Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Growth of Community Associations

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Mar 9, 2015, at 11:13 PM, David Mandel <dlmandel [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> I would dispute the assertion that community associations per se lead to an
> "extension of homeownership opportunities." (Aside from the discussion of
> to what extent that is a good thing.) It depends on a community's goals,
> which are not always altruistic and concerned with promoting inclusion,
> democracy, etc. Cohousers, who in general tend to share relatively
> progressive values, can lose sight of the many times when associations'
> motives include finding ways to establish a private government that
> circumvents some of the basic rules of democracy.

This is obviously a good point, but all governments can be good or bad. What 
community associations have provided is the means to cluster living spaces in 
smaller geographic areas and thus make housing less expensive than in single 
family homes. While many people prefer to rent and some cities have courts 
dedicated to protecting renter's rights, these are limited. Being able to own 
allows one to participate in governance and to challenge the unnecessarily 
restrictive, non-democratic governance.

> CAI indeed offers a lot
> of good nuts and bolts tips, but for a political counterpoint, see
> https://www.calhomelaw.org/. Perhaps there are parallel groups in some
> other states.

A very good site. California has more homeowner aids and protection resources 
than any other state i've found.

(You can see by all the writing I'm doing today, that I'm avoiding doing my 
taxes.)

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