Cohousing-L Mailing List: Barbed wire?!

[Joaniblank (Joaniblank]

I was very disturbed by the sarcastic mention of barbed wire in a posting
dealing with strangers/visitors. It shows complete disregard for the the
legitimate saftey and privacy concerns in many of our communities.

Our community (Doyle St.) is in the city, directly across from a busy coffee
shop, a busy beauty parlor and a dozen other small businesses.  Absent our
"residential parking only"  sign we would be hard pressed to keep customers
of those businesses out of  our lot.  The parking lot which holds only 11
small cars plus a 12 foot wide patio is our only common outdoor area. If our
little children (three of them between 2 and 4) step outside our entrance
 way--there is no gate because we want to be visually  open to the
surrounding community--they are literally in the street. Ths is a narrow
street, and large trucks are frequently all but blocking it. We're very
careful, but it is not unusual for non-residents to pull into our entrance
quite fast to turn around so as to grab one of the scarce parking spots on
our side of the street. 

Those of you who are in the suburbs or out in the country have some luxuries
of openness that we cannot enjoy. Even there, however there are safety
considerations. 

Finally, I think all of us are interested in hearing the opinion of anyone on
this list about any subject related to cohousing.. However, this is not the
place for rudeness or put-downs  Disagree if you will. And don't hesitate to
be challenging and provocative. But please do it with respect for the ideas
of others.