Cohousing-L Mailing List: reply to Rob

[Scott Cowley (SCOWLEY]

Rob writes:

>Why is this a crucial issue for you? And what aspects of it are crucial? 
>I'm having a hard time understanding your point so I have several 
>questions. Is it your belief that cohousing is supposed to solve the housing 
>problems of America, or the rest of the world?  And if you beleive that, 
>why?  Are you a part of a cohousing group, and if so, are your statements 
>reflected in the groups goals?  

Some good questions, Rob.  Thanks for asking.
At the risk of being "boring" I'll answer them as best
I can...
  This is a crucial issue for me because I have every
last penny of my life savings (which took me ten years
to save) invested in land for a local cohousing project.
  I've been "political" for a long time, now, and have
paid for it very deeply and personally many times.

  I don't think we will even approach solving our most
intractible social problems in any way other than creating
Modern communities.  These problems include, for example, wife
and child abuse, anti-environmental behavior, crushing social
isolation, support for non-nuclear families, and religious
and personal profit-driven exploitation.

  Of course, as you well know, Cohousing is not an instant
cure for the problems of "America" or the rest of the world.
I think it is a wonderful vehicle which seem very comprehensible
to many folks, across various generational and class biases,
given some successful examples.  I have also found that concepts
of community are now quite acceptable to many bureaucratic
types largely because of the hard work at education and the
personal sacrifices made by many, many people in recent times.
That makes it somewhat easier to get their help.
  However, I think that cohousing is just as susceptible to
cooptation by the privileged and powerful as any other
"liberal" cause.
As a Marxist communitarian I think that an active
class-conscious orientation is important to help clarify
the discussion and steer clear of traps which have virtually
nullified most progressive legislation of the past 20 years.
  It is clear to me that capitalists are very capable of
warping and exploiting any honest sentiment and efforts by
well-meaning people to establish social trends such as
cohousing.  We must be clear, clever, and work hard to
keep them working for us when they do.

  Like many cohousing groups, ours has priorities of
"affordability", and "diversity".  We have approached
every housing agency, the lieutenant governor, and the
mayor in our city and state and, now that we have
our site programming down, will begin to make proposals
to them to include us in their affordable housing plans.
Our area's vacancy rate for 2 bedroom apartments is now
below 1%. Our average house costs are rising by
$1,500 a month.  Our average property taxes doubled this
year.
  We do intend to be realistic when it comes to making
a pioneer project in our area in terms of financing and
construction methods.  Just the concept of cooperative
housing is radical for this area.  We intend to make the
first one look good, and function well.
  We also got a good idea from Virginia Thigpen, the Muir
Commons developer, where we will designate a fraction of 
any resale profits to the local cohousing umbrella
because I am making the property available at well below
current market value.
  Well, I better get back to my job.