Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: HOAs in Cohousing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> > From: "Marta Vanegas, Concordia Organizer" 
> > <admin [at] concordiacohousing.org>
> >
> > Anyways, I now live in a condo community (more non-community, coz 
> > people are
> > quite private here), which is superbly managed by a resident Manager 
> > (paid by
> > the HOA dues) and of course there are lots of conflicts -- because 
> > people
> > disobey the rules.  Sound familiar?  Different standards, pet issues, 
> > parking,
> > pool privileges, storage at premium, etcetera.  Of course, if we had 
> > MORE
> > common facilities, a little friendlier set-up and the cars would be 
> > parked on
> > the side somewhere, to keep our children safe... it would be darn 
> > close to
> > cohousing.  (My husband indeed insist that I go ahead and propose 
> > some changes
> > to this effect at our next HOA meeting, usually attended by a few 
> > retired
> > residents.  Hah!)

Actually, I would start in a different place. Instead of beginning with 
common facilities and moving cars, I would start with:

1. A child care coop and pet sitting, feeding, walking exchanges.

2. A cookout/potluck.

3. A decorating club that decorates the common areas for short times 
during holiday seasons. If the decorations stay up too long someone 
will object but who can object to three days? And then the number of 
days grows longer over the years.

4. Building a kids play area would be the first physical change I would 
make. These are wonderful ice breakers and will attract families with 
children to your community.

5. And a gardening group -- let residents start creating more 
attractive gardens. Most condos have sterile plantings.

Before I moved into a cohousing community I thought this kind of thing 
had to be approved by the board/community and the funds had to come out 
of the main coffers. I resisted having this kind of thing done by 
contributions. But after watching how things grow at Takoma Village, I 
see that for many things contributions just work best. The people who 
really care contribute either or time or money to the things they 
really care about and they don't have to convince others who could care 
less to support their project.

We have a landscaping and gardening budget that takes care of the big 
and routine stuff but the people who really love gardening put both 
time and money into the gardens.

The kids room and tot lot are furnished with contributed toys, books, 
and outdoor equipment. We  happen to have an excellent thrift shop near 
by so parents who are shopping for their kids pick up stuff for the 
play areas for very small amounts. (One of our children has never been 
in any other kind of "toy store")

I would also start the same way you start a cohousing community -- 
slide show! Show people what other communities look like. They don't 
have to be even called "cohousing". Just call them other condos. Offer 
this as a special added attraction to the annual meeting. It will get 
people thinking.

A man in Florida who has been working very hard on starting a cohousing 
community just dropped out saying that over the years he had been 
working on cohousing, he realized that he had created it in his own 
neighborhood and was staying there.

Sharon
---
Sharon Villines
Building Community: A Newsletter on Coops, Condos, Cohousing, and Other 
New Neighborhoods
http://www.buildingcommunitynews.org