Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Partnering with organisations with conflicting goals

[Yusuf Pisan (yusuf.pisan]

On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 9:55 AM, Hans Tilstra <hans.tilstra [at] rmit.edu.au> 
wrote:
>
> My hypothesis is that there is a significant difference between people drawn 
> to cohousing compared to those encouraged to join.
>

You should limit the scope of your hypothesis both in terms of region
(Victoria, Australia) and time (2003-2013). Cohousing in USA is very
different than what it is in Australia and will probably look very
different in 50 years time.

Co-housing in Australia is often seen as "Co-operative Housing" which
often refers to housing that is rented from the government. A good
example of this is at

              
http://www.australia.coop/artman2/publish/VIC_58/Co-operative_Housing_247.php

             The SouthEast Housing Co-operative (SEHC) is non-profit,
community based co-operative responsible for managing 150 long term
rental housing properties in the southern and eastern metropolitan
area of Victoria ... SEHC leases rental properties from the Department
of Human Services on a permanent basis under a head lease arrangement.
The properties are sub-let to low income families and individuals that
meet the Department of Human Services income and eligibility
criteria....

Co-housing in USA has a very different flavor. There is often no
government involvement and even when there is government involvement
it is still not as direct as "leasing out" the property. Co-housing in
Denmark also has a very different flavor although I do not know enough
about that movement to articulate the differences. Even within
Australia there are very large variations between communities formed
as eco-villages and/or co-housing.


> There is a risk that sent message that 'cohousing is good for you' message of 
> well-intending organisations is received differently by socio-economically 
> disadvantaged applicants.

It also makes a difference to *whom* you are sending the message. In
the case of VIC, the message is being specifically sent out to "low
income families that meet the Department of Human Services income and
eligibility criteria". This is very different than an independent
group forming to purchase land, build houses and form a community.

Cheers,

Yusuf