Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing Elitism

[Jim Nordgaard (jimn]

Cohousing is not necessarily more expensive then conventional housing:

The smaller units in our Cohousing community started at $25,000.  The
monthly dues for these are around $350 (including utils and unit
mortgage).  These units are suitable for singles.  A unit double this
size (for a small family) would double these amounts; $50,000 & $700. 
These are quite affordable compared to regular housing. We are located
in a fairly affluent suburb, just outside the city limits.

These is in the retrofit half of the community.  The new townhouse units
at Monterey started at close to $100,000.

Documania wrote:
> 
> This discussion is very interesting. I would like to add the point that
> cost is very much a factor in support of the "cohousing is elitism"
> argument. I have had to abandon my dreams of participating in a cohousing
> community because everything I've learned about it so far tells me that it
> matches or exceeds the cost of conventional housing. I cannot, and likely
> never will be able to, afford to live in such a community. The irony is,
> when I first learned about cohousing I thought that, because it involved
> shared resources, it would be less expensive.
> 
> Carolyn Haley
> dcma [at] ct1.nai.net

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