Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: "Base Model" Cohousing - Hold the Options, Please

[Diane Q Simpson (dqs]

I DID mean to say that"base model" cohousing may have the practical
advantages of being easier to achieve and having appeal to much broader
market, thereby spreading the benefits of cohousing more widely and
rapidly than cohousing which is encumbered by too many specialized and
non-mainstream interests and values."--Dan Suchman <71756.2661 [at] 
compuserve.com>
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 ^^I have a couple of problems with
your suggestion, Dan. The first is the code words "practical" and
"marketable."
As I write this reply I am trying to figure out why I find
these words so bothersome. Perhaps it was my upbringing in which my
parents encouraged me to get a job that was "practical" so that I could
"always have a job." They discouraged me from going into art because it
wasn't "practical." Now, seven years after I left my "practical" career
in medical technology (from which several of my friends have been laid
off) I realize that practicality is not an absolute, and it should not be
the overriding factor in any major decision. The word "marketable" bothers
me because I don't think that just because something is "marketable" that
makes it right or good. The history of american products is littered with
trash that was sold (and is still sold today) because it was "marketable."
Marlboros, Cheese-doodles, Cool-whip, Smartfood, pet-rocks, Oprah....these
are all "marketable"--are they good for you? 
I feel that cohousing is about process...it's the community-building 
aspect of it that's most important, and if you let that be overshadowed 
by concerns about what's practical and what's marketable, you'll end up 
with something that is neither. 
I was just reading something in my design management newsletter
today that comes to mind as I'm writing this. It was a notice about a
reprint entitled "Exploring the Future in the Present." The brief
description of the article went as follows: "Since people are notoriously
unreliable in articulating meaningful preferences for yet-to-be developed
products, disappointments are common for companies that depend on consumer
research. Christopher Ireland and Bonnie Johnson believe that their
approach overcomes many of the problems inherent in this type of
analysis...." I guess I'll have to buy the reprint to find out what their
approach is, but, no matter. The point I'm making is that cohousing is,
for most Americans, a "yet-to-be developed product." It doesn't exist
because they haven't heard of it. Therefore, how can they articulate a
preference for it? 
The whole concept of marketing in this country has been driven by the 
need for someone to make a profit...but cohousing is driven by an inner  
need for closer social relationships. If people don't have those inner 
needs, how are you going to market cohousing to them? Beleive it or not, 
a lot of people in this society truly cherish their privacy, and would shudder
at the thought of having to share meals with a room full of people. They 
also cherish their private cars and being able to "go where they wanna go 
and do what they wanna do" even if it means they end up driving around 
all night looking for other people to be with.
Ergo, ipso facto, post hoc ergo kumquat, I beleive cohousing has to become
more widely known to the public so that they can see the benefits of it
and express a preference for it. Up until now, it's been the visionaries,
the thinkers, the pioneers, who've been doing cohousing. These are the
kind of people who are also most likely to be far from the mainstream in
terms of other preferences, which is a very likely reason why they do not
tend to build "base-model cohousing."
Well, that's enough of my ramblings for now...I shall return to my lurking. 

       @@              Diane Simpson
      @@@@             Future Jamaica Plain Cohousing Group
      | "|             263 Chestnut Ave.,#1
      | V|             Boston, MA 02130-4436
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