Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Questions Common Sharing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jun 6, 2005, at 12:45 PM, Princess Pepperonia of the Pizza People 
wrote:

> 2:  Tragedy of the commons
>
> Before looking up cohousing, I had envisioned a group of perhaps 5 or 
> 6 households.  Most of the groups I've found are much larger.  Is 
> there respect for the common space (do people really clean up after 
> themselves like they would at home)?  How do you schedule use, 
> maintenance, and cleaning of the common spaces?  How do you deal with 
> different perceptions of how much maintenance & cleanliness is 
> necessary?  That last applies especially to kitchens and shared 
> vehicles.

When we moved in we had very different standards for commonhouse use. 
We had several households of people who had not previously owned a 
home. In DC lots of people live in group homes. But with time, we have 
sorted out the standards and now the commonhouse is very clean and we 
have understandings about what is okay and what isn't.

We have a Saturday morning cleaning every other week, 10:00-12:00. 4-8 
people show up to clean. They enjoy it. Others of us would like to hire 
cleaning out and spend energies on other things but as long as they 
keep showing up, that will not be likely to happen. The set time WORKS! 
Sometimes people do specific tasks at other times -- like cleaning 
toilets which the same two people do regularly.

We don't have community vehicles but people do share privately, on a 
personal basis.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org