Cohousing-L Mailing List: Using Identical, Similar, or Confusing Names

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Apr 26, 2026, at 12:48 PM, Sandy Thomson via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> We tried to convince Heartwood Commons to change their name telling them it 
> would be confusing and we have spent decades creating a good name for 
> Heartwood Cohousing and then to have a relatively new community adopt a name 
> so similar to ours was disappointing.

I remember this discussion — anguished might be too strong but it was real. 
Both communities defended their right to “Heartwood.” This problem is likely to 
be related to the problem of communities not putting their addresses on 
messages to Cohousing-L. Each person’s communty is the center of their world. 
They assume that everyone knows who they are and where they are, and they are 
unique in the world.

Developing communities have to be self-absorbed. If they weren’t they wouldn’t 
make it. If their dream is broken, their energy fades.

For the Heartwood in Tulsa, the connection to “Heartwood” was real and 
personal, and theirs. The Heartwood in Colorado didn't exist in the hearts of 
the people in Tulsa. 

Using "Heartwood, Tulsa" cleared things up for a time but apparently that 
practice has fallen by the wayside. 

For several years I joined the email lists of developing communities so I could 
watch the process from many perspectives. When a new community announced its 
website on Cohousing-L, I tried to find them. Quite often, nowhere on the 
website would be the name of the country, state, city, or even region listed. 
Nothing. One time, the only clue was a picture of a vast landscape of mountains 
with a village at the base.

I used Google images to find the skyline in Australia. 

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD
Founding member and 25 year resident in Takoma Village, Washington DC