in the way.  

I still wonder if it is possible to coordinate our responses to create the best 
effect when answering these misuses.

In re: timing for posting emails … my emails always seem to post long after I 
send them.  W/ Fred’s help I figured out writing in a word processor then 
cutting, copying and pasting into the email is not a good thing. WAAAY too big 
for our email server to handle.   So for longer emails I’ll compose in plain 
text and then export the plain text into the email.

For the previous email I sent w/ information about my writing to Ms. Powell — I 
wrote that directly into the body of the email.  So I don’t know why that one 
was held up.  The ways of the digital universe are deep and mysterious.

:-)

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Member, Board of Directors
Mid Atlantic Cohousing
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church, VA
202.546.4654

Do you ever get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and think … 
“That can’t be  accurate.”

NOTE: I am switching back to: zabaldo [at] earthlink.net.  Many apologies!  


> On Apr 10, 2021, at 10:23 AM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> I also did not see Ann’s message before I responded to Chris. Ann has been 
> having some email challenges lately so it is possible it didn’t appear at the 
> time it was supposed to have appeared.
> 
> Sharon.
> 
>> On Apr 9, 2021, at 10:00 AM, Chris Roth - Communities Editor <editor [at] 
>> gen-us.net> wrote:
>> 
>> A note of explanation/apology: I subscribe to the daily digest, and was 
>> responding to Becca-Person's message on that. 
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> Chris
>> 
>> On 4/9/2021 8:59 AM, Chris Roth - Communities Editor wrote:
>>> 
>>> Here's a letter I just sent to alexa.powell [at] alexandriava.gov, the 
>>> contact listed at the bottom of the page linked in Becca-Person's message:
>>> 
>>> Hi Alexa,
>>> 
>>> Thank you for this initiative. I fully appreciate what you are trying to 
>>> accomplish and promote here. And...
>>> 
>>> As you have probably heard from others by now, Cohousing is a 
>>> well-established term with national and international recognition and quite 
>>> a number of published books, 
>>> Please let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like me to connect 
>>> you with any further resources related to anything I've written about.
>>> 
>>> Thank you!
>>> 
>>> Chris Roth
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Chris Roth
>>> Editor, Communities
>>> 81868 Lost Valley Lane
>>> Dexter, OR 97431
>>> editor [at] gen-us.net
>>> 541-937-5221
>>> gen-us.net/communities
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2021 10:31:01 -0500
>>>> From: Becca-Person Brackett<brackett3 [at] gmail.com>
>>>> To:cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org, Fred Olson<fholson [at] cohousing.org>
>>>> Subject: [C-L]_ Alexandria VA wants to group cohousing with Boarding
>>>>    houses - please speak up
>>>> 
>>>> My Google alert on the word "Cohousing" keeps turning up misuse of the 
>>>> term.
>>>> Maybe it's a losing battle,  but I would urge anyone in the state of
>>>> Virginia  or cohousers in the DC area to send the word to the City Council
>>>> of Alexandria that cohousing is NOT boarding houses and renting out extra
>>>> bedrooms!
>>>> 
>>>> If we don't speak up, the misinformation will continue - damaging the image
>>>> of true cohousing projects.
>>>> Cohousing  home purchasers should be able to benefit from any govt program
>>>> that assists in making home ownership more affordable.
>>>> How is Alexandria addressing that need?
>>>> 
>>>> I will keep on the alert!
>>>> Becca Brackett
>>> 
>> --
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
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