Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Affordability - Retention (Sally Hardy)

[Alan O'Hashi (adoecos]


Hello Sally - 

The Cohousing Association envisions "A New American Dream" and diversity, 
inclusion, and equity as major organizational themes this year, which includes 
your timely question.

My place in Boulder has a diverse housing mix with affordable homes. The most 
stable households have turned out to be those living in lower-cost condos. 
Three of the market-rate houses have had four owners. The lower-cost units have 
turned over at a rate of 28 percent, compared to 72 percent of the market-rate 
homes.

This has to do with housing choices in Colorado including in Denver. An owner 
of a million-dollar house has more housing options than someone in a $200,000 
one. That's the price range in my community.

Those of us in lower-cost places would have to move out of town to find a 
comparable house. Because of the lack of options, at least in my case, I'm more 
willing to put up with the interpersonal problems that arise among people who 
have different views about wealth and all that goes along with that.

We have one resident who has taken it upon themselves to confront neighbors who 
they don't like having around, for one reason or another. One of their targets 
in a million-dollar place moved out on account of that intervention. If they 
pulled that on me, their demands would fall on my deaf ears.

Cohousing communities are microcosms of the country. Because of the oppressive 
nature of the American Way, my observation, the socially and economically 
powerful have a majority in most, communities, and get their way more often. 
They have no reason to change their outlooks while the marginalized have to 
capitulate or leave. Like in the wider society, cohousing community economic 
and social divides are widening, maybe Aria is no exception.

Hopefully, CoHoUS and its member neighborhoods can address housing 
affordability together but one community at a time.

Thx,

Alan O
ps - the cooperative living model is a good start, but differentiating people 
into the ‘haves’ who live in cohousing and ‘have nots’ into coops, widens 
social and economic divides. The cohousing definition needs to be more 
inclusive (private dwellings instead of private homes).


Alan O'Hashi 
Donate and get "Beyond Heart Mountain"
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On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 04:16:10 AM MST, <cohousing-l-request [at] 
cohousing.org> wrote:


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