Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: affordable cohousing, not "gated"/ Habitat

[Diana E Carroll (dianaecarroll]

On 1/22/2010 2:13 PM, Sharon Villines wrote:

> This is another issue with mixing market rate (which is the average
> house cost in an area, ie affordable) and low-cost housing.

I disagree that you can equate market rate with affordable.  Mosaic 
Commons is in Massachusetts, a state notorious for not having affordable 
housing options.  Our community was created using our state's affordable 
housing expansion program ("40b") -- the program exists exactly because 
of the disparity between what houses in our overinflated real estate 
economy cost, and what average folks who live here can actually buy.

> At some point someone needs subsidies from somewhere and there are
> limitations on these subsidies. ...
> the tension between wanting things that one can afford and those who
> are not able to afford them will continue. All communities have some
> of this tension but avoiding it on an _extreme_ level, I think is
> important for a community.
...
> A $25,000 income household has a much different lifestyle than a
> $100,000 income.

I hope you are wrong, since our community (and every other "40b" 
community in Massachusetts, and every other community with subsidized 
homes) has this issue.

Our community is brand new so who knows what time will show, but we 
looked to other communities to make sure it was feasible to have a 
community with economic diversity, and we believe it is.

Our subsidized "affordable" homes are priced to be accessible to people 
with incomes between $40K and $80K a year depending on number of 
children and size of the home.  Our "market rate" homes when we first 
went on the market reflected the economic situation in our state -- they 
were affordable mostly for households making $100K and upwards.

So here we are, living in community with households making from $40K a 
year on up to...at a guess, $250K a year (not that I actually quiz 
anyone on their income :-).

I hear you say that those two income levels have different lifestyles 
and it is true!  Everyone in my family has their own computer and the 
larder is always full, and that might not be true for our next door 
neighbor.  So?

Other things make for radically different lifestyles too.  I have three 
children and a fulltime job which defines my lifestyle even more than my 
economic level, and it certainly has a community impact -- I'm not 
available for nearly as much community work, and my socializing tends to 
be very kid oriented.  To I sometimes resent them their free time? 
Sure.  Do they sometimes resent taking on a big portion of the 
community's labor?  Probably.

And yet somehow I manage to have something to share with the retired 
empty-nesters next door, the childless gay couple across the path, the 
folks making $40K in my building, and the homeschooling family of 7 up 
the road!

Viva diversity!

- Diana

--
Now is the time for community........Mosaic Commons cohousing
Homes still available...........http://www.mosaic-commons.org