Cohousing-L Mailing List: Westport Forming Group summer launch

[Elaine Ostroff (elaine]

Hello, here's an invitation for any folks close enough to attend a
presentation by John Abrams of Island Cohousing. We are very fortunate that
some of our members helped initiate the invitation for John to speak as part
of a well-established summer series run by the 3 Quaker Meetings in our
area. The theme for 2009 is "Building Community." Below is an excerpt from
the press release. This summer we are very actively marketing and
recruiting, after 6-7 months of planning. In addition to John's talk we'll
have a table at the local Farmer's Market every week, are holding a public
meeting on August 20, and are meeting with the Housing Partnership Committee
and the Board of Selectmen. Westport is a small, rural seaside community in
Southeastern Mass, and people are curious about what we're planning. We hope
this summer blast will help lay the base for when we need the permits
related to zoning and affordable housing, as well as bring in new members.

Elaine Ostroff, member, Westport Cohousing 

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 Cohousing Guru John Abrams Discusses a New Approach to Community Creation,
Dartmouth, MA- On Thursday, July 23rd, 7:00 p.m. 

              

Cohousing guru John Abrams will discuss the philosophy behind the growing
Cohousing movement, and other ideas on how to build inspired thinking into
communities at every level. His talk is entitled "Thinking Like Cathedral
Builders: Affordable Housing, Community Preservation and Business for People
and Place."

Abrams is cofounder and CEO of South Mountain Company, a 34-year-old
employee owned design/build and renewable energy company on Martha's
Vineyard in West Tisbury, Massachusetts. John's is the author of Companies
We Keep: Employee Ownership and the Business of Community and Place (Chelsea
Green Publishing in 2008).  



Abrams serves on the Island Housing Trust and Island Affordable Housing Fund
boards, the Green Building Advisor, and the steering committee of Island
Plan, which is working on a 50 year plan for the island of Martha's
Vineyard.  He and his family live in Island Cohousing, West Tisbury, a
cohousing neighborhood designed and built by his company.  

 

The event is the third lecture in the Summer Conversations Series that takes
place at the Apponagansett Meeting House at 850 Russells Mills Road in
Dartmouth, MA. Abrams' presentation coincides with the launch of Westport
Cohousing ( <http://www.westportcohousing.org/> www.westportcohousing.org),
a small, active group of families planning to build a cohousing community of
24 units in Westport. The multigenerational group, which is actively
recruiting new members, seeks to create a socially, environmentally, and
economically sustainable community comprised of:

 

*      24 individual living units built to the highest green standards, near
Westport's Central Village

*      A beautiful "Common House", where several times a week families have
the option of  

    enjoying a group dinner 

*        Clustered housing joined by pathways and places where neighbors can
gather to chat

*        Open areas where children can safely play with each other 

*        A supportive community with responsible, caring neighbors 

*        And much more (think of it as an old-fashioned village)