Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Community Responsibility & Self-Governance [ was Pet policy]

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

What a lovely testimony, Sharon.

A reminder that cohousers don't have a lock on "community."  Long before Takoma 
Village came into being, there was a vibrant, dynamic neighborhood association 
here dealing w/ all the things we deal w/ in our village community:  trash, 
pets, noise, sickness, celebrations, honors, awards, etc.

Also a reminder that we cohousers live in the larger community that we both 
benefit from and contribute to.  Sharon won't ever say it but I will ... she 
was the moving force behind organizing the larger neighborhood to save an 
historic theatre that is falling into ruins. 

AND ... she/we/they had to navigate two different governing systems to get this 
theatre issue resolved (still pending) along w/ other ongoing neighborhood 
issues. Neighborhood votes.  We do some sort of consensus decision making.   
It's like being bi-lingual.  You learn to be fluent in both worlds ...

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church VA
703-688-2646

On Apr 25, 2012, at 11:37 AM, Sharon Villines wrote:

> 
> For my early adult life I was living in a university dominated community 
> where the university was the authority and ruler of all things. Then I was 
> moving around and not a local citizen. I never got involved in neighborhood 
> affairs, or even local city issues. In politics and life, it was all national 
> and global. Or immediate — the baby needs a diaper. The school is calling.
> 
> For the first time in my life I have lived in one place for 12 years and have 
> gained a much fuller understanding of how communities work. Just like 
> cohousing there are groups of neighbors who organize proposals and get them 
> into policy. They worry about their neighbors and organize emergency response 
> teams when there are personal or weather emergencies. Fire victims are 
> inundated with clothing and furniture within 24 hours. City agencies are on 
> notice to fix things because the neighbors tell them to. They do report drug 
> trafficking and speeding drivers and organize reporting systems when there is 
> a crime wave.
> 
> That doesn't mean that the study of traffic patterns done 10 years ago has 
> been implemented or that we aren't still complaining about loiterers in the 
> neighborhood park, but it does mean that there is a much more involved 
> underground of neighborhood governance than I was ever aware. Even when 
> people didn't own property jointly — or rather less obviously "jointly" — 
> they did rebuild this neighborhood, develop amenities, and protect it from 
> urban blight for decades. 
> 
> Many neighbors attend just as many meetings as cohousers on all sorts of 
> topics like redeveloping Walter Reed Army Hospital which is as large as many 
> university campuses to approving a dispensary for medical marijuana or a new 
> driveway cut on a busy street. What we have, we have because some one did 
> look around and think about making a safe, sustainable community. That 
> involved dealing with the behavior of their neighbors and standing firm on it.
> 
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
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