Designing gathering spaces | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Nessa Dertnig (nessadertnig![]() |
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Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:51:05 -0700 (PDT) |
Hello there, I'm a member of Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage in Maine, and we're a couple weeks away from having our first members move in (yay!). We're doing the building over time, so some other units will be started this spring, and we're hoping to have the last ones finished in about a year and a half. What this means is that some people will be living on the land before the whole community is finished being built. So my question has to do with designing community gathering spaces and setting boundaries for yards. We didn't put a set space for yards in any of our legal documents, wanting to retain some flexibility around this, and nor are the gathering spaces set on any maps -- the thinking was that once the houses were built we'd figure this out. So now the question is, do we try to accomodate those folks who are moving in next month and over this summer and fall by mapping yards and gathering spaces now, or does it make more sense to wait until all the homes are done and we can get a better sense of how the whole community space feels? We have a divergence of opinion on this issue -- some people think that it's unrealistic to expect people to wait up to a year and a half before they can settle into the space around their houses because they have no designated yards, and believe that space will just be claimed and used around houses anyway, which will make it more difficult in the long run, if the claimed space is really more appropriate for a community node or something else. Other people believe that we can't effectively plan our outdoor spaces until the community is completely built, and that the people moving in now are lucky to be on the land first and can wait until the rest of us are moved in before we plan these things. Any input on the designing of nodes/gathering spaces and yards, including when it's appropriate to do it, as well as how it's best done (few-hour long workshop by all members? land use committee coming up with a preliminary plan and opening it up to community comments and changes? etc.?), would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much, Nessa Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage, where we're still looking for a few new members to fill out our community! mainecohousing.org
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Designing gathering spaces Nessa Dertnig, April 23 2012
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Re: Designing gathering spaces Sharon Villines, April 24 2012
- Re: Designing gathering spaces Ann Zabaldo, April 24 2012
- Re: Designing gathering spaces Elizabeth Magill, April 24 2012
- Re: Designing gathering spaces Nancy Baumeister, April 24 2012
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Re: Designing gathering spaces Sharon Villines, April 24 2012
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