Cohousing-L Mailing List: Front Porches & Community Building

[Harry Pasternak (Harry_Pasternak]

Marty

 Regarding your "Anyone following Peter Calthorpe?" comment and his work on
front porches - who is he? has he written articles and/or published scholarly
stuff? Do you have an email or phone number? 
Thanks in advance.

I believe we need more info on the subject of "how the design of the homes
and common spaces" in a cohousing neighborhood can impede or facilitate
social contact between the inhabitants.

>From past discussions in this conference- there have been postings that some
of us stopping tallking about "architecture" and get back to talking about
"community building"--as if the design of the homes and common spaces had
nothing to do with "community building". My own feeling is that there has
been too little discussion here with the whole issue of design and the
facilitation of social interaction (social networking) between cohousing
inhabitants.

A lawyer I know, went on to explain how many of his clients come into his
office and start discussing an approach to or a decision about a legal case
similar to their own - that they read about in the newspapers or saw on
television. This lawyer (laughingly tells me) then tells the client that he
had never heard about what they had just explained (implying that if he
doesn't know about it- it doesn't exist or didn't happened) and that he would
continue on the original path he had laid out when he had taken on the case-
(rather than following up on the client's information)! He thought his
approach was cute!

Harry

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