Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: interest in developing a group for 50+ .....

[VAN DEIST (vandeist]

Hi Ya'll - In Venice, FL we have a "potential cohousers" group that is helping 
to develop a cottage community consisting of a cluster of 13, 2 BR, 2 BA, 1400 
ft2, Cracker style, wheelchair accessible, "islandy" cottages plus a common 
house.  Our group started out as an elder cohousing group but has evolved into 
"elder rich," because of concerns about flexibility for cohabitation with 
younger offspring and even the outside chance of having to assume 
responsibility for a grandchild.  We hope to encourage those might be 
compatible yet under 50 y/o to join us.  We will remain an elder rich community 
and not truly intergenerational, because we will encourage "Aging in Community" 
issues which should primarily attract empty-nesters of all persuasions.  Our 
group, so far, consists of 30 couples and individuals in their 60's & 70's 
(with the 70's in the majority among the 10 members who met regularly face to 
face).  We've tried to keep in touch with those "out-of-towners" and 
"out-of-staters" who have expressed interest. We all seem to be decent, nice 
people who are willing to be good neighbors and are open to sharing one 
another's life experiences in community.  We're not of any one religion or 
political slant, and while we will attempt to incorporate some "green" into our 
project, no bona fide, tree hugger has as yet to stand up an be counted.  There 
certainly is considerable room for individual expression, but we're looking for 
those who value compassion; practice tolerance; work on being forgiving; and 
seek pleasure in events great and small.  One would also need to commit to 
decision-making by consensus.  Other than that, it's just the same ole "do unto 
others etc."  We encourage co-ownership and house-sharing for improved 
affordability.  Our current "guesstimate" is that a standard, one story cottage 
would cost 210K on a 60K lot plus a 30K interest in the association's common 
area and common house.  We are still short of setting up our LLC (which might 
try to self-fund the site development in a joint venture with the land owner).  
No one has committed to anything as yet other than a desire to discover and 
better understand cohousing.  We have a single source for 
construction/permanent financing, and we have a good lead on a source of 
commercial financing for the common house and common area.  We close to having 
the site under contract.  We have much of the building design completed; 
engineering and site design is underway; and we have a very reputable 
contractor committed.  If this can be what you seek, contact me.  vandeist [at] 
msn.com<mailto:vandeist [at] msn.com>     Be well,     .....Van.....   
         
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mary and Joe Buckingham<mailto:moonshine [at] gci.net> 
  To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org<mailto:cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> 
  Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:42 PM
  Subject: Re: [C-L]_ interest in developing a group for 50+ .....


  This is a follow up to Marganne's letter regarding a group for 50+ with or 
without much family.
  My husband and I are both interested in such a group.  We are long time 
Alaskan's and eager for a change, but without much direction.  We have given 
cohousing a lot of thought and followed this list serve for a couple of years.  
 Due to the distance and remoteness of Alaska we are ready for a change.  But 
like Marganne the thought of such a move that seemed so easy 30 years ago, is 
now intimidating.
  We did visit a few cohousing projects while outside Alaska a year ago, but 
none in depth.  We were never at the right place at the right time it seemed.
  Regards,
  Mary & Joe in Anchorage, Alaska
  (a long way from the main stream)
  > ------------------------------
  > 
  > Message: 6
  > Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:20:53 -0700
  > From: Marganne <marganne [at] macnexus.org<mailto:marganne [at] 
macnexus.org>>
  > Subject: [C-L]_ How to develop a group for 50+ without family
  > To: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org<mailto:cohousing-l [at] 
cohousing.org>>
  > Message-ID: 
<a06230935c2a919367de5@[192.168.0.2<mailto:a06230935c2a919367de5@[192.1680.2>]>
  > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
  > 
  > At 5:10 PM -0600 9/1/05, Rick Mockler wrote:
  > >Coho US has two upcoming workshops which will offer a great boost to
  > >groups recruiting new members and planning to work with 
  > developers 
  > >and builders.  These are intended for a national audience.  
  > Please 
  > >pass this on to your coho group's listserve!
  > 
  > I was really excited about the prospect of connecting up with 
  > like-minded cohousers and joining a project. Then I started 
  > considering things like: Will I like living in Vermont or Ithaca? 
  > I 
  > was born and raised in California. At age 20 or 30 I probably 
  > could 
  > have made the jump easily. But at age 50+ with some physical 
  > restrictions, I'm less likely to make the leap before looking.
  > 
  > I decided I needed to slow down and perhaps live in some vastly 
  > different geographical areas in a rental before committing to a 
  > project if I could find 'like minded' individuals.
  > 
  > All of this prospect still overwhelms me which is why I pulled 
  > back 
  > from keeping up with posts to this list and the small house 
  > listserv. 
  > There's no way I could 'spearhead' formation of a group -- my 
  > capacity to function at that level went bye bye about 5 years ago.
  > 
  > I find myself wanting to start a separate 'conversation' just for 
  > people like me -- single, approaching the Third Age (50+) but 
  > still 
  > kicking, with little or no family who would like to create 
  > something 
  > were we all could age in place. We wouldn't be ready for 
  > ElderShire 
  > yet.
  > 
  > Since it's likely we'd be located over a large geographical range, 
  > I 
  > thought it might be good to have an online place to talk about 
  > what 
  > we are thinking about, what we want, and perhaps how we can create 
  > it 
  > in our own locations. Or where we can find it if some of us move 
  > to 
  > one geographic location.
  > 
  > Hope this all makes sense. Originally I was disappointed with the 
  > cohousing experience because the definition of 'affordable' wasn't 
  > affordable for me. I don't plan on going into debt with a mortgage 
  > and wouldn't qualify for one anyway due to my limited income. I 
  > could 
  > afford to build something smaller than 1,000 square feet - pay for 
  > it 
  > outright.
  > 
  > I'm open to suggestions about how those of us who fit this 
  > demographic (or close to it) can connect to figure out how to 
  > modify 
  > the standard cohousing model to meet the needs of the 50+ boomers 
  > without kids. Or maybe I'm missing another way of looking at what 
  > I'd 
  > like to create for myself as I get older.
  > 
  > Cheers!
  > Marganne
  > Sacramento, CA
  > (where it's too hot in the summer!)
  > 
  > 
  > 
  > ------------------------------
  > 
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