Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Conflicting Values?

[Anne Jackson (a.jackson]

If affordability were our #1 concern, we would not have included a swimming 
pool and spa in our project.  We also would have designed the exteriors to 
be less expensive.  Instead, having a complicated roof line covered with red 
tile and having stucco siding instead of cheaper aluminum or vinyl 
contributed to the extra cost.  Often cohousing projects save by building 
4-unit or 5-unit buildings.  Instead, we built duplexes and triplexes. 
Because of the extra space needed for these 2- and 3-unit buildings, there 
was not enough room for parking, necessitating the construction of a 31-car 
underground garage (very expensive!).

Having the buildings designed like row houses would also have saved money. 
Instead, most of our buildings had multiple floor plans and some even had a 
mixture of one- and two-story living units.

In developments, having a feeling for the costs of the various options early 
in the design process is a great help.  Unfortunately, our architect could 
not provide any cost info.  We didn't learn about costs until most of the 
design process was finished.  Also, many change orders submitted to the 
building contractor increased our costs even more.

It's nice to have affordability as your #1 value.  But, if your community 
members have higher standards than what emphasis on affordability provides, 
this value will not be easily achieved.

Norm Gauss
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Regan Conley" <reganconley [at] earthlink.net>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 4:07 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Conflicting Values?


> On May 19, 2006, at 1:44 PM, Eileen McCourt wrote:
>
> > We lost virtually all the members concerned with affordability as
> > their #1
> > priority before move-in and the homes were ultimately more costly
> > for those
> > who did move in.
>
> Why did you lose all the members concerned with affordability?
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/