Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohousing's Diversity Problem - CityLab

[Rod Lambert (rod]

Very interesting thread.
Yes what would a diverse neighborhood (nbhd) look like? Is it like the
judge being asked 'what is pornography' replying something like: "I don't
know but I know it when I see it." I wonder if people could point to a
neighborhood they've seen that exemplifies this value often embedded in
cohousing vision statements. Perhaps we could learn from them.

Of late I have a particular interest in socio-economic and age diversity
since we've begun to notice that our population of very young children
appears to be dwindling over time. We have 3 nbhds here at EcoVillage at
Ithaca, NY and it was a little poignant when someone from the first nbhd
came over to our Easter egg hunt in the 2nd nbhd wanting to be with the
little ones as the youngest in their nbhd was 11 years old. I've heard that
"aging out" is a problem with some cohousing communities. I am curious what
other communities are doing about it. For us it leads to questions about
long term sustainability as well. Affordability is a major factor shaping
the demographic and there are other factors I'm sure. Has any community
found acceptable/legal ways to give priority to young families buying in
for instance?

Rod Lambert
EcoVillage at Ithaca, NY