Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: The shelf life of decisions

[katie-henry (katie-henry]

> I would be interested in hearing which policies established 
> groups think are most important to get settled before move in.

At Eastern Village, something that really blew up on us after move-in was 
common house use. I don't think we discussed it much before move-in. It didn't 
occur to anyone. I think we all assumed everyone else shared our personal 
vision of how the spaces would be used. 

However, shortly after move-in a group of residents sponsored a huge 
weekend-long Jewish environmentalist workshop/festival, complete with Klezmer 
music and dancing in the dining room. Other community members, who saw the CH 
as being a cozy, quiet, private extension of their living rooms, went 
ballistic. The organizers were accused of not giving sufficient notice to the 
community, although I think they did what was required in the guidelines, but 
the announcement wasn't properly disseminated. It caused a lot of upset and 
hard feelings at an already stressful time. 

Katie
Eastern Village Cohousing
Silver Spring, MD