Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: (Mostly) favorable article on Emerson Commons, with some explanations

[Linda H (linda]

On 6/23/2017 3:38 PM, Virgil Huston wrote:
>  2) often minimal real community
> (a communal dinner a week isn't much of a community and you can get
> that in a country club setting or via other means)

Is that really true in a lot of cohousing? What is the experience of 
list members who are actually living in cohousing?

It's not why I'm involved in working to build a cohousing community and 
not what the rest of my group are looking for either. I hope to know my 
neighbors in a deeper way than cocktail party small talk.

I like her description of classic cohousing design, where the 
architecture facilitates interaction.It would be interesting to know how 
just how much the physical design of the community contributes to the 
level of engagement. I know from my work experience that it can make a 
big difference in how people interact with each other.

As for what's scary about communes. It's not orgies (though I have no 
interest in them, it's not what I think of as defining a commune). It's 
shared finances and the fear of being left without resources should the 
community fail.

Linda Hobbet