Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Church Conversion Retrofit Cohousing Panel for National Conference in NC

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

We’re probably now splitting hairs, but … whether it’s a vacant lot, a church, 
or an apartment building from the 1970s, very few properties in their 
come-as-they-are condition will be ready-to-wear cohousing.  Somebody has to 
design something.  My point is designing it together usually has advantages 
over shopping around for somebody else’s idea of what’s ready to wear.

RPD

> On Nov 12, 2014, at 2:29 PM, Elizabeth Magill <pastorlizm [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> Having "forged a social dynamic" as one of the developers of a community that 
> was less than half full at the end of construction....
> 
> And now creating new community that includes everyone...
> 
> I think that "you must design" is highly over-rated. To be clear I loved 
> doing it. 
> 
> But you can't do it with a huge group, and it creates a social dynamic that 
> ends up feeling ownership of design decisions which were not all perfect. And 
> its harder to be inclusive of everyone if one third of the folk always 
> remember what we were "going to do back in the day".
> 
> I'm not arguing against groups designing their own space, just against the 
> idea that that is BEST. 
> 
> Its just different in my view.
> 
> -Liz
> (The Rev.) Elizabeth M. Magill
> www.worcesterfellowship.org <http://www.worcesterfellowship.org/>
> www.mosaic-commons.org <http://www.mosaic-commons.org/>
> 508-450-0431
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Nov 12, 2014, at 1:47 PM, R Philip Dowds <rpdowds [at] comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> True in its way, but … As the founders cycle away (and they all will), and 
>> newcomers rotate in, what the newcomers are buying, at that point, is not 
>> the architectural vision, but rather an established social dynamic … which, 
>> as you correctly point out, they will soon start to influence (we hope).  
>> But the shared experience of designing and developing a project forges a day 
>> one social dynamic that cannot be readily simulated by strangers moving in 
>> among strangers and saying “Hi, how do YOU think we should do cohousing?”
>> 
>> RPD
>> 
>> PS: I used to do residential design and construction, mostly for married 
>> couples, and either they decided that designing one’s own home was one of 
>> the great adventures of their lives, or they got divorced.
>> 
>> Arizona weather can’t be beat.
>> 
>>> On Nov 12, 2014, at 1:24 PM, Mary Ann Clark <drmaryann49 [at] mac.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Mary Ann here:
>>> But isn't it true that everyone who joins the community after the founders 
>>> has to live with someone else's vision of what the community will be like?
>>> 
>>> Isn't also true that every new member changes the dynamics of the 
>>> community, so even the vision of the founders isn't stable?
>>> 
>>> Mary Ann, Manzanita Village where we're enjoying warm days and cool night 
>>> -- sorry those of you in the mid-west and further east.
>> 
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/ <http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/>
>> 
>> 
>