Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Redesigning our website - looking for ideas

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Carol  logomanc [at] io.com is the author of the message below. 
It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> 
because the message included HTML ;      PLEASE do not post HTML, see
   http://csf.colorado.edu/cohousing/2001/msg01672.html
--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------

Hello, all.

How many websites include financial information such as estimated costs
for membership at various stages, range of costs (expected or actual) for
the property and homes, maintenance fees (including information about
energy cost savings), and any plans or ideas about making (or not being
able to make) the community affordable to a range of people?

I most enjoy websites that show clear drawings or photos not just of the
property but also of what the homes will look like inside and out;
elevations; site plans; interiors of homes that are currently occupied if
any, to see how people have settled in and are actually using the space.
Will the homes be townhouses around a central court, or divided into
parallel streets, or scattered here and there amongst the trees? The
visual appeal is one reason (of many) I fell in love with the community I
was most seriously considering, and is what attracts me to delve more
deeply into any cohousing website. I've fallen in love-from-afar with
several communities mentioned here on the list just from a drawing of the
site design that "spoke" to me.

I'd agree that calendars on a website should be up-to-date or left off;
that's one thing that could end my exploration into a community at once.
If the most recent date on a calendar is a meeting in 2000, it does look
as if the group has faded away, rather than the page is simply no longer
maintained.

However (and it's a big However), when it comes right down to it, I don't
think I've seen a community yet (when costs are mentioned, such as when a
home is for sale) that I can afford to join. After daydreaming for a while
about a community's vision and membership and design, I'd like to be able
to find the hard financial facts on the website, even if it's only a range
or preliminary idea. It's not as warm and pretty as photos of the folks
sharing a meal at a planning meeting, but if the costs aren't too out of
bounds and the community and its members come across very well in other
parts of the website, it will let visitors to the site know whether it's
practical to pursue finding a new home there.

Best regards to all,

Carol.

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