Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohousing vs. communal

[Alex Kent (alex.m.kent]

Hello All,

 

We are trying to find other families and individuals who would be interested
in creating a communal home in the Amherst, MA area (Western Massachusetts).
There are established cohousing communities in our area (Pioneer Valley
Cohousing, Rocky Hill, Pathways, etc.), but we don't think that these
communities meet our particular needs.

 

For one thing, we are concerned about the relatively high cost of entry into
cohousing.  We're concerned about the degree of complexity and difficulty
inherent in a larger community (more than a dozen families/homes).  We would
like to have more direct engagement with the people we live with.  We would
like to live in a more communal arrangement than most cohousing communities
seem to afford. 

 

For another, we're interested in having a hand in building or renovating the
space we live in.

 

We're looking to create a larger extended family.  Cohousing seems to offer
a lot of flexibility in interpersonal arrangements, from virtually no
involvement in one's neighbors' lives to extremely close involvement, and
everything in between.

 

Our vision involves the joint purchase of a larger house in our area,
possibly a farm or existing multifamily house.  Common kitchen/dining,
common living room, a general opening up of the house, while preserving
private bedrooms and other personal spaces.  Land enough to permit expansion
of the house to respond to changing needs and increased numbers of
residents.  Enough land to support a large vegetable and flower garden.
Outbuildings for workshops and storage.

 

Anyone interested in talking with us about this?

 

 

Alex Kent

83 North Prospect Street

Amherst, MA 01002  USA