Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Forming a new group and getting started

[Raines Cohen (rc2-coho-L]

On 7/20/03 11:22 PM, jtlondon [at] earthlink.net <jtlondon [at] earthlink.net> 
wrote:

>My spouse and I just participated in an all-day tour of cohousing in the
>greater San Francisco Bay Area.  

How was the tour? Coho/US now sponsors these, and we're always looking 
for ways to make 'em useful and keep 'em focused and relevant for your 
needs.

>We have been interested in cohousing for a
>while, there are rarely vacancies in cohousing in our area,

Consider it fortunate (or perhaps no coincidence) that there ARE at least 
six communities in your (Oakland-Emeryville-Berkeley) area.

>  We plan to meet in a week and
>have a potluck (of course) and begin more substantive discussion.  We would
>like to learn from others' successes and mistakes.

As "keeper of the flame" for EBCOHO, I'd be happy to (schedule allowing) 
come and share.

>The area in which we all need or want to live -- the East Bay of the San
>Francisco Bay Area -- is crowded and urban, and housing prices are high.

But that doesn't mean that you won't be able to create the opportunity 
for something affordable - there are quite a few nonprofit developers and 
city-sponsored programs here that can help, precisely because the need is 
so great.

>Unfortunately, I know for my family, and I assume for others in the group,
>that we are not able to move to a less crowded and expensive area,

People who refer to this area as "crowded" have never lived in New York, 
Boston, or maybe most parts of San Francisco; even in the urban core of 
Oakland, densities are relatively low; in Berkeley, they're lower, but 
strong NIMBY forces make it harder to do projects there.

>Our biggest obstacle will
>probably be finding a large enough site.

In some ways, finding a SMALL enough site may be more of a challenge. 
There are projects and plans underway at transit villages (converting 
BART subway surface parking lots to multi-story mixed-use projects), but 
they are on such a large scale (hundreds of units) that getting an agency 
or developer to work on a cohousing scale may be the harder part of that 
equation.

>  I understand that another group
>tried unsuccessfully a few years ago to find a site in this area (called
>East Bay Cohousing) and eventually decided to stop looking.

There have been several groups called East Bay Cohousing over the course 
of the past decade -- not a surprise when you look at the number of 
communities and the amount of interest here -- fully a quarter of the 
Coho/US database is folks in this area! Here's a rough history, to the 
best of my knowledge; it's sketchy on the early history, most of which we 
learned of AFTER the earlier efforts:

early 1990's: East Bay Cohousing group became Berkeley Cohousing when 
they found and secured the site.

mid-1990's: East Bay Cohousing group tries to obtain sites in nearby El 
Cerrito; Barbara Chan is involved in this group.

late 1990's: East Bay Cohousing group (EBCOHO) forms out of circle of 
friends and additional outreach; I get involved "as a backup" to my 
Swan's Market coho (then under construction) membership. The group 
focuses on North Oakland/Berkeley, although it develops criteria to 
search a wider area. Attends a "Getting It Built" workshop at the 
Cohousing Co. Develops extensive systems for group 
outreach/management/operations and site searching, including a way for 
the group to proceed ahead with any site for which sufficient interest 
and investment exist (i.e. not held hostage to full-group consensus... 
functioning more like an umbrella/support group).

Retains Cohousing Co. as site-search consultants, sending off letters to 
owners of candidate properties identified by group members by driving 
around, preference exercises, criteria (1/4 mile from main bus line or 
1/2 mile from subway), and public records searches; not at all limited to 
sites currently on the market. Makes written option offers on 2 sites, 1 
on Emeryville/Oakland border and 1 near Fruitvale; neither gets a serious 
response from property owners.

Group enthusiasm fades as pro forma for one site projects costs of 
$350/sf for demolition + construction ASSUMING LAND COST WAS ZERO! 
Members have difficulty comparing these future (2-4 years ahead) prices 
(which may turn out to be a great deal) to current housing prices, in a 
market with continuing rapid increases.

As some members (mostly young non-homeowners) conclude that they can't 
afford to buy in the area at all, some drop out; others buy single-family 
units, continue to rent; several rent, and some later buy, units at 
Berkeley Cohousing (leading what some humorously refer to as the 
"takeover from within" model of cohousing development).

