Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Controversy over attached garages

[Pablo Halpern (phalpern]

> From: dadams [at] world.std.com (David G Adams)
> 
> (*) I don't hate garages.  Like I said, I've never had one so I can't rea
> say.  I would prefer to see a garage across the street than to see cars o
> the sidewalk.  

Don't assume that attached garages require driving on the sidewalk. In New 
View's site plan, all of the houses are connected by an unbroken pedestrian 
way over which no cars will pass (except for emergencies, etc.). Almost 
half the houses have drive-up parking. Generally, for houses with drive-up 
parking, the "front" of the house faces the pedestrian lane and the "back" 
of the house faces the driveway. Our architects are geniuses.

> (*) New View had already reached consensus on how to best balance needs o
> cars and need for car-free spaces (is this true?).

Partly true. As per my description above, our site-plan has a car-free 
center. However, the needs of cars have intruded into our architecture and 
into our group process in a way that indicates that we are not all entirely 
comfortable with the current balance. None-the-less, it is *a* balance, out 
of many possible balance points.


- Pablo

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Pablo Halpern              (508) 435-5274         phalpern [at] world.std.com

New View Neighborhood Development, Acton, MA
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