Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Why not?

[Elise Matthesen (EMATTHESEN]

Ah, Jerry Callen's comment on wanting cohousing because it
was a different type of community gets at an important piece of
context for me, I think, and for many of us.

I guess I'm looking at the affordability issues because I already
*have* the luxury of a "different community" - several of them,
in fact - that feel close and supportive and unlike the
distancing commonly practiced and reflected in how single-family
housing is usually built.

These communities will be with me, I hope, even if and when I 
move into co-housing.  I'll build new community with my cohouser
heighbors, but it won't be "water in the desert".

For some folks, the commitment to find this type of community
or build it makes the "community" aspect of cohousing the
major relevant piece, and affordability and other issues
pale.

For some others, priorities differ.  Sure, I want the community
and am willing to work to make it happen with the right people, 
but if I can't afford $175,000 for a cohousing unit, but *could*
afford $80,000 for an old Victorian with some like-minded people
(like the ones I've been living with for 5 years or so), I know
what choice I'll make. On-site expertise already lives in my
house; one member is a glass etcher/craftsman and in high demand
by some of those $200,000+ sites, and there are other skills
around and available. A big house might just be the scale we
ought to work with, though I don't know if two households can
be called "co-housing".  But whatever works.......