Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: fencing for dense urban build

[Stuart Pettygrove (gspettygrove]

Rebecca,
We are 35 condos on one half acre, all in one 4-story building. This is in
the city of West Sacramento. No families with kids and a mix of
working/retired. More single women than other categories. We have inside
parking for one vehicle per unit in two separate garages.  We moved in 22
months ago and have had some security issues. Some bikes were stolen from
our interior bike room - we've fixed that (knock on wood) with keypad
locks. Also posted a sign at our front door asking delivery people and our
members to NOT allow anyone to follow them into the  building. Our front
door is locked and has a latchkey with voice/cell phone system. Keeping
close track of the latchkey cards (each card issued can be traced to an
individual) is important.  USPS and a few others have a code for the front
door. Waste management has a code to get into the trash room rollup door.
The main ongoing issue is that it is possible to climb over the fence on
two sides of property, and if you get in that way, you can access the
larger of the two garages. We had a couple of car break-ins.  We have
rollup doors in both garages, and we ask residents to make sure those are
closed before driving away, etc. We have a security team, which has floated
the idea of cameras in the garage and possibly elsewhere - and with or
without a contractor like ADT. Not sure the community will consent to
that.TBD.
Other ideas:  Make the fences harder to climb over (e.g.with an extension
making them 8 ft tall). We've asked that everyone lock their cars and
remove anything that might be attractive, even phone charger cables and the
rollup door "clickers". Also, remove all loose items from the garage or put
them in a locked cabinet. A few households have a large amount of unsecured
items on their parking spot and don't seem to be interested in removing or
locking up that stuff.

With all that background, my suggestions for you:  Keep talking with each
other about privacy vs security vs openness.  In our community, there is a
wide range of concern from what I would call "very fearful" to "not
particularly concerned". No one in cohousing wants to live in a "gated
community", but if you live in an urban setting, you probably will want at
the very least to make it inconvenient for burglars. Consult with police.
We were able to get an officer to visit us, walk the property and meet with
the community. That was very helpful.  Also definitely talk to managers of
nearby apartment buildings.
Lastly, talk to the general contractor about how they will secure the
property while it is under construction.  If there is room in your parking
area, provide lockable storage cages as part of the price of each parking
space.
Good luck with your wonderful project. It's exciting that you've been able
to get the combination market rate/subsidized cohousing going!
Stu Pettygrove
Washington Commons Cohousing
330 G Street
West Sacramento CA

On Fri, Apr 3, 2026 at 8:43 AM Rebecca Herman via Cohousing-L <
cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> I am a member of  Cathedral Park Cohousing in Portland, OR.
>
> We are an inclusive, multigenerational, 50/50 market rate/subsidized
> community. We are getting closer to starting construction of our
> condo/apartment build in North Portland, OR! We will have 23 units spread
> over 2 buildings connected by external bridges/stairs and an elevator with
> several outdoor landscaped areas on our approximate 1/2 acre near the
> downtown St Johns neighborhood. Universal design principals will provide
> accessibility to age in place & move about using wheels. We will have some
> surface level car parking.
>
> We are currently discussing fencing. While we do not want to live in a
> gated community we are concerned about safety & security, especially for
> our most vulnerable members.
>
> Would appreciate any observations about safety in similarly designed
> cohousing communities that do AND do not have fencing. If you opted for
> fencing, thoughts about fence design specifics. Any pictures or links for
> visuals would also be appreciated.
>
> And please share our information with anyone looking for cohousing in the
> Pacific Northwest!
> https://www.cathedralparkcohousing.com/events/
>
> Thank you!
> Rebecca
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