Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: BIG Co-housing. Who Loves It? Who Hates It?

[Christine Johnson (manzjohnson]

Lion Kuntz <lionkuntz [at] yahoo.com> wrote:  "BIG Co-housing. Who Loves It? 
Who Hates It?"

I love it.   I hate it.   In the cohousing literature, there are 
repeated references to size and 36 households is mentioned often as an 
upper limit.   In my community, we've pushed that limit to 48 
households.   We'll see how it goes!  We're just a year and a half old.

The sense of shared responsibility and caring for each other which may 
evolve in a cohousing community is what makes cohousing so attractive 
in the abstract and so downright wonderful to be a part of when it is 
evident.   When it's not evident, it's just sad.  Are we just another 
condo association?

A good philosophical starting point if you've not been there yet Lion, 
is the dilemma posed when one's own benefit is gained at the expense of 
another's.  It is the "tragedy of the commons."    The basic premise is 
that what is owned and cared for by the greatest number is subject to 
the greatest neglect.   For example, why would people take property 
that is shared in common for their own use?  Why does  a sense of 
entitlement to that property and disregard for another's rights to its 
use and enjoyment come into play in the first place?  Why would anyone 
disregard another owner's rights or well being when we hold the 
property, and rights and responsibilities for it all in common and so 
are damaged in common by the losses, to a greater or lesser extent?

In a community where everyone knows and respects one another, (which of 
course doesn't require "liking" each and every one of your neighbors) 
then, hopefully,  mutual care and respect for what is shared in common, 
i.e., property, rights and responsibilities will evolve.  The larger 
the group, the more anonymity, the greater the likelihood that an 
individual will take what is not given or neglect what is not 
explicitly required.  If that's a fact, then it is the tragedy of the 
commons.

Garrett Hardin takes a global view in describing the tragedy but as is 
said, "the political is personal"  Please see:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243

Christine Johnson
Stone Curves Cohousing
Tucson, AZ