Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Some advice for forming communities

[Jasmine Gold (juturna]

> I certainly am a big proponent of not buying unnecessary
> trouble, but it would seem to make sense to at least make sure we're all
> on the same page with the "top ten cohousing issues" ( pets, common meals,
> kids, etc.).  

In Sonoma County Cohousing (Cotati, CA), we brainstormed a large list of
all the hot topics we could think of. Then everyone in our group put
checkmarks next to the three that were hottest for them. As meeting time
allows, we have been working through the list in a multi-part process
along these lines:
First meeting, in small groups, we brainstorm peoples fears and desires.
Then we get together as a large group to share them and group them.
Second meeting, we takes the brainstorm session, see if we want to add
to it, and see where the group wants to go with it. 

So far, over several months, we have discussed pets, meals, parenting,
and guns. Pets and parenting have had a second meeting. Pets turned into
a committee that formed a very general policy that was brought for
consensus, and then returned for very minor tweaking. Parenting has also
been referred to a committee that has not yet met. Generally, the
feeling with the discussions and policies has been that we don't want to
set lots of rules until we move-in and see whether we have a problem.
However, we want to make sure that everyone is on the same wavelength
and feels comfortable with the issue. 

--Jasmine Gold, Sonoma 
http://www.sonic.net/~erisw/socoho.html
We are planning to break ground in the spring. We have only 2 unreserved
units left: 3 bedroom townhomes.
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