Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing exclusiveness

[Jim Nordgaard (jimn]

It is probably a common misperception, but people choosing to form or
join cohousing, are generally not "specifically choosing one's
neighbors" that share their world view.  In fact, in these early stages
of the movement, where even getting and keeping a group together long
enough for the community to happen is enough of an obstacle. Being
choosy as to who you find suitable neighbors would make the difficult
task close to impossible.

In my experience, the only real commonalties among people in cohousing
are the following; an interest in living in cohousing, financially able
to participate (unfortunately true in the pioneer stage), and have
perseverance and determination (also necessary to live in cohousing). 
In my community, there is in fact quite a diversity in religion,
lifestyle, age, income, and philosophical views. So even the particular
reasons for people being in the cohousing varies.  Much more diverse, I
believe, than the suburbs where most people live, since people living
there had a wide choice in selecting the neighborhood that matches their
income level and other criteria.

Because of such diversity, there is in fact a requirement of cohousing
members to be open minded, and work with others who's approach differs
from yours.  So cohousing communities, and it's members are in fact
opposite of clannish; they tend to be more open to the outside community
than other neighborhoods, and cohousing residents tend to be more active
in the community than the average population. 

Of course my greatest worry is that this may change as word spreads and
developers just add the trappings of "community" as a selling point. 
But there is not much that can be done about that except make the
distinction very clear between building community and a 'prefab'
community.

-- 
Jim Nordgaard /\ jimn [at] jriver.com  /\ www.jimn.org
J. River, Inc. - Monterey Cohousing Community - Green Party of MN