Cohousing-L Mailing List: Value of Design Consultants?

[Sarah Kerr (Sarah_Kerr]

Hello!
I'm a new addition to Whole Life Cohousing (Calgary, Alberta) and have
arrived just as we start looking at the specifics of design.  We have a site
(tentatively) in mind and are now trying to figure out how many units we can
fit on it, etc.  We are also  wanting to begin  the process of designing
individual units and the common house.  

I'm interested in hearing from people who used or didn't use cohousing
consultants for this phase of their projects and the pros and cons of either
choice.  We have lots of people with group facillitation skills, and we could
probably do it ourself, but we are wondering how much is to be gained from
from having someone experienced with the participatory design process help
us.  

The potential cost of a consutant is our big limitation - does anyone know of
any sort of kit we could purchase to help us if we can't afford to bring
someone in? Is this what the CoHousing Game is? 

I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions that could help us (either post
them here or send them directly to me (skerr [at] becgy.com)

Thanks, Sarah Kerr, Calgary
(Where Autumn is almost over and every morning gets darker and frostier!)