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

[joyce thorn (jcthorn]

     This idea is good economically and for the environment.  New  
construction has been emphasized too much.  We're redoing a 1940's  
complex.		Joyce Thorn	Mayfair Village  Denver, Co
On Jun 24, 2009, at 5:43 AM, Bob Morrison wrote:

>   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
>
>
>
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