I keep the group's legal structure (fictitious business name, business 
license, website, records, systems, plus bank account) on life support, 
awaiting the rise of another group to do cohousing in the area, to be 
able to make it easier for the next group.

early 2000's: New group forms out of a Karen Hester retrofit cohousing 
workshop based on interest, sometimes called "EBCOHO 2.0". Meets in 
Berkeley, interest is centered more on Richmond/El Cerrito/Albany (North 
of Berkeley, further from Oakland/Emeryville). Group spends several 
months working on processes and philosophy, defining membership, and 
educating new members. I participate in order to help transition over 
"EBCOHO 1.0" resources. At the point where people are expected to 
contribute small amounts of dues, nobody feels confident enough in the 
process/group to do so. A few members rent a house adjacent to one 
another household buys, and do some neighborhood/micro-coho process.

2002-2003: New group forms (assisted by Karen Hester) of people 
interested in "Cohousing with a Clubhouse"; several admit they can't 
afford to buy but are interested in setting up a neighborhood/community 
center/recreational facility/relaxation spot (visions vary). Sets up 
YahooGroups discussion list. I participate peripherally to try to hand 
off EBCOHO mantle, but group leadership decides that there's not enough 
commitment from others at the point of putting in some initial dues.

2003: OK, your turn at bat! ;-)

>We will try to
>speak with them about their experience.

I stand ready and willing to help and make introductions to others with 
useful historical perspectives; I can even help arrange for use of the 
Berkeley or Swan's common houses for a meeting/dinner or two.

>  At this point I am guessing that
>we will consider finding a vacant site, a site with buildings or a building
>that could be remodeled or added to, or a site with a building or buildings
>in bad shape that we would tear down before building something new.  I have
>read what I can find about retrofitting, and wonder if anyone has any
>advice on finding a place to build in an expensive urban area.

Note that "remodeling" you mention is different than "retrofit cohousing" 
(better called "organic coho")... in which, like Temescal Creek or N 
street, people buy adjacent units and gradually reshape them. I think 
your best bets will be:

- Look at space currently underutilized, re-using existing structures.
- Educate the group to understand current construction costs (even with 
building re-use), and to be able to compare to FUTURE prices
- Learn about local zoning and incentives, like the Oakland 10k plan.
- Take advantage of the many existing cohousing resources, including 
CoHousing Co. slide shows and tours, plus marketing through the existing 
communities here.
- Develop relationships with and partner with larger builders doing 
projects such as transit villages; I think West Oakland BART would be a 
great opportunity.

> One piece of
>advice was that we soon have members contribute financially, so we can
>start making real commitments. 

Definitely, let folks come to a couple of meetings free so they can make 
their own assessment as to whether they can trust the people and the 
vision is shared

> The suggestion was $150 or so to begin
>with, so we can open a bank account and cover research expenses.

The bank account may not be necessary if someone is willing to use their 
own; you may well be able to take over the existing (empty) EBCOHO 
account. Even with 10 committed members, $150/each won't cover much 
actual research on sites, more education and outreach and administrative 
expenses for the first year.

>  Another
>suggestion was that we find a good group process person and have them work
>with us regularly on conflict management and resolution.

This is part of the education budget... educating people about consensus 
and tools to prevent conflicts and to find the common ground and work 
together on problem-solving. A getting-it-built workshop might be a fine 
idea, but if you do it too early you'll need to repeat it as your group 
membership turns over.

>I'd appreciate any suggestions, or being directed to any resources we
>should know about in addition to this list, the national association, and
>basic cohousing literature.

There's a great new deal for forming or built groups not currently 
members on Coho/US memberships: $100 through the end of calendar 2003, 
1/3 of the regular forming-group price; $20 for individuals. This will 
well be worth it for the access not just to professionals but "seasoned 
amateurs" such as Joani and myself, plus the marketing/outreach you can 
do through Coho/US via the mailing list, e-Newsletter (which reaches much 
further than Coho-L), Cohousing magazine; the membership should pay for 
itself if you buy just a few tapes from the recent conference, or if just 
a couple members go on the next tour, given the discounts - plus it's a 
way of showing your serious and committed, putting your group on the map.

Raines

Raines Cohen <my initials,2,dash,coho,dash,L at my first name .com>

  Member, Swan's Market Coho [Oakland, CA] <http://www.swansway.com/>
Where the new dishwasher is so quiet, we can't hear it over the 
refrigerator.

  Secretary, Berkeley [CA] Cohousing
Home of a couple of low-key low-temperature make-your-own-sandwich common 
meals while many were away over the warm weekend.

  Facilitator, East Bay Cohousing <http://www.ebcoho.org/>
Keeping the flame alive, ready for a transition.

  Boardmember, Coho/US <http://www.cohousing.org/>
Inviting new members to join (or rejoin) at the special 
rest-of-calendar-2003 rates: $20 for individuals, $100 for groups!

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