Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Streets and driveways.

[Thomas Alexander (70372.267]

Joani Blank wrote:
>it is the fact all of the cohousing residents know each other very
>well that makes the community space not feel like "public" space.

And then went on to say (excerpted):
>Imagine [...] an arbitrary removal of all the fences and other
>architectural and landscape barriers from the back yards in a conventional
>older suburb. [...] a stranger wandering in might not even be recognized
>as a stranger. 
>The feeling of semiprivacy that is created when ALL the neighbors know
>each other well does result in strangers usually staying out unless invited,

        You seem to be suggesting that two identical developments
would be treated differently by strangers just because the people
living there know each other.  Strangers, by definition, wouldn't
know that the people there knew each other.  There must be more to
it than that.  Perhaps they would LOOK different, or there could be
a gateway, or the residents would greet "strangers" and tell them
(subtly or otherwise) that they were trespassing.
        A space which "feels" private to the community, yet looks
the same as other public spaces seems to be misunderstanding waiting
to happen - over and over again.

Thos
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/thos