Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Changing common elements

[O3C11N6G (normangauss]

Sharon:

Your condo in New York sounds like my kind of place.

Norm Gauss
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sharon Villines" <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 12:13 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Changing common elements


> On Sep 21, 2007, at 9:29 PM, O3C11N6G wrote:
>
> > I have a powerful need for things to be done according to the law.   
> > It is
> > the way I feel.
>
> You may never be happy in a community where things are done by  
> unpaid, unprofessional staff. When work has to be shared, it will be  
> done by people who have a wide range of standards and a wide range of  
> expectations.
>
> Even in real life everywhere , very few laws are followed or  
> enforced. If they were, we would all probably be nuts. In cohousing,  
> it is hard to get people to even write laws.
>
> Over time, it becomes clear to some people that "cohousing" does not  
> mean "do as you please." But it is probably always going to be more  
> lax than a condominium where a few people focus on governance and  
> rely heavily on legal advice and professional staff. People will  
> probably always be dumping their stuff in common space although we  
> clean it out regularly.
>
> There are many days that I long for my Fifth Avenue condo which had a  
> full staff and a professional manager. But the building also had no  
> children, no pets, and you had to use the basement door if you were  
> dragging in a box. Groceries, cleaning, etc., was supposed to be  
> delivered and, of course, the "help" used the basement entrance. No  
> one was allowed to lounge in the front hall which had several sofas  
> and chairs and was perfectly loungable. Kids playing there would  
> probably have been arrested.
>
> All the laws were followed to the letter. If I heard loud music, I  
> called the front desk and it was stopped in a matter of moments.  
> Repeated infractions were fined.
>
> Cohousing it was not.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
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