Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing units without basements?

[Pablo Halpern (phalpern]

"Evan A.C. Hunt" <evanh [at] sco.COM> Wrote:
> 
>    Given the choice I'd _much_ rather have a house with a concrete
> slab or a post-and-beam foundation--cheaper, easier to expand later--and
> _no_ basement, and have storage and utility space either inside the house
> or in a detached, possibly common, garage-type structure.

Don't forget that above-ground storage and utility space takes up valuable 
acreage. In our community, we clustered the houses together. Above ground 
storage and utility would have meant either a) Larger footprints for the 
houses, taking up more land space or b) towering, 3-story structures instead 
of the 2-story houses we have now. I think using space under the ground for 
activities that don't require nice, windowed spaces to be a good use of 
available land. I wouldn't want to give up any of our common outdoors space 
for a utility shed. If we could have afforded it, we would have put the cars 
underground, too!

- Pablo

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

New View Neighborhood Development, Acton, MA, U.S.A.
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