Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Build it and they will come?

[David L. Mandel (75407.2361]

Glen Orcutt wonders why Valley Oaks is stuck with seven unsold units as
completion nears. Here's part of what I wrote him:

We were stuck at about 20 during the whole construction period. Perhaps
something about the intensity of that process puts off new people. We were
holding orientations and site tours, and they attracted a lot of lookers, but
for the most part, the last units (as the others) were filled by people who knew
a member or at least someone who knew a member. You've probably already reached
the population of Chicoans who want to be involved in the founding of such a
community. The last ones will come in part at least because they are at a place
in life where they need different housing at the time when your units are ready.
They may not be "burning souls" to the extent your founders are, but they won't
be as burned out either. If our experience is instructive, they will still be
self-selecting to the extent that they are among the other nine who want to live
in cohousing (as opposed to the multitudes who don't). 

David Mandel, Southside Park