Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Reaction to Adawehi webinar

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Feb 20, 2026, at 8:58 PM, /US/VA/22031 via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> I attended the zoom webinar on Friday to learn about the ecovillage. I have
> visited a number of cohousing communities but have only researched the
> ecovillage communities. I became more interested in learning about them
> when I saw the email announcing the tour of several ecovillages in NC next
> fall. When I tuned in yesterday, the founder told us that the cutoff age is
> 60. I didn't even realize there was a cutoff age.

It is not legal in any of the United States to have an upper cut off. The lower 
cutoff, legal for senior villages 55-60, but also comes with requirements that 
are convenient for older adults. You can’t limit the lower age just because you 
don’t like children. Or require various childsafety features when noone is 
below age 50.

> What seems really unethical to me is
> that this organization will gladly take a hefty fee for the tour, but they
> won't tell you upfront that you're not eligible to live in one. 

Many new groups make these mistakes. People get together and think about what 
they want without consulting the housing laws or thinking about what the 
restrictions mean in practice. 

On the topic of guns, for example. Prohibiting guns in all likelihood prohibits 
police and security personnel from living in cohousing. Some judges and lawyers 
also carry guns when under threat.

> On another note, I always thought that the residents of an ecovillage had a
> duty to be stewards of the land. When I inquired whether the meals were
> vegan, I was told they could probably accommodate me. How can you be an
> environmentalist and run an ecovillage whose residents consume animal milk?

This is an opinion — for various reasons not everyone agrees with it. The 
quality of nutritional research is very low with poorly designed studies, 
incorrect assumptions, and vagueness. What does eat less meat mean? What is 
less salt? Who is making these recommendations based on a person’s actual 
intake?

> So you're only half an environmentalist? How do you explain that to the
> public when they come to visit you? I think it's unethical and it's phony.
> All the yoga teachings and new age gibberish don't make up for it.

When people try to describe their hoped-for village, they use the words they 
have heard others use. They are often not defined in the source either. People 
trying to start something so gigantic as a condominium complex for 100+ people 
rarely have any understanding of all the things each one of a prospective 
residents believes or plans to do. It’s an ongoing blending process. But is 
unlikely to be an illegal or deceptive process.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD
Founder & Resident for 25 years in Takoma Village, Washington DC