Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Religious Conservatives in Cohousing?

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

Cohousing is, among intentional communities, defined at least partially as
an ownership based, bank financed community model. It is really one of the
very few example of intentional communities that can be defined this way.
If you expressly limit the terms of ownership to people of a particular
religious or other belief system, then regular mortgage providers will not
support the project with loans.  I have been told there are special
religious based funding institutions set up by the larger organized
religions but I would think the prime barrier to a religious conservative
cohousing community would be getting funding.

Having visited several religious communities it was my experience that most
of them were internally funded, using no commercial mortgages, or in a
couple of cases, they hide their religious litmus test and were living under
the mortgage ability of a couple of individual members who owned the
property and housing, so the project was owned privately and then the
private individuals choose who lived there. 

There was another case in which individuals of a church all bought homes
individually in their own sub development and they used private group funds
to build a community center/school, worship space within the community. The
individuals then sold their homes to others from the same church. On paper
the mortgages were based on individual ownership and there was no home
owners association or any other legal document which technically restricted
the resale of the homes in any way. 

Although I would image most cohousing advocates would presume that
egalitarian, open membership would be prerequisites to being "cohousing"
there is nothing really in the cohousing model which requires this.  A
leader led, conservative religious focused, exclusive community could set up
a cohousing community and while I would not be interested in living in such
a place, it could be done. I have visited a few such communities and found
them perfectly workable for the people who choose them. Having a leader, and
a religious focus can also have a democratic process in many ways, with
members choosing their daily work, setting up committees and other
democratic type functions, just doing so under the "authority" of the
leadership and staying within the bounds of their creed. 

However, to raise the millions of dollars required to get a 30 home
community developed from scratch would be a large barrier to most such
endeavors. 

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood Community
Snohomish County, WA