Cohousing-L Mailing List: Elders and cohousing and kids

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

In my travels through consulting with various forming cohousing groups I
noticed that there often was a high number of retiree aged folks involved.
These folks have both time and money to put up in forming groups. At
Sharingwood ALL the founding members and first investors were over the age
of 50. It was their investment which made it possible for the young families
to join later. The lack of families with kids was THE issue for my families
original investment in Sharingwood and it was resolved for us by the elders
who not only cherished our children but funded a prominent playset in the
middle of the community which attracted many children who then pulled in
their parents. Over the next two decades, the founding elders have pretty
much all left, either to live elsewhere, or have died. All those that left
were replaced by families with kids. If anything, now we have a lack of
elders and a surplus (maybe even too many) families with kids.  

So as you develop if you have obvious and visible kid amenities like
playsets, sandboxes, etc. then families that come on tour see something that
tells them that children are welcome here.  You would surprised how many
built cohousing projects have nothing visible that attracts kids and have no
amenities for kids other than a usually Segregated room in the commonhouse. 

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood
Whose kids spent their childhood years here