Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: CoHousing to Meet Needs of Disabled

[Fred H. Olson (fholson]

On Thu, 25 Feb 1999, Diane Simpson wrote:

> So..bottom line is, where do you draw the line? [on what is and isn't
> cohousing]   If you're talking about a
> specific idea, and you want other people to understand you, is it important
> to have clear definitions? I say yes.

It certainly is useful to have clear terms and definitions.  But there is
a limit to how well-defined some thing like cohousig can be.  Limiting
factors include who does the defining and the fact that a defining
characteristic is democratic control of communities.  To many questions of
the "can a cohousing community do such and such"; I respond that if a
community decides to do this and can make it happen, yes they can.
In extreme cases I suppose they migh go beyond the boundaries of what I
and others consider to be cohousing.

BTW I think it would be useful if other types of intentional communities
had some fairly well defined terms.  In particular a term for the
collective household variety would be useful.

I think it's still an open question regarding the the desireability of a
shared special interest in a cohousing community.  Within some range
I suspect there is room for communities with explicit shared special
interests.  I also have some sympathy to the arguement that there is a 
tendency for shared values that go beyond those that we explicitly
acknowledge.

Fred


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Fred H. Olson  fholson [at] cohousing.org    Minneapolis,MN   55411  
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