Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Much Ado

[Catya Belfer-Shevett (catya]

My $.02...

> You can't imagine the difference it makes to your community to have income
> diversity, unless you see it for yourself.

In our not-quite-land-searching group, we want the income diversity, but
we're having a hard time figuring out how to make it happen.  We just had a
family drop out, in part because they feel we'll be out of their price
range.

Do you have any brilliant tips on this, for a group in the early stages?

> There are cohousing communities
> out there that look and feel like gated communities and I don't see much
> difference at all, except that maybe people who live in gated communities
> are at least honest with themselves about why they are there.

The cohousing communities that I've seen that are probably what you are
talking about seem to be very comfortable with it and honest with
themselves - they wanted more community, and did the best they could to get
it, and serious income diversity wasn't as important to them as other
aspects of the process and result.

Income diversity is not everyone's top priority.  Personally, I'm a lot more
concerned about other kinds of diversity, and I don't feel more than
slightly guilty about it.  I hope we have someone in our group again for
whom it is a top priority, who will advocate for it and keep reminding us of
it, but that's not where my own passion lies.

> I am
> dissatisfied with the movement and will continue to agitate
> whenever I feel
> it's necessary.

Your dissatisfaction is totally valid, and the points you bring up are
really important and clear.  I heard them even through your insulting and
patronizing tone, which certainly doesn't make me want to listen to you.
You've already painted me as the enemy and you probably don't have a clue
who I am.

I'm glad you got good off list responses, but I wish you had gotten them ON
list.  I wish people would repost their questions that didn't get answered,
and I wish people who are serious about economic diversity would talk about
how to make it happen.

Enough of MY wishing,

        - catya
                              ____
Catya Belfer-Shevett      ____\  /      Interested in
catya [at] spamcop.net         \  / \/      Cohousing in MA?
www.homeport.org/~catya    \/       www.mosaic-commons.org