Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Communes and Survivalists

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jul 2, 2013, at 7:34 AM, R Philip Dowds <rpdowds [at] comcast.net> wrote:

> Many communities, including Cambridge and Brookline here in MA, have 
> experimented with the unrelated individuals prohibition.  Turns out this 
> prohibition is virtually impossible to enforce.

The only instances I know of where it has been enforced is when groups of 
students or young people fill a house with largely transient residents. They 
usually have had loud parties and affect the quality of everyone else on the 
block. I don't know the numbers in DC but in other places I've lived the number 
is quite high -- 8 unrelated people? It has been beyond the normal (or even 
unusual) family grouping number.

Such houses become in effect not homes but wall to wall beds. And invitations 
to party. We had one in our neighborhood a couple of years ago. The person was 
advertising parties on the internet. In other instances they were in effect 
unlicensed nursing homes.

I think the law is also a deterrent to landlords if it is on the books. The 
landlord has more lose when renting in violation of the law.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org