Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Urban or other sprawl

[Smith & McGowan (mcsmith]

Toni Smith wrote:

Creek's Bend Cohousing is planning to put 24 units and a commonhouse on
3 1/2 acres of 11 acres, one of the last green spaces in Troy, New York,
a historical city, once the center of the iron and collar industry. 
Some have responded negatively to the development of this parcel, and
yet other developers have tried to put 81 units sprawled on it.  We are
a peninsula into the Poestenkill Creek, so cannot build on the portion
of the land that lies in the 100 year flood plain.  We are nestled
between hills that are not developable, so we have the potential to have
rural aspects in a city.  Our initial response from the zoning board is
that they welcome cluster housing and appreciate the light use of the
land.

Toni Smith LOOKING FOR MEMBERS, WE PLAN TO BREAK GROUND IN 1999.

Rob Sandelin wrote:
> 
> This is a good topic, since most cohousers end up becoming land developers.
> The argument was made that cohousing is no better than other developers
> because we chew up land and put up high density housing on it. The development
> impact of Shady Lane condomimiums and Shady Lane cohousing might only be a
> small degree.
> 
> In some cases, Cohousing uses land much better than for profit developers
> would have, but certainly many do not, or make little difference. Because of
> the citizen investor nature of the projects, cheaper land is often sought out
> away from the higher priced urban areas, and in some cases, cohousing groups
> specifically move out in to the rural areas by design or by Hobsons choice,
> rural sites being the only ones affordable.
> 
> Is this bad? Should the movement frown upon rural cohousing? Should we
> concentrate on developing cohousing only in urban areas? The Danish model
> (which I call the capital project model) as presented in  Chuck and Katies
> book shows high density housing. There are many models they did not show in
> their book, including the very common (In Sweden, Denmark) high rise model of
> cohousing. Should we be promoting high rise cohousing as well?
> 
> Rob Sandelin
> Sharingwood