Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: We need to find ways to scale this up

[Virgil Huston (virgil.huston1955]

 Here is a view from a long time mostly lurker who at age 66 has decided
that co-housing is not for us and here are the reasons in no particular
order. I offer this as something to think about for those involved in the
movement and, while there is judgment involved, I am just calling it as I
see it.

1. Cost, including not only home costs, but monthly costs. I have not seen
a single co-housing community that I could come even close to affording
either in buying or the monthly fees. It is also why I won't move into a
condo, even if the unit itself is affordable, the monthly fees are not. My
wife and I are generally considered middle class and we own our home in a
nice old neighborhood of small homes. We are fixed income now and we would
struggle if we had a mortgage payment because our income is limited. And
inflation is killing us like it is hurting others with limited incomes
since Biden took office. And I remember the Carter/Reagan inflation and 185
mortgage rates. Culturally we are middle class, financially we are lower
class. It is kind of weird how that works.

2. I have a hard time distinguishing co-housing communities from country
club communities. In a country club community, some people participate
socially with others, there is a clubhouse, members can arrange events,
etc. I see so many comments here about problems with folks not
participating. In a country club, those that want the social interaction
can get it and those that don't are not considered a problem. Personally, I
would actually be comfortable in a commune, which I believe most co-housing
folks I see here would not like. It often seems to me that co-housing has a
commune type social goal, but is much more like a country club, with
private ownership and occasional group meals/activities for those that want
them. For me, that just doesn't really work well. That is meeting your
friends at the country club restaurant once a week. If I am in a community,
I want to be in a community, if that makes sense.

3. This is probably the biggest one (well, inability to afford is pretty
big, too, LOL) for me, is politics. I am politically pretty close to a
communist, but I think that progressives in the US have just gone off the
tracks and lost their way. The biggest example is Democrat abandonment of
white poor and middle working classes. I cannot stand wokeness. It seems
that co-housing attracts the typical Democrat voter these days, rich, white
folks who pretend to care about poor folks, but separate themselves from
them unless that contact is sanitized. I simply would not get along with
people who think I am horrible because I am not a fan of Joe Biden and the
things that Democrats seem to be focused on these days, like cancel culture
and censorship. Back in the day, the working class (including white working
class) was a concern for Democrats, but that changed really after Johnson,
who I consider the last FDR president. Carter I liked, but as a president
he was ineffective. Since then, all Democrats have been neoliberals and, as
a US war veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as protesting Vietnam
when I was a teenager, Today, race and identity politics is used to hide
the class divides while also dividing the population, keeping all working
class from rising against our white, rich oligarch overlords.. I am not a
fan of neoliberals (regardless of party) and I have always said we have a
one party system in the US. I supported Bernie Sanders in both 2016 and
2020. I did not vote for Hillary or Biden. I voted for Trump in 2020, so I
know most co-housing people would hate my guts without even knowing me.
That is an outside view of what I see here, like people wanting to do
background checks, etc, and other political statements that they know are
acceptable in this community that the average working class schlub would
laugh at while knowing they are considered scum. So, bottom line is that
co-housing has a limited base of potential buyers based entirely on
politics, ranging from the virtue signaling it provides to just making sure
they are in a safe mostly white community of people with money with perhaps
a token minority or so-called low income unit so they can feel good about
all the others that couldn't get into the community. Even if you live in a
liberal bubble, the majority of people in the country do not support what
you believe.

So, I am pretty sure I wouldn't even be welcome in most co-housing
communities strictly on my politics. That is kind of a scary thought for me
and, based on what I see in this listserv, a real thing. And Democrats are
as much responsible for income inequality as anyone else, probably more so.
I think co-housing is a fundamentally flawed model for many reasons and
is an artifact of rich white liberals, along with all the
consultant hangers on all making money. While some folks can't make rent.
I wish those into co-housing well, but I have realized it is not for me and
my wife.

