Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: to build fences or not to

[Eris Weaver (erisw]

During development the majority of our members wanted to avoid the "gated
community" look and advocated remaining open to the adjoining community.
Many people don't lock their doors, left lots of stuff out in the open in
their carports, etc.

We are in a small town...but we are right downtown, near four bars, and on
the major highway that comes into town.

The first thing that happened was children and dogs being able to run into
the highway - so we put a fence and a gate at that end of the property.

Then we started to experience a lot of foot traffic through our community
- people taking a shortcut through our parking lot, riding fast on their
bikes through the pedestrian paths, etc.  We had a few incidents with
weird people. Then folks started to advocate for some fences, and we
fenced the parking lot end of the property to cut down on the shortcuts. 
We're still working on a fence - a rather artistic one at that - along the
bikepath/creek side of the property.

Next came vandalism and theft - items small and large disappearing from
carports. Cars stolen and broken into. Bicycles, barbecues, garden carts
stolen. Now we have a security committee looking into what kind of options
may make sense (lighting, etc.)

I wish we had just fenced the whole property in the first place. But not
all my neighbors agree with me...some are advocating for security cameras,
while others still don't lock their doors.
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Eris Weaver
FrogSong, Cotati, CA