Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: cohousing undercover?

[David L. Mandel (75407.2361]

John Deck writes of hoping to someday convert a condo complex in Santa Cruz into
cohousing by slowly and quietly buying up a majority of the units.

I would love to see this result, but is anyone else a little bothered by the
sense of secrecy, making plans and then springing it on the unsuspecting others
as soon as a majority exists? I know consensus isn't a hard and fast rule of
cohousing, and it's certainly not a requirement of the condo board before it
becomes cohousing, but doesn't this somewhat go against the spirit of community
building in an inclusive way? Even if "successful," it seems inevitable that
this approach would make enemies of a lot of future neighbors. And that's
exactly what the movement, as well as individual groups, doesn't need.

Maybe I'm overreacting and reading too much into the brief description. But I'd
feel much more comfortable about a conversion process that was much more open,
attempting to win over ALL current residents. Realistically, some will surely
not be interested and will eventually move if the conversion is successful, but
isn't it better to let it happen slowly, with plenty of advance notice of what
is in store? If it's done surreptitiously, I can imagine the headlines in the
Sentinel (local newspaper) about this secretive cult taking over a perfectly
normal condo complex to turn it into a commune.

What do you think, John and others?

David Mandel, Southside Park Cohousing, Sacramento.