Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Block Clubs - Evolving to Cohousing?

[Mmariner (Mmariner]

Fred said:

>In Minneapolis a block club is an organizations to which all residents of 
>a residential block are encouraged to particpate.  

I'm interested in the "block clubs" as potential vehicles to build
cohesiveness which could eventually lead to retrofit cohousing.  In Boulder
we have neighborhood associations which started as independent "activist"
groups in different areas of the city.  Assertive neighborhood assn's try to
have one rep for each block who distributes the newsletters and tries to get
activities such as you described going to foster neighborhood cooperation.
 Recently the city hired a liaison to these neighborhood groups because they
were becoming influential at city council and elsewhere.

Fred, your statement above infers that In Minneapolis  they (who? the city?)
encourage block clubs?  

Are there incentives for becoming more cooperative or cohesive?  

Is there any sense that blocks could eventually be units of political
structure? 

Does the city see block clubs as a way to prevent neighborhood conflict?  

What kinds of funds and/or personnel does the city invest in coordinating or
liaison work with block clubs?  What motivates them to encourage block clubs?

Does the city have any understanding of cohousing/intentional community?  Do
they see it as desireable?

A lot of work has been done in Boulder, so the mayor and the city council
have come to see cohousing as highly desireable, according to the story in
the local paper about Nomad Cohousing breaking ground in Boulder itself.
 Nyland, 4 miles east of Boulder has gotten lots of local attention over the
last few years.

Fred, is your block club the only one seriously considering retrofit
cohousing or has that proposal seeded the idea in other areas of the city?

A lot of questions, I know, but I'm one of those restless souls who would
love to see every neighborhood look/feel more like cohousing.  I'm very
interested in what cities are doing to encourage neighborhoods to be more
cohesive in any way.  Anybody else got some stories to share.

Some of us at Nyland are getting ready to do more community outreach to
spread the word.  Knowledge of successes elsewhere is always helpful.

Rob S., does the NW communities assn. do much "lobbying" with city
governments?  Any successes?

Michael M
Nyland