Take care

On Thu, Mar 24, 2022 at 1:51 PM Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <
cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> > On Mar 22, 2022, at 7:42 PM, b farris via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> >
> > My feeling is that communities haven’t shown a commitment to making
> co-housing affordable.
>
> I had a lively visit and chat with Ann Zabaldo first thing this morning
> and she reminded me that I forgot some things in my message yesterday. She
> didn’t have time to write them herself, so I’ve been charged.
>
> (She came down to make a video of the unboxing of my new Blue iPhone 13
> Pro with 256 GB. We were both stumped, however, because neither of our
> fingers are strong enough to get the case off the 7 year old iPhone 6. I
> still have to find a teenager before I can transfer the SIM card.)
>
> Important points that should be highlighted:
>
> 1. Every cohousing community begins wanting to be affordable and to have
> the widest range of income diversity as possible. In the process of
> developing realistic plans, the community becomes as unaffordable as other
> housing for all the same reasons.
>
> 2. All residential housing is in crisis. Cohousing is not alone. Many
> people are housing insecure no matter whether they rent or want to
> purchase. The list of reasons is long but the major ones are the expense of
> financing, the cost of construction materials, the lack of affordable
> land,  prohibitive zoning, and outmoded construction codes that prohibit
> more efficient, stronger, and less expensive building materials and
> construction methods.
>
> 3. There is no special dispensation for cohousing. While many of us
> consider cohousing to be a public service, a non-profit venture, or a
> charitable activity, no one else does. Cohousing is real estate
> development. There are no tax write offs, low interest rates, or
> alternative financing for cohousing.
>
> 4. The problems are primarily local and have to be resolved locally. It is
> the local zoning, the interests of city planners, the interests of bankers,
> and the friendliness of neighbors that present the biggest hurdles. This
> makes it very difficult to help local groups except to provide
> encouragement and offer examples on Cohousing-L or other means of
> communication.
>
> 5. The Catch 22 is that the best and fastest way to provide affordable
> housing and address climate change is to reduce the size of individual
> living spaces — and their yards measured in acres. There are many examples
> of alternate housing discussed and pictured on the Strong Neighborhoods
> blog. But a key factor is size. Or materials. There are huge Barnominiums
> that will last “forever” but would not be allowed in cities  or even
> suburbs.
>
> http://strongneighborhoods.info
>
> They are beautiful and well designed and costable—meaning the information
> is published so you can compare costs within an estimated range.
>
> In addition to new materials and alternative construction methods, Ty
> Albright, and others, have developed workable models that are as affordable
> and as well-designed and constructed as they can be. This blog post details
> his strategy:
>
> https://www.strongneighborhoods.info/designing-low-cost-housing-that-works/
>
> He applied all his experience in developing and selling real estate but
> the price still doubled during construction becoming close to market rate.
> It is actually very affordable if you use the floor plan the way he
> designed it because it can easily be used as 2 living units. And is the
> first of 6-10 houses in a pocket neighborhood.
>
>
> https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/720-E.-4th-St.-Sulphur,-Oklahoma_rb/2071578521_zpid/
>
> 6.  Note my first email of the day that the size of units in the Japanese
> cohousing community range from 269-650 SF. Few if any American banks will
> finance units that small because “they have no resale value.” Even though
> every second person wanting to purchase a cohousing unit wants a one
> bedroom, many won’t finance one-bedrooms. Outside of large cities, bankers
> will declare with no evidence that "there is no market.”
>
> Zoning prohibits small houses. Even as conventional looking small houses.
>
> The best floor plan in Takoma Village is the 625 SF one bedroom with a den
> that is often used as a bedroom and can be passed off as a two bedroom. It
> is fabulous use of space. It is so popular that the price, relatively, is
> more expensive than the 2 bedroom. Many of the alternative housing
> strategies focus on better use of space to reduce both construction costs
> and ongoing maintenance and utility costs. But you would have to build them
> somewhere other than in the cities where someone wants to live.
>
>
> I’m not trying to be negative. I guess, better, I’m trying to drum up some
> outrage energy. As Nancy Pelosi says, "We don’t agonize, we organize.”
> There are examples everywhere of people who have broken down barriers so
> there are examples. It’s just complicated. It’s a Swiss cheese task — one
> step at a time. And a Good Plan.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
>
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