Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: size of lots

[Peter Starr (startrak]

The optimum lot size has been difficult to evaluate because we use 
superficial and meaningless criteria to judge it by.  In a country where our 
food is shipped, on average, from 2,000 miles, our houses built from 
clearcuts on the other side of the mountain, off the scenic highways, our 
electricity generated by river-killing dams or greenhouse generating 
powerplants, and our toys and furnishings produced by slave laborers in 
distant lands, of course there is no way to measure the value or usefullness 
of a piece of land.

If we used our land to produce some or all of our food, if our houses were 
situated to the sun for solar gain, if we had common land for regenerative 
wood and material production, and if we didn't build where we shouldn't 
because of lack of water, then we would know just how large to make our lots. 

But as long as our real-estate market is based on proximetry to views and 
safe distance from real-world problems then lot-size issues will remain tied 
to the same socio-economic problems that cohousing is a response to in the 
first place.

Sorry about my somewhat dismal view, but I really believe that in order for 
cohousing to be other than a way for middle-class people to wall themselves 
in, and actually be part of a solution to suburban sprawl and its intrinsic 
alienation, then we must place it in the larger context of eco-villages, 
sustainable community, and global justice.  

Peter
           Starr Track
We Track the Natural Products industry
  Peter Starr___________Sara Starr