Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohousing and Co-neighborhoods

[Steve Habib Rose (habib]

Hello.

I would value some discussion on Cohousing and Co-neighborhoods.
"Co-neighborhood" is a new term for an intentional community whose members live
in the same part of town but not adjacent to one another.  Please see the
Co-neighborhoods Network homepage at http://www.coneighborhoods.net for more
information.

I believe there is tremendous potential for synergy between cohousing (and other
intentional communities) and co-neighborhoods.  I will provide a starting list
below.  Your comments and additions would be most welcome.

1. Learning from each other.  Since cohousing is a much better established
model, those of us involved with co-neighborhoods can be the beneficiary of much
of the learning thus far.  But, eventually we might have one or two things to
teach as well.

2. Making referrals to each other.  In the Seattle area, we have a very close
relationship with a number of cohousing communities.  We have made several
referrals to those communities, and Marci Malinowycz, cohousing activist
extraordinaire, has sent a number of referrals our way.

3. Collaborating in events and marketing.  For example, the Co-neighborhoods
Network is organizing a panel discussion on "Neighborhood Communities" on Friday
October 1 that will feature two of the top writers/speakers in the Voluntary
Simplicity movement (Cecile Andrews author of the Circle of Simplicity, and
Janet Luhrs author of Simple Living).  We will include cohousing in this
discussion, provide tablespace for Northwest Cohousing, the Northwest
Intentional Communities Association etc.  At the recent American Planning
Association conference in Seattle, the Co-neighborhoods Network had our flyer at
a table focusing on cohousing etc.

4. Collaboration on other activities.  For example, Ciel Cohousing in West
Seattle may be needed some assistance with relocating some plants when they have
their groundbreaking this summer (hooray!)  Several members of my
co-neighborhood, the Rainier Valley Rainbow, are very interested in gardening,
and may be interested in doin some diggin to help out.  Seems like a
"coneighborly" thing to do :-)

5. Developing co-neighborhoods as "auxiliaries" to cohousing communities.  I
believe one of the most promising opportunities may be the development in
parallel of cohousing and associated co-neighborhoods.  Cohousing communities
provide natural meeting places such as Common Houses that could be used by
members of area co-neighborhoods.  And co-neighborhoods can help provide
outreach and diversity for cohousing communities.  Co-neighborhoods also provide
a model for linking together different cohousing communities in the same part of
town with each other as well as other interested individuals and families.

6. Using a co-neighborhood as an intermediate stage on the road toward
cohousing.  It is my impression that there is typically a period of several
years before a cohousing community becomes a reality.  What better way to learn
how to work together in community than by starting to share resources before
breaking ground and moving in together?

7. Co-neighborhoods as an alternative to cohousing.  While co-neighborhoods
imply a lower degree of community involvement than cohousing, there may be many
situations when they are a viable alternative.  These include situations where
for one reason or another building new cohousing or retrofitting an urban
neighborhood just isn't feasible.  They also include situations where the people
involved simply do not have the money to afford to buy into cohousing, or, for
other reasons do not wish to live in a community (for example, when one partner
of a couple has no interest in living in a community).

I am sending a separate copy of this post to the coneighborhoods-L discussion
list, since I am new to cohousing-L and am not sure of your policy on sending
posts to more than one list at a time.

Looking forward to sharing with you.

Yours,

Steve Habib Rose
Email: habib [at] thegarden.net
ICQ: 7649155

Host of The Garden
http://www.thegarden.net
Founder of the Co-neighborhoods Network
http://www.coneighborhoods.net
Board Member of the
Northwest Intentional Communities Association
http://www.infoteam.com/nonprofit/nica/