Cohousing-L Mailing List: D.I.Y's Lot Size

[Harry Pasternak (Harry_Pasternak]

This note is for folks who are Unpaid Volunteeers who are
developing/designing/building their own neighborhood to enhance their own
"social networking"--this king of neighborhood is sometimes called cohousing
or collaborative housing or cooperative housing; but, can be found in many
middleclass communities all over the western world.

Lot Size:
In order to enhance "social networking" the design of the homes and community
must contain specific criteria. Small clusters of homes best meet these
criteria--assuming certain conditions are met; for example, no garages
attached or near homes--all car parking away from public spaces and no car
traffic permitted in public or semi-public spaces.
Therefore a "good" lot size can be achieved by having 14 homes on a two acre
site (plus an area for shared facilities). 
Louisiana-Pacific hired, architect George Hugh Tsuroka to do market research
and then design homes and developments for developers, for about ten years.
One of Tsuroka's designs (#81-2) is a cluster of seven homes per acre. Each
home is 1350 sq. ft. Other than removing the garages and adding a front
veranda, the clustering as well as the design of the homes promotes "social
networking" effectively. I am not suggesting that the design be copied--but
something worth studying. The plans and working drawings were $75. for 3 sets
of working drawings plus one materials list--I don't know if these are still
available or whether they have been achived anywhere.
Contact Louisiana-Pacific (regionnal office) or George Hugh Tsuroka
(Evanston, Illinois)

Harry Pasternak
Unpaid Volunteer For D.I.Y.'s Who Need Info On Designing and Building 
Affordable,Frugal Supportive Neighborhoods, Who Works At:
Thousand Islands Institute
The Independent Centre For Housing Research & Education
(Harry_Pasternak [at] tvo.org)

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