Cohousing-L Mailing List: talking about money, values, and power [WAS How big is too big (for a house)]

[Eris Weaver (eris]

> Should we allow for such a large house in our planning of the community?
> Some members are concerned that such a large home would be out of place
within the
> community, or would foster jealousy, or would be very hard to sell if/when
that
> household needs to relocate. Other members are of a "live and let live"
attitude and feel
> that people should be able to build what they want. 

This discussion really isn't about optimum home size, but about all the
emotions and values that come up around economic differences, power (within
the community and in the outside world), equity, fairness, etc. I'll be
leading a pre-conference session on the topic "Let's Talk About Money" at
the cohousing conference that might be useful to forming groups wrestling
with these questions. 

I won't be giving you answers about what you should DO about this issues, or
showing you how to do pro formas or reserve studies, or how to calculate
dues, etc. What I will be sharing are techniques for having these
discussions in a useful way. Issues about finances are not about numbers,
they are about values!

More info here: http://www.cohousing.org/2017/intensives/money
If you can't come to the conference, you can buy my book here:
http://www.erisweaver.info/books.html

Eris Weaver, FrogSong Cohousing (Cotati, CA)