Cohousing-L Mailing List: East Bay Cohousing Update: Tours, Sites, Talks, Trips, and More

[Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-L]

Dear Bay Area (Northern California) cohousing seekers and co-curious folk,

Here's what my wife, East Bay Cohousing (EBCOHO) lead organizer Betsy
Morris, just sent our over-1,000 members:

It's been a fantastically fruitful week at East Bay Cohousing, with
lots of great connections, potential sites, new ways of communicating,
and more.

Last Saturday, my husband and fellow Cohousing Coach Raines and I went
to the South Bay with Cheryl Honey, nationally recognized inventor of
Community Weaving, an organizing method of great power and impact that
Raines has studied. What a smart cookie she is, integrating technology
and community!

We got to visit the site and observe a meeting of Mountain View
Cohousing, an active-adult neighborhood near downtown, the first
new-build cohousing community on the Peninsula/Silicon Valley, on its
way to opening in 2012.

Sunday, I toured a 17-bedroom former group house on Dwight Way near
downtown Berkeley that's now on the market - and we're hosting some
open houses and seeing if a group can come together around it.

Monday we met with the board of the Northern California Land Trust
(NCLT) to talk about potential collaborations to create permanently
affordable sustainable community.

We've gained access to a new meeting and office space in South
Berkeley, near Ashby BART, and are gearing up for more activity than
ever. We've upgraded the EBCOHO website to better reflect current
activity (as well as created a companion site for the whole state,
Cohousing California, at www.CalCoho.org ), to make it easier to see
multiple upcoming events and other people's RSVPs and comments.

We are partnering with green architects and developers to offer
mini-tours to potential cohousing sites in the area. And that's just
the beginning - we want you to find or co-create the community that's
right for you, so we're working hard to make it easier for you to get
there.

We'll do our best to keep you from getting too many emails by using
regular summaries like this and providing you with the tools to choose
what you want to receive.

Betsy (and Raines)
East Bay Cohousing community organizers
http://www.ebcoho.org/
________________________________
EBCOHO Upcoming Events -- THIS WEEK

Feb. 25 Thursday 6-8pm. Dine and tour the Cooperative Grocery (CoG) in
Emeryville with lawyer Janelle Orsi, co-author of the Sharing
Solution. Kids welcome! Free - RSVP

Also tonight: A free community workshop on reducing your ecological
footprint, in North Berkeley.

This Friday, Feb. 26, 5-6pm. Tour 1545 Dwight Way in Berkeley, a huge,
historic, and funky house for sale - formerly the commune known as The
Ark. 17 bedrooms! Raines and EBCOHO supporting member/buyers' agent
Mickey Tenenbaum will be on hand - Please do RSVP "No" (via our
MeetUp-based website) if you want to come to this free event but can't
make it, so we can know of your interest and include you on follow-up.

Several EBCOHO members have expressed interest, so Raines and I are
planning a special get-together this Sunday for folks who would like
our help in putting together a bid as a group, starting with putting
in money for a refundable option. Thanks to EBCOHO member Lotus Allen,
we've talked with two different socially conscious housing advocates
who may be able to help financially, for the right kind of group. Be
sure to RSVP for one of the open houses to get on the list for this.

Feb. 27, this Saturday 9:30-12:30, tour and discuss potential
cohousing in El Sobrante, with a green developer and the architect of
the Waldorf School there, Greg Van Mechelen. Great multi-generational
and senior cohousing opportunity! $30/adult (just $20 for EBCOHO
Supporting Members - have you upgraded your membership yet?) Get your
ticket on our website.

And Saturday evening, there's a Common House Concert at FrogSong in
Cotati that we're hoping to make - find details on the Cohousing
California website.

Feb. 28, this Sunday afternoon, the Elders' Guild meets at the North
Berkeley Senior Center. This group is laying the social groundwork for
senior cohousing, among other things.

________________________________
Even more events next week and beyond

Next Friday, March 5, join Dancing Rabbit EcoVillage founder Tony
Sirna for lunch at Gather Restaurant in downtown Berkeley, with a
conversation about sustainable community living.

We may also get him to do a talk or host a reception in the early
evening - stay tuned for details.

March 6, next Saturday, join us for another mini-tour: a trek across
the Bay for a half-day visit to an approved-for-development site and
discussion of potential cohousing on Potrero Hill in San Francisco
with the developer (who co-owns the site) and Greg. $30/adult ($20 for
Supporting Members).

That Sunday, March 7th, the 611 EcoVillage will open up for an
afternoon tour of this urban sustainable community, now with
rent-to-own options.

Saturday, March 20, 8-5pm, Bus Tour of East Bay Cohousing with Coho/US
(run by EBCOHO member Neil Planchon, national tours coordinator,
Raines' Swan's Market Cohousing neighbor -- has it really been a
decade since they moved in?). Get your ticket through EBCOHO with
discounts for regular and sustaining members - the best way to see
cohousing in the area.

Saturday, March 27, 5-9pm; and Sunday, March 28, 9-5pm - The Cohousing
Timeline Game: Get a first hand introduction to the cohousing
development process by working with others in this innovative
experiential workshop. We trained in and licensed The Timeline Game
from our friends and fellow cohousers at the Cohousing Collaborative
in Washington, DC.

You can read this message with embedded links to details/RSVP pages
for the above on the EBCOHO announcements message board on our
website:
http://www.ebcoho.org/messages/boards/thread/8648160/