Strategies for LowCost Cohousing [was coho/ecovillage land in Washington state | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Sharon Villines (sharon![]() |
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Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2021 14:37:44 -0700 (PDT) |
> On Jul 5, 2021, at 1:49 AM, Chuck Harrison <cfharr [at] gmail.com> wrote: > > I just visited some friends on this property that is available immediately. > 20 acres of wonderful possibilities! > > https://www.ic.org/advert/20-acre-homestead-in-washington-state/ "$675K pre-listing price" — For 20 acres with livable buildings onsite, this looks like a wonderful opportunity — if you have a group of people organized for action. Luck like this is not rare — but you have to have the resources ready to jump in order to take advantage of it. In thinking about how to support/encourage cohousers organize low-cost cohousing communities, it seems to come down on all sides as 1. Must have organized core group ready to ramp up fast when an opportunity presents itself. There are millions of low cost housing construction materials and techniques—I knew there must be a lot but the range is truly astonishing. And with the web, there are ample images of attractive uses available. The problem: gaining permission to design a community using them. A successful application for a zoning variance will be hyper-local. Even if miraculously there should be a nation-wide prohibition of single-family, minimum-lot-size zoning, it would be necessary to understand what this means locally and how to frame your arguments for a specific piece of land. And this will require a core group ready to create or take advantage of an opportunity. 2. Core group members must educate themselves about construction materials and technologies, local zoning, and a range of supportive local contacts and resources. It is amazingly easy to attend local agency hearings, kibitz with clerks in offices, figure out who the friendly supporters are likely to be by listening in civic meetings, talk to local construction companies about who can or wants to construct what. There are so many people who recognize the need for low-cost homes that beating that drum doesn’t help. It’s stating the obvious. There are even strong believers in the shortcomings of focusing housing aid on subsidized rentals. The most glaring definition of housing insecurity is literally having no right to a home. No place to live that is unconditionally available, safe, and dry. 3. Learn how to act as a group and practice organizing actions and sharing information. An urban planner who led an effort to save a whole neighborhood from becoming a series of cloverleaf intersections of 4-8 lane highways said the most important thing they did without realizing it at the time was naming themselves. Agreeing to become a group and to be visible. The simple fact that they had a name made the city sit up and listen at a time when they hardly knew each other and had no resources much less a plan. If you have your agreements worked out — not all of them, just the ones you need right now — then everyone can act quickly because they know they are in agreement. In this respect, right now order a copy of Ted Rau’s Who Decides Who Decides? https://amzn.to/3hFU7FY This is a step by step guide to forming a group in 3 meetings. How to go from a mission to a governance structure and action plan in 3 meetings. It’s an introduction to sociocracy (dynamic governance) complete with various guides to meeting structure, etc. It's unique value is that Ted has sensitively itemized a path of take-no-prisoners steps to get somewhere in each meeting. How to deflect noise and stay focused. To be up front about "this is what we are doing and if you want to do something else, start a meeting down the street.” And a new resource for thinking about "missing middle housing.” How multi-household buildings can fit into neighborhoods of one household buildings — and create walkable communities. Excellent thinking and pictures. https://missingmiddlehousing.com Voted one of Planetizen's Top Urban Planning Websites of 2019. Sharon ——— Sharon Villines, Editor & Publisher Affordable Housing means 30% of household income Cohousing means self-developed, self-governed, self-managed http://affordablecohousing.com
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coho/ecovillage land in Washington state Chuck Harrison, July 4 2021
- Strategies for LowCost Cohousing [was coho/ecovillage land in Washington state Sharon Villines, July 5 2021
- Re: Strategies for LowCost Cohousing Brian Bartholomew, July 5 2021
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