Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: "Instant Cohousing"

[Bob Morrison (RHmorrison]

  On 6/23, Randa Johnson wrote in part:

  With all the multi-unit properties on the market due to the economic
troubles, this could be an opportunity for many forming groups to establish
a community.  

  I spent many hours in design committee meetings planning for a beautiful
sustainable built from the ground up community that we could not afford to
develop.  But for me, it was more important to live in community, than to
live in my dream house. By moving into a smaller house with shared walls,
better insulation, and  into a community shared laundry, guest rooms, tools,
and common space, with better access to public transportation I have reduced
my energy use and pollution, and gained a wonderful community. [end quote]

  I think this perfectly describes the dilemma that the cohousing movement
is in, and the solution. I would add that even if a group has a site. can
afford to build a community from scratch, and the members can afford to buy
the units, you might have to wait two years or more before the community is
up and running, and that is a real long time to wait. With a retrofit
community, you settle for a less than ideal physical setup in trade for
being able to buy a cohousing unit without overextending yourself
financially and having your group physically in one place much sooner. I
think that's a good tradeoff. 

 

Bob Morrison