Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Help with meals problem

[Don Benson (benson6451]

I think it would be very interested to know more about the survey and how 
"satisfaction" was explored or defined, and for whom.  

Specifically, my points of concern are the contrast between a 1.  top-down, 
fixed, highly structured system/process and a 2.  self-organizing, flexible 
bottom-up process as they relate to the
1.  Challenge of maintenance of the process as we observe the activity level 
(high) and the constraints described in the various examples provided in this 
thread, which seem to strongly represent type 1.; 
2.  Building and sustaining the fabric of the community, social capital, 
resilience, etc.

A secondary dimension is also interesting, to understand the initial conditions 
for the responding communities.  Specifically the distribution of type 1 and 2 
between, for example, communities that were founded primarily by developers vs. 
relatively cohesive groups of people.

Don Benson
503.296.7249

On Aug 6, 2012, at 11:40 AM, R.N. Johnson wrote:

> There was a survey a few years back about meals, and indeed, communities with 
> required meal participation  had better participation and higher satisfaction 
> with the meals program.  This is not to say that communities that did not 
> require meals were necessarily unsatisfied with their meals programs or 
> unable to keep things going, but that on average, communities with a required 
> meals component were more successful in maintaining the program and happier 
> with the results. I don't remember who did the survey, but I'm sure someone 
> out there with a better memory can track it down.