Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 36, Issue 39 conventional values in cohousing

[month9325 (month9325]

It can also happen that even where co-housing values exist or existed 
initially,  there can be issues in self management that lead to resistance to 
dealing with concerns, which lowers the standard of living in a co-housing 
group just as it might be lowered in any other development.  



-----Original Message-----
>From: cohousing-l-request [at] cohousing.org
>Sent: Jan 29, 2007 6:16 AM
>To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
>Subject: Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 36, Issue 39
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>Today's Topics:
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>   1. Re: Cohousing values in Conventional Condos [Was: Not
>      selecting members in a group] (byron patterson)
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:39:54 -0500
>From: "byron patterson" <byronpatterson [at] gmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Cohousing values in Conventional Condos [Was: Not
>       selecting members in a group]
>To: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
>Message-ID:
>       <df0930cb0701281639i29055477p8546dc6cb4e5efb0 [at] mail.gmail.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
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>On  1/28/07, Byron Patterson^ byronpatterson [at] gmail.com>replyed
>
>There are truths to the writings. When shared communities are venerable
>to various liabilities, communities are faced with lower standards of
>living.
>Most often no one is held accountable, and victims are left isolated from
>legal means of resolving the matters. So often wrong individuals are
>accused,
>and held accountable for someone's mistake or wrong doing. My experience
>is that most property management groups are so involved in making profits,
>that they don't spend the time it takes to develop the enviroment for their
>residendcy. The other side, is most community residents don't have a clue
>about the economic structure of their community; depending on local, state,
>and federal representatives to act on their behalf, without knowledge of the
>situation. I have learned you have to participate, if you want changes in
>your
>community by forming proper vehicles of communication; and protect the
>vehicles of communication that have established. Also, community residents
>have to disseminating the economic structure of their community to make
>any changes in the communities viability or living standard.
>
>Bottomline, bring money or any other form of capital into a community is
>just not enough to establish a communities viability. Community residents
>have to continue in the their exploration of develop their community, being
>aware of changes that might effect their community.
>
>On 1/28/07, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Jan 27, 2007, at 2:28 PM, Robert Moskowitz wrote:
>>
>> > Shouldn't it be possible for me to find and move
>> > into a community, a village, a neighborhood, an apartment or condo
>> > building, or whatever, where most of the inhabitants subscribe to
>> > certain shared values ......
>>
>> Cohousing has actually moved in this direction by building larger
>> communities and using developers who take on the burden of doing the
>> actual building while the community finds buyers.
>>
>> I would also suggest that the Communities Association Institute (CAI)
>> is the place to really work on such an effort beyond building your own
>> community. Their research has shown that when people regard their
>> building as a community they are happier and the building has much less
>> turn over -- a big plus for building management. They also report that
>> 4 out of 5 new housing units will be built in homeowner association
>> controlled communities.
>>
>> My own effort in this direction is to begin writing a book that
>> explains how to use sociocracy to govern such a beast and still promote
>> cohousing values. All the CAI literature espouses values similar to
>> cohousing but then gives orders to the board that reinforce an
>> autocratic, "the Board Is King (Kong)" message. They do encourage get
>> to know you coffees, etc. but not with many teeth. In other words, keep
>> it manageable. Keep it board controlled. Don't serve anything homemade
>> (danger of food poisoning and lawsuits).
>>
>> There have been subscribers to this list who live in conventional
>> condos who are interested in doing what you describe. And I've lived in
>> buildings where there was a sense of community between some residents
>> (others removed themselves). The problem was the board who would
>> routinely squashed things claiming that the lawyer or the insurance
>> company wouldn't allow it.
>>
>> Until there is some model for governing a cohousing community with over
>> 100 units, I think the effort to extend cohousing to the mainstream
>> communities will not be very effective. Inclusive governance is an
>> oxymoron to them and lawsuits loom large.
>>
>> Sharon
>> ----
>> Sharon Villines
>> http://www.sociocracy.info
>> _________________________________________________________________
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>>
>
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>End of Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 36, Issue 39
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