Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: reply to Rob

[MelaSilva (MelaSilva]

  My mother used to listen to people sighing because they missed the "old
country", how everyone took care of each other, etc.She would often say to me
" In the Old country, everyone was in your business, gossip controlled
peoples lives, they came here so that they wouldn't have to live with their
sisters and cousins." Unlimited land, available for anyone willing to do the
work!  A miricle! Later, folks were thrilled to get out of the boring country
side, filled with nothing but farming and daily grind, and flocked to the OH
SO exciting cities.Later, people saw the single family home in the suburbs as
miricle, a cure for the too close neighbor on top of neighbor in the crowded
inner cities that they were confined to before cars were cheap and
accessable.
  Cohousing is just one in a long line of attempts to deal with the problems
and issues that confront folks TODAY. Every today has different problems and
offers different choices.When I first joined our group, I was so excited, I
told everybody about this wonderful answer to my prayers. Dozens and dozens
of people told me they couldn't imagine "giving up" their privacy, trying to
make everyday decisions with 10 or 20 or 40 people.Nothing I said could
persuade them that this was today's miricle. If cohousing spreads it will be
because it meets peoples today needs. 
Mela Silva
Southside Park