Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Undercover??/N St./Condo Conversion

[Ben Blount (blount]

On Sat, 9 Dec 1995, Joani Blank wrote:

> You need to know something about the neighborhood where N Street did its
> justifiably vaunted organic cohousing. First off, it is in a college town
> where creative housing is likely to be be both desired and practiced.
> Secondly,  the block they've settled was mainly rental housing when they
> started their slow "conversion."  By contrast, I assume  in  the condo John
> is talking about, most units are owner-occupied. Quite a different challenge
> with a significantly less transient population. Also, N Street didn't have
> the problem of getting the cars out of the middle. Or the prospect of trying
> to purchase one of the units to turn it into a common house. Or even more
> costly, trying to build a new common house building mid-complex.  
> 
> Joani
> 
Its difficult to convey what the potential of a site is with words, 
especially with our off-the-cuff memos to each other, but I'd just like
to clear up a couple of things in Joani's response above.  First, the 
condos I am talking about are actually 1/2 rentals and there are 
currently several owners who may be willing to sell.  Second, an issue
such as cars in the middle of a complex may sound like taboo for cohousing,
but there are some interesting possibilities in using this feature.  
I have been thinking about the possibility of creating a woonerf in 
our condo complex.  A woonerf is an integrated street that seeks to 
equalize the relationship of pedestrians, autos, kids playing, and other
activities in the same place.  It may sound radical, but these streets
are much safer than normal streets because cars are a little out
of place, and drivers know they are out of place, thus they drive more
carefully.  The streets incorporate gardens, benches, and public-private
interfaces.

This is all just to illustrate that there are always
opportunities to improve any situation and we need to free ourselves
from stereotyping any situation as whether it is or isn't suitable for
cohousing.  Motels, condos, suberban streets, and grass huts can all
be converted towards cohousing, each with a unique flavor, each
a step towards a more sustainable world.

John Deck