Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: how can a new group use existing knowledge?

[Rosemary Gould (rgould]

We have been very fortunate in how we are getting started because 2 of 
the families who were our pioneers were already very experienced with 
cohousing. They have guided us to accept a lot of the received wisdom of 
the earlier pioneers and we are streamlining the process even though it 
is not developer-driven. One of the biggest things we did was just 
accept, wholesale, the community structure and rules of Shadowlake 
Village in Blacksburg, Virginia, and also (soon, we hope!) make a 
contract with the same builder/developer. Partnering with one 
established community as a sort of collective mentor would probably help 
you a lot and save you money.

Rosemary Gould
Blue Ridge Cohousing (forming)
Charlottesville VA


Andrew Netherton wrote:
> As someone participating in what can only be described as a brand-new
> group (Laurel Creek Commons in Waterloo, ON, Canada), Sharon's post
> (relevant points below) makes good sense to me.  Cohousing isn't new,
> so why should we expect to fight all the same battles as the hundreds
> that have come before us?  Yes, we will still have the standard
> growing pains of a group coming together, but shouldn't the rest of
> the process be pretty much ironed out now?
>
> So, how can we, a new group just now considering a membership
> structure and decision process, reap the benefit of all the
> accumulated knowledge out there?  Is it as simple as hiring a
> cohousing consultant?  Is it as complex as visiting communities we
> want to emulate, and learning from their history?  Something in
> between, or altogether different?  A checklist?
>
>