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

A relatively new member of our community who works at home invited those who 

are retired or work at home or happen to be at home to come to lunch 

together at noon on Wednesdays in our Common House.   Each person brought 

their own lunch, so there was no worry of clean-up or use of Common House 

dishes.  It worked well for five or six months, with anywhere from three to 

ten people attending, but I believe the rough winter with snow on the ground 

since early December and probably a foot to two feet still on the ground and 

below freezing temperatures have removed the incentive to get out of the 

house for the time being.   David Entin, Rocky Hill Cohousing, Northampton.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Ann Zabaldo" <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net>

To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:25 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Coffee and snacks in the CH

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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Re: Coffee and snacks in the CH	<– Date –> <– Thread –>
From: David Entin (davidentincomcast.net)
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 10:42:55 -0800 (PST)