Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Coffee and snacks in the CH

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Hi all -- I live at Takoma Village along w/ Sharon Villines.  I, too,  
wish we had more of a "Coffee Cafe" atmosphere in our CH.  We have  
many people who work at home but we hardly ever get together to have  
lunch.

The factors I think mitigate against this happening are many fold.   
Among them:

We don't really have a "cozy" space in our CH where a person on their  
own would feel comfortable.  Our great room doesn't start to feel  
comfortable until about 30 people fill it.  Because of this very few  
people come and hang out in the CH because they don't see anyone ELSE  
hanging out.  I personally find the other smaller areas even our LR to  
be uncomfortable to sit in alone.

It's REALLY difficult to make coffee, tea or hot chocolate.   The  
equipment is stored either high up or in cabinets under the counters  
w/ kid locks on them.  Clean up is equally hard as the beverage bar is  
far from the kitchen.  There is no trash can nearby so you have to  
track back and forth to the kitchen to throw out trash such as  used  
grounds.  (The reason there's no trash can nearby is we couldn't  
figure out how to get it easily emptied on a daily basis so as not to  
attract vermin.  I know it doesn't sound like a big deal but no one  
stepped forward to take on this little task and we try to have every  
feature or space in the CH covered by someone who is responsible for  
it.)  My take is we have so much work we do around TVC that we don't  
add anything additional if we can help it.  And this just feels like  
work.

Since I'm a power wheel chair user it's REALLY hard for me to get out  
the coffee pots, hot water dispenser, and all the condiments.  Equally  
hard for me to clean up.

Another factor is the NOISE inside the CH.  One person talking can be  
heard everywhere.  Intimate or quiet conversation isn't possible.  And  
there's lots of noise from the HVAC duct work.

And as Lynn noted in her email, heating and cooling the CH is a  
chicken and egg issue.  If it's not used why heat or cool it?  But  
because it's either too hot or too cold people don't use it.  (I  
understand some of the temperature issue will be addressed when we get  
the duct work in the CH revamped.)

Lighting is another issue.   The great room basically has lights ON or  
OFF w/ a little bit of control in between but not much.  It's very  
institutional.  The LR on the other hand doesn't have enough light so  
hanging out in there at night is not comfortable.

The great room is very institutional looking w/ rows of tables too  
heavy to move easily.  (The chairs on the other hand stack easily.)

Conversely ... in the warm weather our piazza and upstairs porch is  
JAMMED w/ people as soon as they get home from work.  People eat  
together outside every night.  The kids play outside until bed time.   
During work hours those working at home or retired sit in the piazza  
reading or dozing.  People use the outdoor spaces for breakfast, lunch  
and dinner.  It's just a friendlier easy to be in atmosphere all around.

I've learned a LOT about CH design, what works and what doesn't, from  
our CH.  While it's a beautiful space upon first encountering it with  
it's two story open, airy design, wood and cork floors and lots of  
windows, our CH is hard to heat and cool, has a sense of vastness that  
is too big for just one or two people to hang out in, is poorly  
lighted, noisy, etc.

Having said all that ... we have lots of events in our CH.  Movie  
nights, dinners, brunches, private parties, private meetings.  Some  
neighborhood meetings.   Of course, our own meetings and classes and a  
never ending cycle of jig saw puzzles.  So our CH is used quite a  
bit ... just not for "hanging out."

We have a team of people working on addressing the issues I brought  
up.  In the next year or so I believe we will see some great  
improvement in our CH.

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village
Washington, DC
Principal, The Cohousing Collaborative
McLean, VA

PH: 703 663 3911
FAX 202 291 8594







On Feb 21, 2009, at 12:55 PM, Lynn Nadeau wrote:

> RoseWind Cohousing, Port Townsend WA, long built community, with a
> common house that gets fairly frequent use for community gatherings
> and various sponsored events.
>
> We had thought the CH would attract drop ins, but it has never
> happened. People come in and out, to fetch mail and other errands, but
> the primary uses still tend to be group oriented, vs individuals or
> random small groups. Several factors may be in play: we all have well-
> equipped comfortable homes, the CH is at least a short walk away.
> Keeping our main room heated to an attractive level all the time would
> be costly. We can heat one of the smaller rooms, but folks seem to
> prefer to be at home.
>
> We tried having a  particular time as a NY Times, Seattle Times,
> newspaper and coffee time, with a volunteer host. But people didn't
> come.
> Rather than feeling a failure, I think most of us have simply accepted
> that the CH is a fine resource for meals, meetings, rehearsals,
> sponsored events and personal socials, and just don't expect it to be
> a place to curl up with a book or cup of tea. We chat with each other
> at meals, in our yards, at the playground,  and in the garden.
>
> Lynn Nadeau
> www.rosewind.org
> where the grass is green and  it is sunny and warm enough to go out in
> just a sweater, and we have a
> sunny, spacious house for sale
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