Cohousing-L Mailing List: An exciting week for 3 cohousing communities: sites/developer selected in Brooklyn, Chicago, Southeastern PA

[Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-L]

I just wrote an entry for the Cohousing Movement blog that I thought
Cohousing-L readers would be interested in.

Over a 48-hour period in the past week, cohousing groups in Brooklyn,
Chicago and Southeastern Pennsylvania, announced that they have
secured sites and/or development partners.

Why is this so exciting? In short: most cohousing groups that don't
have land secured fail. Most that do get site approval proceed to
succeed. Getting a site "optioned" is the first big step on the path
to change from the former to the latter category.

The groups are in:

* Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Cohousing
* Chicago, IL: Prairie Onion Cohousing
* West Grove, PA: Three Groves EcoVillage, spinning off from Concord EcoVillage

What makes me think we'll see more cohousing get built out of this
round is that at least two are groups that previously had a site
optioned but let it go when it became clear that the first site did
not "pencil out" to meet their needs at the right price. The first
site turned out to be a fire drill, a learning experience in which
they sorted out priorities, capacities, values, and process, so we can
take their second-site choice more seriously.

You can read the full entry and comment (if you log into your account,
which you can create for free) on the Cohousing Movement blog on
www.cohousing.org:

http://www.cohousing.org/node/2154

And if you want the gory details, with the individual communities'
announcements and my Monday-morning reading over your shoulder, read
it on the Cohousing Coaches' blog:

http://www.cohousing.org/node/2140/

Congratulations to all the communities involved - I wish you the best
of luck in navigating the rapids that lie ahead, and I'm looking
forward to visiting your completed communities in what will seem like
no time at all!

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach
Planning for Sustainable Communities
at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing

Hosting a second-edition launch party with Senior Cohousing
author/architect Chuck Durrett
Wednesday, May 20, at the EBCOHO clubhouse, 2105 MLK @ Center  in
downtown Berkeley
RSVP via East Bay Cohousing's MeetUp: http://www.ebcoho.org/

Looking forward to sharing the secrets of web marketing for cohousing
neighborhoods
at a pre-conference workshop at the National Cohousing Conference in
Seattle in June
Register today for best rates and exclusive access to advance tips