Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: criteria for member types (was flying mango)

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

Dear Marc, 
Here's my take on your guess at member types.
> Looking for liberal, upper middle-class homeowners, with many thousands of 
>dollars of liquid cash, who have a huge tolerance for meetings,and are 
>willing to give up much of the control over aspects of their life to a 
>group. >Must be risk takers, and have a willingness to be highly social. A 
high 
>degree of patience and tolerance is desirable. To apply, you must place tens 
>of thousands of dollars in a risky real estate venture largely controlled by 
>amateurs with no experience.>
Most of RW's 24 families are "liberals"- probably none voted Republican, 
and on Sept 12, 2001 when we spontaneously gathered to share thoughts and 
feelings, not a single person voiced a desire for war or revenge. 
Sadness, yes, but largely fear of how many more lives would be lost and 
how many civil liberties constrained, in the aftermath. A conservative 
could certainly join - they just wouldn't have much company for their 
opinions. But we do not as a community outright endorse political parties 
or actions. The political trends here are probably the result of people 
feeling drawn to "likes", already knowing or getting to know, existing 
members. 

Upper middle class? Not sure what defines that. We probably have a number 
of families who make under $15,000 a year: retired single seniors, the 
two young families whose houses were built by Habitat, me with a house 
gifted to me by my father, a middle aged man on disability income, a 
single mom with a double-wide prefab home funded by her parent's savings. 
Yes, to live here one needs to somehow have enough money for land and 
house, which around here pretty much requires at least $100,000. So a lot 
of people can't afford home ownership, it's true. Several families, and 
several individuals, also live here as socially part of our community 
without being owners. They rotate housesitting, or rent an "ADU" 
("mother-in-law") apartment in one of several homes with such units for 
rent. (My renter pays $350 a month.) Or are relatives of members, and 
frequently join us for gatherings. Among all but our youngest members, 
college education is typical, often with graduate degrees. Typical work 
is teaching, counselling, construction carpentry, computers. And we have 
a lay midwife, a medical (on line) transcriptionist, an artist, a worker 
in the Port boat-haul-out area.  

A huge appetite for meetings is not necessary, though it helps if at 
least one household member has a tolerance for a half-day-a-month 
large-group meeting and a couple of discussion circles a month. There are 
ways to helpfully participate here without being on multiple committees 
and task forces, including hands-on tasks in common house or landscape, 
jobs like treasurer, or trash-taker-outer. 

Highly social:It's paradise for the highly social, but many here are 
fairly quiet: some socialize a lot less than others. It does seem to work 
well for couples with differing degrees of extroversion: the extrovert 
can find lots of social contact without needing to drag an unwilling 
partner, or stay home feeling cut off. 

Giving up "much of the control over aspects of their life"? What one does 
at home, or in one's yard or garden patch, is independent. Our 
relationships, income, worship, political and organizational 
involvements, all take place rather as they would outside of community. 
We do agree that if our barking dog or glaring porch light bothers our 
neighbors, we'll talk it over and try to find acceptable solutions. We do 
need to cooperate over the use of our common land, common budget, and 
commonhouse, but those we wouldn't have except because we are in 
community. Compared to a commune or religion-focused community, there is 
less communality, less control over individuals, but with a concomitant 
lesser degree of intense connection, I'd guess. But more connection than 
most of us would have "out there".

Financial risk varies from community to community, and certainly in the 
development phases there can be risks. Amateurs? Some groups are 
developed by, or in partnership with, knowledgeable professionals. We did 
it ourselves, as amateurs, and rather slowly, out of pocket, but we at 
least had our land, so had it not worked out as cohousing, the initial 
investments would have netted the investors land to build on or sell to 
someone else. Buying into a built community has almost no financial risk, 
other than the legal liability of the whole group, which is typically 
covered by insurance.  

>a diverse, friendly community.  and then there's the kids. that's a 
>really big issue for us >* is there such a place in a pleasant climate or are 
we looking for >shangrila?

Check us out at www.rosewind.org. Port Townsend's climate is distinctly 
moderate: mild temperatures are possible at any time of year and our 
rainfail is 17 inches a year, like San Francisco's. It's a great place to 
raise kids, too. Anyone who'd like a little piece I put together on PT 
and Kids can email me directly for it. 

Good luck!

Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.rosewind.org
http://www.ptguide.com

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