Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: The cost of housing, and therefore cohousing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Nov 18, 2004, at 2:18 PM, Chris ScottHanson wrote:

> SIZE FACTOR - How much space to you really need?

One way to test this is to think about how much of your space is "cold" 
most of the time -- no one is in it. The living room and dining room 
that is only used for guests. What happens if you cut that part off 
knowing that you have access to the commonhouse for entertaining.

What people need is often privacy, not more space. They want their own 
nook, even if it only holds a chair and a lamp.

Children are major space hogs, first with baby equipment and then with 
loud and big play. But if much of this can take place in the 
commonhouse -- sharing equipment (or doing with less) and game rooms, 
less space is needed.

A book I would like to write (don't even think about it, my list is too 
long already) is about the creative ways people live in Manhattan. 
Restaurants that are the size a hallway or takeouts the size of a small 
bathroom. Apartments made out of converted walk in closets. And not all 
of them are new or converted spaces. One apartment building with 
apartments of 350 Sq Ft including all the closets and bathroom and 
kitchen was built in the 1920s. It had beautiful molding, beautiful 
windows, lovely bathroom fixtures. Obviously a class place but very 
small. The bathroom door was 2 feet wide. Once inside (you go in 
sideways, you can either sit back on the toilet, bend forward over the 
sink, or step sideways into the tub. A super small but lovely 
apartment.

> OPERATIONAL COSTS
> The cost of new construction is mitigated to some degree by the 
> potential savings in operating costs.  Higher energy efficiency is the 
> most obvious factor.  However, one should not overlook the cost of 
> owning a car.  I understand that a car costs an average of about $500 
> per month to own.  If you live where you need fewer cars, you can 
> obviously afford more house.  Transit Oriented Development is an 
> important part of the environmental movement for this reason.

The new figure on cars is closer to $1500 a month. I heard $17,000  a 
year with all the fees, insurance, repairs, parking, etc.

> CUSTOM vs. PRODUCTION CO/HOUSING
> Custom, one off, personalized co/housing is more costly than 
> production co/housing.  Imagine the cost of a custom car, or a custom 
> made dining room table.

it is a myth that it is cheaper to do things during construction than 
later. In cohousing, multifamily dwellings, it is much cheaper to get 
the place built and make changes later when you really know what you 
want and need.

Another fallacy is building for resale. If you are building your home, 
you are building your home. You plan to live there, not sell. And even 
if you do plan to sell, there have got to be other people  like you out 
there.

I've designed my unit for a single, adult person who does not cook much 
but likes open space and light. A real estate agent would go nuts 
because I took out the two bedrooms and made an open space. I plan to 
take out the stove in the kitchen and put in a two burner stovetop. I 
haven't used more than 2 burners and a countertop oven in over 20 
years. I'm sure there are millions of people just like me.

Thus I have 850 square feet of open space that feels palatial until I 
have 4 more adults and three kids in here. But that happens not more 
than 2-3 times a month. And then we could go to the commonhouse if we 
organized ourselves a bit better.

A great post from Chris. Thanks,
Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org