Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: (1) 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.

If the goal of your "cohousing" (or collaborative or cooperative) community
is to provide an abundance of "social networking" opportunities--here is the
background for the info in the previous message.
 If a cohousing group is betting on having a "shared facility" to have supper
in etc. to affect all of the necessary social networking--there are then
going to lose the bet! It's like having cream for your coffee--but no coffee.
That is, the cream is analagous to having suppers together and expecting that
to fulfill all of the interpersonal relationship stuff. Unfortunately, that
approach will only fulfill about 3% of the social networking. 

The real 97% of social networking comes about because specific criteria are
present in the design of the homes and the immediate neighborhood -- the
"coffee".

Here are some of the criteria necessary for social networking:

* Sloping roof on homes and veranda.
* One or two storey homes--one storey better.
* All homes the same price--all homes priced for middle-low income folk.
* Veranda big enough for 4 adults and a baby carriage--must face public
space-- must be roofed over.
* Front "lawn" or front yard, ONLY 10 feet in depth--that is from the front
of the home to the public space ( the sidewalk or walkways.)
* Homes strung out along walkways.
* No garages attached to homes or even near homes--a separate parking/garage
area--access only from main roadway, that DOESN"T go thru neighborhood.
* Kitchens at front of home with windows facing public walkways--windows in
kitchen low enough for children to see out.
* Gardens in front of homes--in the 10 foot front "lawn".
* A "shared home" for every 14 homes or so-- for suppers, laundry machines
etc. etc.
* Money set aside so that other shared stuff can happen later after folks
have been living there for a while (like a lap pool etc. etc.).
* Lots of trees and trellises and flowers in the front lawn space-- that
require maintenance.
* Lots of public walkways that require maintenace.
* Modest back yards with privacy fencing.
* No fencing or very low fencing around front "lawns".
  
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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