Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Elitist or Mainstream?

[Catherine Harper (tylik]

On Mon, 20 Oct 1997 mkiefer [at] peabodybrown.com wrote:

>      I also agree that cohousing is different from other utopian movements 
> in that it seeks to be part of, and to influence, the mainstream.  This is 
> part of its strength, but its important to realize that its also why 
> cohousing groups haven't pushed the edge of the envelope more design-wise. 
> I, too, hope and believe that they will in time, as the concept itself 
> becomes less exotic.

This comment interested me because for the most part, while I recognise
that cohousing has been fertilized by many a utopian movement, I don't
tend to think of cohousing as a utopian movement per se.  It's emphasis is
too much on the practical (which admittedly is easier to do, having so
many experiments to look at and analyse and check for probably mistakes). 
At it's core it seems to focus on not so much "what would be the best
concievable thing" but "what are we able to do that will work, and will
last". 

                                Catherine